Kinnaur Part-II

Austria Roadtrip

The decision was sudden like most of our decisions. One evening, sat in front of our television on the May bank holiday this year (2017), we were discussing potential summer holiday destinations  and  there was a toss-up between Italy and Austria; as usual, 'mountains' won. A short '6 day' road trip was quickly arranged, tickets booked, places researched and routes planned. So, on a Friday morning we took off from Manchester for Munich, a short flight of an hour and forty minutes. From Munich we rented a car and started our trip, the first destination being Innsbruck.

The distance from Munich to Innsbruck by road is approximately 165 kms. Innsbruck being one of the most popular destination for winter sports is very well connected and can be reached by trains and flights from Munich. We started from the airport and took the famous German 'Autobahn' within a minute. The motorways in Germany are called the 'Autobahn' and deserve a special mention as they are the only motorway in the world with no universal speed limit for cars, though there are areas where temporary speed limits are enforced. There is a special thrill of driving on a motorway with no official speed limit. It took about 2 and half hours to reach Innsbruck and the view slowly changed from rolling landscape to hilly terrain as we approached the winter capital of the Tyrol region in West Austria.

Our destination was 'Patsch', a small town situated in southern Innsbruck around 5 km from the main town. It is considered to be one of the oldest settlements in the southern mountain ranges of Austria with records dating back to 1200. Our hotel overlooked the local parish church a huge valley in front with the alpine mountains forming the backdrop. The restaurant below was absolutely beautiful with colourful silk curtains, bright wooden furnitures and huge glass windows all around with generous views of the wonderful scenery outside.

After a quick break to freshen up and gulping in the scenery in the photo above from our balcony, we left for the town of Innsbruck. The town was set in a sprawling valley, as we see in the photo below, and in that sunny afternoon, it was buzzing with tourists, trams, buses and lots of cars, with gigantic mountains in the background.

The main tourist attractions in Innsbruck revolve around trekking, hiking and visiting various spots from where panoramic views of the Innsbruck valley can be seen. One of the best trips for tourists like us is a round trip to Nordkette which is Austria's largest national park. We first drove to the 300 m high cable-car station station in Hungerberg (which could also be accessed from the city-centre via funicular railway). From here, there are several small hikes that lead to various areas of the national park. You could also take the cable car from the Hungerberg cable car station and can reach the 1905-meter high Seegrube in just 8 minutes, with several stops along the way, including a stop at the Alpine Zoo, which is a favorite among families. Once you get there, you can enjoy a great panorama of the middle Innsbruck Valley. We spent the afternoon doing a short hike from Hungerberg to a nearby viewpoint. The evening was spent enjoying the superb view of the valley from the open restaurant of our hotel and having the famous Austrian dish of piping hot 'Schnitzel' (flattened meat, crusted and fried similar to Indian cutlets, mostly done with pork but you also get Turkey or chicken versions) and potato salad with cranberry sauce.

The next day, we went back to Hungerburg and took the cable car straight to the top of Seegrube. The day was bright and warm  and the final viewpoint at Seegrube  offered an almost aerial view of the mountain range behind. Having spent the morning at Innsbruck, we started for our next destination, Heiligenblut. The drive from Innsbruck to Heiligenblut via the Grossglockner Pass is one of the most scenic drives in Europe and needs to be experienced at least once in one's lifetime. The Grossglockner (3798 m), one of Austria's highest mountains, towers above neighbouring peaks and was the favourite haunt of great Austrian, German and Italian mountaineers. The road was built back in 1935 and consists of 36 hairpin bends: every metre of this 48-km road is as smooth and as well-maintained as the 'Autobahns'. 

At the toll-gate, a huge waterfall welcomes you on the left and a glowing white peak at a distance. The Grossglockner area is known for its flora and fauna and there are several small treks as well as a well-defined footpath in many areas to get the experience by foot. There were many bikers whooshing past us enjoying the road and the scenery all around and we realized that an entire day can be spent exploring the several stops and view points on the road.

At the other end of the pass, nestled between the high mountains was our next destination, the sleepy little village of Heiligenblut, straight out of an Austrian picture-postcard. The village also has a long history of its own. In the late 19th and early 20th century, young men from the village climbed and helped other European mountaineers climb the Grossglockner. Those brave men that died in the mountain were buried in a small burin ground in front of the village church.  Every grave was ornately decorated with fresh flowers, beautiful figurines, lamps and was neatly maintained. This chapel itself is not an ordinary one and was first mentioned in early 1200 as a place containing a relic of the 'Blood of Christ'.  On Sunday mornings, the choir dressed in traditional clothes and carrying their musical instruments march as a band towards the church. The music and the atmosphere was very festive and gay and we felt lucky to be a part of it.

