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Tirol vs. Salzkammergut

Posted by (Sacramento, California U.S.A.) on

I'm hoping for some advice from those in the know. I'm working on a plan for September 2020. It will be me, my husband, and another couple. The other couple consists of one who has been to Europe, but not to the areas we will be going, and her husband who has never been to Europe.

The starting point will be opening day of Oktoberfest. I'm thinking of several areas to stay outside of Munich. We will have a car. After our 4 nights in Bavaria we will spend 4 nights in Austria, then head to the Berner Oberland. That is just the beginnings of our travels, but it's the part I have questions about. We could stay around Garmish, taking the train to Munich for Oktoberfest, then spend our Austria time around Hallstatt or maybe a nearby lake. That would require us to spend an extra night along the way when going to the BO. Or, we could stay around Chiemsee. It's a shorter train ride to Munich from there and we could do a day trip to Salzburg. If we then went to the Innsbruck area (Seefeld maybe?) we could go to Garmish from there, and maybe even work in a drive over the Brenner Pass into Italy for a day. We could then get to Switzerland without an extra overnight somewhere.

My husband and I have spent time in Bavaria over a couple of trips, and we've also spent time in the Salzburg area. During the week we spent in St. Johann am Pongau we did a day trip to Hallstatt and also saw St. Gilgen and Mondsee on the Sound of Music tour we went on. We have never actually slept in Salzburg, but have been there for day trips 4 times over 3 trips. I really want to see some new things on this trip. Everything will be new to our friends.

I guess my question really is, does the Tirol area offer enough possible things to see and do to rival the lakes in the Salzkammergut.

For anyone who may be concerned about us driving when we arrive in Munich, my husband and I plan to go to Budapest before meeting our friends in Munich, so jet lag won't be a problem.

Thanks for any advice you can provide.

Posted by
10681 posts

Thanks for the reply. Any and all suggestions for specific things to do would be greatly appreciated.

Posted by
1688 posts

Basing around Chiemsee to start is not a bad idea, quick train into Munich from Prien. You can spend a nice day on the Chiemsee islands, Konigssee/Jenner are close by, as are Ramsau, Berchtesgaden and Bad Reichenhall. Reit and Ruhpolding are pleasant villages and nice places to stay, Burghausen is a little gem. You won't have time for Salzburg.

Move on to stay in Mittenwald, a lovely village with a gorge to the south. To name a few things, within an hour are Innsbruck (couple of days with Schloss Ambras), Stift Stams, Hall in Tirol, Tratzberg Palace. You can also hit Garmische with it's two gorges, Ettal Abbey and Linderhof. For lakes, there is a nice and fairly easy walk from Mittenwald to Lautersee, Kochelsee and Walchensee are to the north. Plus some of the stuff mentioned in the link above.

Kufstein is very much worth a visit, can be caught from Prien to Mittenwald/Seefeld.

Posted by
782 posts

I would Look at St Wolfgang on Lake Wolfgang,beautiful scenery,short day trip to Hallstatt, Bad Ischl where Franz Joseph spent his hunting time with his Hunting Lodge open to Tours and a very royal Town on a river.The towns of Mondsee and Gmunden on Lakes are worth a Day trip.There is also Five Fingers at Dachstein via a nice gondola ride and there are Ice Caves on the gondola Route at a lower Elevation.We have spent a month in this area over 10 Trips.
Mike

Posted by
782 posts

In regard to the Tirol,Innsbruck has at least two days of interest,really liked it we spent four nights and did a day trip to Bregenz on Lake Constance.A good day trip through the Brenner Pass to Bolzano to the museum where Otzi is,tells about his discovery in 1992 in the Alps and put together his life from 5300 years ago as a Hunter.Bolzano's main languageis German,very interesting City.By car or train the ride through the Brenner is very scenic.
Mike

Posted by
10681 posts

Thanks for your input, Gunderson. There is a lot to consider. Mike, thanks for your thoughts. I know how much you love St. Wolfgang. I'm looking forward to to discussing all of this with you. I hope to see you at the meeting on Saturday.

Posted by
1300 posts

Last September, my husband and I returned to Austria for the 4th time. We wanted to visit new places (ones not found in a Rick Steves book) We absolutely loved both.

Stubital alps: This area is just south of Innsbruck. I myself did not find the city of Innsbruck or Hall worth more than one night (based on previous visits.) This last visit, we spent 3 nights in the Stubital alps. It would be very easy to day trip to Innsbruck (or even the into Italy) from here. It is just a few miles south of Innsbruck on the Brenner Pass Road. We stayed in a lovely B&B that provided us with the a stubital super pass that allowed us to ride all the lifts in the area for free. You can see what is included here:

https://www.stubai.at/en/activities/hiking/stubai-super-card/

The B&B itself was 73 euros a night and included breakfast. Considering we rode up 3 of the lifts and enjoyed the longest Rodelbahn ride I have every been on, it was a great value in a beautiful location. This was our B&B

http://www.haus-wally.at/

Even if you are not a hiker, it is a beautiful place to visit and day trip around the area.

Our second area we visited was the Hohe tauern National Park. We stayed in a B&B in Neukirchen am Grossvenediger which is in the Northern part of the park. Once again, the B&B provided us with a Sommer Card that allowed us to use public transportation, lifts, high alpine roads, and many attractions for free. This included the drive over the Grossglockner High Alpine Road, which was one of the reasons we chose this area. It is absolutely beautiful here, but it is a little farther away from Innsbruck. Our passes got us over the Grossglockner Road (it normally costs 35 euros) up a beautiful lift to Glacier World, and even allowed us to use some E-bikes for a day for 10 euros. Here is more information on that:

https://www.nationalpark-sommercard.at/en/

We loved both these areas and are glad we ventured out of the usual recommendations from the RS travel guide. As for the Garmisch area, we loved that as well. We stayed in Grainau which is a sweet little village just a few miles from Garmisch. They also gave us a free pass that was good for all the buses and some trains. We rode the train into Garmisch one morning. It had always been my desire to stay in Mittenwald, but we stopped by in 2014 just to get a look at the town. It was so crowded and over run with tourists that we opted for Grainau. All the beauty (including a beautiful gorge that you can hike to) with none of the crowds.

Have a great trip whatever you decide.

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