Austria

Thank you.

Hi Jerry,

We've been on just two in Austria.

The Zugspitze from Ehrwald, Austria and the Nordkettenbahn in Innsbruck.

zugspitze.at

www.nordpark.com

Both were great.

Paul

Ditto for the trip up to Zugspitze. We went from the German side (Garmish) and the ride up was awesome! A great little traditional German town to stay in as well.

Jerry,
I liked Hallstat and the slat mine tour. You go up by a cable type car. There is also some ice caves in the area that are interesting. We did a gondola ride in Zel am Zee that I thought was very nice too. I don't remember the name of the gondola. I did the Zugspitza a few years ago but it was cloudy at the top and we could not see anything. I think the zugspitsa is in Germany? If it is clear for sure do it. Also, some of the smaller towns have their own gondolas. We did a hike in Maria Alm that was just beautiful. It is a local ski lift that they use in the summer for hiking. I think you can't go wrong with any of the lifts in Austria. Good luck and have a great trip.

Hi,

The Zugspitze (Germany's highest peak) is on the border of both Germany and Austria. The Zugspitze is accessible from both Garmisch in Germany or Ehrwald in Austria. Either way you go to the top, you wind up in the same place.

Paul

Just got back from Austria, and I will second a prior post about Hallstatt in terms of scenery. No gondola, but there is a spectacular Funicular ride up the mountain, and the town itself is storybook beautiful. We also stayed in Mutters, right outside of Innsbruck, and took their gondola up the mountain and hiked back down, enjoying views of Innsbruck all the way. Stopped at the cafe halfway down and had a couple of beers (ice cream for the kids) and it was a wonderful day!

I agree, any area around the Salzkammergut is really beautiful, with Hallstatt, Salzburg, and plenty of other little lakes and alpine areas. Besides Hallstatt, the Wolfgangsee also offers a cable car ride or a train tide to the top of a mountain. There's also a cable car ride near Salzburg. In a different part of the country, I've heard that the area along the Donau is also pretty, like by Melk.

We spent some time in the Otztal area a couple of years ago. It's a north/south valley mid-way between Innsbruck and St. Anton. There are a couple of gondola rides that will give you some jaw-dropping scenery. Soelden has a gondola ride that gives you great views of the Italian/Austrian border and the Otztal valleys. If you had more time, you could also hike down to the lower parts of the valley from here. (http://www.oetztal.com/main/EN/WI/skigebiete/soelden/index.html)

We also went on a funicular/gondola trip in the Pitztal, a valley immediately to the west of the Otztal. The funicular train (underground) takes you up to the Pitztal Glacier where you take a gondola ride to the top. AMAZING views of the Tirolian Alps. You can see all the neighbouring 3000+ metre peaks in Italy, Austria and Germany (Zugspitze). The gondola is quite amazing too -- each gondola grouping is a set of 4 smaller gondola's running together. (http://www.pitztaler-gletscher.at/)