From our hotel, next to the church there were a flight of stairs which took us right down to the river and the picturesque valley around it. There were some beautiful hotels down at the valley with the river flowing next to it and entire valley was yellow in colour from the wild flowers which were in their full bloom. We later realized during our journey as we hopped from one pretty village to another that the grass all around was coloured in yellow, white and in some places pink flowers.

Our next destination was Hallstatt in Upper Austria and this time we chose a route that would take us through  the southern part of Austria avoiding the grossglockner pass. This was a longer route but the when the scenery is beautiful, you are in no rush and have no problem driving, distance does not matter. So off we went through the narrow winding roads of the South Austrian valley and stopped very often, soaking in the sun and place around us. Our general idea of a road trip is to start a little late in the morning after a heavy breakfast, with food packed for lunch so that we do not spend a lot of time eating on the way and finish the day with a long dinner in the evening.

However on this day, we passed through a pretty little village with a bright yellow restaurant ('Gasthof') having a beautiful white and red canopy in the front balcony and flowers all around. Even on Monday afternoon locals were sitting there and having their cold beer and hot lunch. We just had to stop. The houses all around were just decorated with fresh flowers indicating summer and some heavenly small of slow-cooked meat was in the air. There was a chapel right on the opposite side of the street and a patch of garden in front of the restaurant. Food was ordered and as we sat at the balcony, my husband went around and managed to capture some beautiful shots of that place. It was a hot day and an hour's break was very welcome.

Austria is a land-locked country with some very scenic lakes in the 'Upper Austrian' region. The village of Hallstatt is located on the Western shore of one such lake or 'See', Hallstatter See. Hallstatt dates back to prehistoric times and there are mentions that it could even exists before Rome. It had the world's first 'salt mine' and salt being a  rich resource at that point in time made the village and its people wealthy. The salt mines tours are one of the popular activities in Hallstatt where they take you up a funicular to the top of a mountain where a path leads to the tunnel mouth to the salt mine and its 7000 years old history. In recent times, though, Hallstatt has become more popular as one of the most romantic places in the world especially by the Chinese tourists who love this place so much that they managed to create a copy of this village in China! Yes, there is a Hallstatt in China thanks to the ever growing globe trotting Chinese population. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Region.

The lake and the village is indeed beautiful with spectacular views all around. The general reclusive Austrians in this place are very welcoming and the local Austrian food mainly consists of fish from the lake  (I did manage to see almost live trout being taken inside the kitchen to be cooked) as well as local meat. The lake is surrounded by mountains on all three sides and is shaped as an 'S' and you can expectedly take a cable car to the top of the highest mountain to get a glimpse of the lake and two villages around it, Hallstatt and Obertraun.

The Gosau valley, 20 km from Hallstatt, mainly comprises of three lakes and the lower Gosau lake can be reached by car, whereas the other two require some hiking as well as a funicular taking you further up the mountain. We visited the lower lake Gosau which is almost a round lake with crystal clear water in shades of blue-green but the main attraction is at the far end of the lake where the Dachstein with its glacier just rises silently out of the lake. On the other side a rugged mountain sharply rises almost vertically up to the sky and I think because of the size of the lake and the big mountains surrounding it just feels seamless; the mountain, the glacier and the crystal clear water.

Our stay in Hallstatt was for 2 days and then we left for Salzburg on the third day with a heavy heart. The journey from Hallstatt to Salzburg was relatively short and fast as we quickly merged into the Austrian Autobahn. I will not go in detail about our stay in Salzburg as like all big cities in Europe it was built on the bank Salzach river. It is a city that is steeped in culture and is known for its baroque architecture somewhat similar to Vienna. There are 3 universities of which one is famous for music throughout the world and named after the most famous son of Austria whose birthplace was Salzburg, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The city centre located in the 'old town' is one of the most preserved city centres of the Alps and is a UNESCO Heritage world site.  Major points of interest in Salzburg are all closely located on either banks of the river in the old town and most of them can be reached by walking. We saw the birthplace and the later residence of Mozart, cathedral and the Mirabell garden and palace. The Hohensalzburg Fortress situated on top of a hill overlooking the old town is a must visit as it offers a 360 degree view of Salzburg from the top. We purchased 'Salzburg card' which is easily available in all hotels as well as the tourist information centre and covers the entrance fee of most of the tourist attractions. It was a hot day with temperature hovering around 32 deg C and all the walking was exhausting. However as we were having dinner in the old town, the skies opened up and there was a heavy downpour cooling the city.

Next morning it was time for us to return home and bid adieu to the Alps. As we boarded the flight from Munich I was thinking of 'Sound of Music' filmed in Salzburg and of the song 'Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens' and surely this trip would count as one of my favourite ones.