What We Packed into Our 4 Day Trip to Austria

Over the last couple of years, we have started to book in winter trips to dream destinations just us, no kids and so far each holiday has been so brilliant that I really think it’s now going to become an annual tradition. In October 2022 we visited the absolutely stunning Tromso in Norway which just completely blew us away. We saw the Northern Lights (twice!), enjoyed a fantastic boat trip to see whales and the Fjords and we got some time for ourselves as a couple again which is so important after you become parents. Then last December we opted for Salzberg, Austria which I have touched on in another blog post but I hadn’t yet written about what we packed into this 4 day trip so let’s take a look now… Because it truly was amazing!

Austria Day 1 – Salzburg

We arrived in Salzburg the night before and settled into our hotel, popped out for dinner and then back for a good night’s sleep ready for all those steps we knew we would be making throughout our trip. We spent our first full day taking in all that Salzburg has to offer from the wonderful river to the palace (where they filmed The Sound of Music), around some of the town admiring all of the statues and buildings and then onto the stunning Hohensalzburg Fortress. Salzburg is such a beautiful city and it is easy to spend hours and hours just wandering around and taking in all it has to offer. If you go during the Christmas period they have a wonderful Christkindlmarkt (Christmas Market) that is one of the oldest advent markets in the world. You can find gifts, sweet treats, wonderful food, hear music and join in with all the festive cheer. Some people visit just for the market at this time of year.

Austria Day 2 – Konigssee, Germany

Salzburg is very close to the German border making it the ideal place to pop across and see what else this part of the world has to offer. We booked an Uber first thing which collected us right outside our hotel and made our way to possibly one of the most stunning places I have ever seen, Konigssee.

This is a natural lake – Germany’s 3rd largest, in fact, – formed by the melting of glaciers during the last ice age which you can enjoy up close from the comfort of one of the regular boat trips running up and down throughout the day. We paid for our ticket on arrival and waited for our turn to fit onto a boat (coach trips did turn up making it very busy and hectic). Once on, the electric boat took us on a lovely smooth ride with a tour guide providing information… But only in German!! He was clearly very funny but for those of us who didn’t understand we could only watch on disappointed that we missed out on the jokes. He did, however, make it clear that the surrounding sheer rock walls create an echo and he demonstrated this by playing a trumpet out into the air which circled all around us and echoed back. It was really impressive and quite beautiful in an eerie sort of way.

The ride is around 35 minutes long and takes you to St. Bartholomä where you can hop off and walk around the stunning world-famous pilgrimage church, enjoy a meal in the restaurant, spot the wildlife or take a trek to Lake Obersee where your view stretches across the lake and over to the Fischunkelalm and the Röthbach Waterfall. 

We opted to trek and followed the path to look at Lake Obersee then started our climb up to find the waterfall. Unfortunately, the cold, snow and terrain meant we couldn’t quite get to the top but the views, the forest and the other waterfall we came across on our journey were all so beautiful and well worth the walk to see.

Once back down, we warmed up in the restaurant with hot drinks and food which was absolutely brilliant in my opinion. We took a small wander around the church, spotted some deer and then jumped back on one of the last boats to make our return. Unfortunately, once back, we couldn’t find a taxi so we had to find a bus and take a detour which led to us being stuck for a short while at a bus station. Thankfully, we quickly discovered how efficient and regular (and cheap!) the Austrian public transport is and soon enough we were on our way. If you are ever in doubt, do ask around and do take advantage of their bus systems.

Austria Day 3 – Hallstatt and Zwolferhorn

We started the day well with a lovely Uber driver who gave us lots of information on our journey to Hallstatt and even stopped to take our photo with the picturesque St. Gilgen in the background. What a star he was!

On arrival to Hallstatt, we made our way to the cable car also known as the Salzbergbahn, to make the climb up to the skywalk at the Hallstatt High Valley. This was all very organised, you could buy tickets on the day and the trip up was quite enjoyable.

At the top, be prepared for a slightly chillier feel, watch out for slippy areas and be amazed by the spectacular views. There is a coffee shop at the top so we warmed up with a hot a drink and this view:

You can also look around the salt mines up here but we had other plans to squeeze in to our short stay so once we had taken in all we wanted, we made our descent to the town to grab some lunch, look at the wonderful architecture and book tickets to take a boat across the lake.

Once across we again paid for tickets (you really didn’t need to book ahead for anything we found) and jumped on the train to St. Gilgen.

From here we took the Zwolferhorn cable car (brace yourself if you aren’t great with heights) up to the top of the mountain.

As you walk from the cable car exit it is like stepping into a magical snowy Christmas scene with breathtaking views for miles.

Austria Day 4 – Hintersee and Untersberg Mountain

As if we hadn’t completed enough steps during this trip so far, we decided to get a very early Uber across the German border to Hintersee Lake to make the most of our last day. We arrived around 9 am ish meaning we saw very few people, we had a quiet, relaxing walk, we saw undisturbed wildlife and the lake at its best -calm and tranquil.

We then jumped on a bus and made our way to Grodig to take the Untersberg cable car (yep, another one!) up to Untersberg Mountain. The snowy peak is absolutely stunning and the views are so vast it’s quite hard to take it all in, a simply amazing experience.

Austria and Germany are such wonderful places to visit, we were blown away by the architecture, the stunning areas we visited and the beautiful views. I can’t wait to return and discover more.

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