Austria touring tips?

[kevin993]

Pondering a driving tour of Austria next year after the Nurburgring 24 hour race. Looking for recommendations and tips. We'll have 8 days to play with. Focusing on areas between Lake Constance and going no further east than Linz. No Vienna on this trip.

Yes, we expect to visit the Porsche Gmund museum, so that's already on the list. Looking for lakes, waterfalls, scenic drives, and hidden gems. Really looking for good scenic drive ideas. Will likely base out of Innsbruck for the bulk of the trip. Expect a day trip down to the Dolomites at some point.

We are aware that in May, all of the mountain passes in the Alps may not be open.

Yes, we've visited Salzburg and Berchtesgaden. No objections to visiting either again, but we're familiar with the territory there. Yes, we've done Garmisch and other Alpenstrasse areas, so not looking for advice there.

Zell am See? Worthersee? Graz? Krimml waterfalls? Hallstatt? Grossglockner road?

Thanks in advance!

[Arnoud]

Hallstatt is nice but only for one day-then the bad manners of all the Chinese tourists get on your nerves.
Four years ago it was nice,went there last year and we decided that we had had enough for the next ten years or so.
Innsbruck is nice-then over the Brenner into Sterzing(Vipiteno),Jaufenpass,Stilfser Joch...
Rattenberg(near Innsbruck)with its glassfigure-manufacturing is worth a visit.Graz is nice as well..

Have a nice stay!

[LakeCleElum]

Grossglockner Pass road is a must see. It's a toll road. Currently over $35 Euro. I did the Porsche Gmund museum. It's well done, but small. I was finished in under an hour.

Zell Am See: Pelican member Ed Bighi lives there. We met up for beer and he took me to the Porsche Family home. I hopped out and took photos of the chapel and talked to two teenagers that live there.

I'm sure you can do this in many places, but in the small villiage of Wadring, I took the ski tram to the top of the Mtn for great photos and views. Tram runs year around...

On the way to Austria, I rented a great condo overlooking Lake Como at Bellagio for 4 nights. Quick 1/2k day drive to Austria via St. Moritz....I prefer Lake Como over Lake Constance.

You can't go wrong just mapping out a route thru the small villages and seeing the sights...You will appreciate drivers in Austria over those in Italy for sure. Big difference......Enjoy

[kevin993]

Perfect. These are exactly the kinds of tips I was seeking. Thanks much! Anyone else?

[sc_rufctr]

Vienna is worth the effort. Are you sure you can't find time to go there?

[Rick Lee]

Woerthersee and Graz are well east and south of Linz, but worth the very scenic drive. The highway from Salzburg to Klagenfurt (you'll be taking to go to Gmuend anyway) is just gorgeous. There are several awesome castles within sight of the hwy. Hohenwerfen is one and it's the namesake (in German) for the tv series, Man in the High Castle. Can't remember if it's that one or another nearby where they filmed Where Eagles Dare. But that whole road is great. Can't remember the toll for the Tauern Tunnel, but I think it was 13 Euros last time I drove it two years ago.

If you go to Woerthersee, the towns around there are great - Klagenfurt and Villach. Can't remember what's on the south side of the lake, but it's very scenic. Just north of Klagenfurt there are some cool sites too - Burg Hochosterwitz is viewable from most of St. Veit, which, itself, is my favorite town in the world. The Gurk Cathedral (Dom zu Gurk) is nearby and is awesome if you're into the holy relics stuff of the first millennium. Graz is definitely worth a trip. If you can't do Vienna, then do Graz.

The western part of the country has some cool towns too, but I've only seen most from a train window. If you haven't driven in Austria in a while, their speed limits are strict and police ubiquitous. You also need a highway decal on your rental car, which you can buy everywhere near the border.

I'm going again in Sept. and this thread is getting me excited already. Been about 20x and can't get enough of that country. Be sure to buy a jar of Kaerntner Bienenhonig. No better honey in the world. And drink Hirter beer wherever you see it. Skip Goesser.

[Rick Lee]

Oh, and make doubly sure the Gmuend Museum is open when you visit. I've been there several times and once they were closed for renovations, though their website said they were open every day but Xmas. I called the number on the door and got the Helmut Pfeiffhofer himself. He explained why they were closed, but said he would open the museum for me and a few others who were coming a few days later, which he did. We had the whole place to ourselves. Don't know if he's still around, as he wasn't young 15 years ago when I last spoke with him. But he is a legend. Good bar food in that town too.

[Captain Ahab Jr]

This is a pretty cool place to visit

Eisriesenwelt Werfen

[kevin993]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

Vienna is worth the effort. Are you sure you can't find time to go there?

Agree but been there before, so prioritizing new places for this trip. Thanks.

[kevin993]

More good stuff. Thanks much Rick! Perfect.

Captain - Thx for the ice cave idea.

[VZ935]

I go to Lake Worthesee .

The original Porsche factory is about 40 min away and close the that is Helmut Pfeifhofer Museum with all kinds of great Porsche cars

Also hit the Pyramidenkogel

*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlVmV8KLFbw

​And I posted a card for a great country spot to eat. Make reservations early and be on time

[304065]

VZ is that Zirbengeist?

[Rikao4]

if you do Zell am See area...
which is very nice..
your at the bottom of the Hintertux's glacier.
we used to ski up there in July..
great trails even if you don't want to schuss down the mountain..

Rika

[Rikao4]

terrible pic..
but you get the idea,,

Rika

[kevin993]

Thanks much - great feedback and pics! Keep it all coming.

Current thinking is that this is going to be a 2019 trip. Why? The 2018 N24 is May 12-13 and we're still concerned about mountain passes being closed with some of the places we wanted to go. Since the 2019 N24 will be June 22-23, we think we'll do better in 2019. That just means we have more time to plan! Know the guy with the Gmund museum isn't getting younger, so that closing before we get there is our big risk...

[matthewb0051]

The Stubaital glacier region just south of Innsbruck is very nice. Mieders is a great little village on the way. Stay there in the hotel/apartments just above the Spar grocery store.


.

Another great drive is the B roads north of Innsbruck over to Garmisch Germany. The 1936 Winter Olympic stadium is still there with the ski jumps.






Sorry for the overkill on Garmisch. Missed that part of the OP. Still a great drive over the mountain.

[kevin993]

Originally Posted by matthewb0051

Sorry for the overkill on Garmisch. Missed that part of the OP. Still a great drive over the mountain.

No worries, been there, seen the ski jumps, etc. Love the area. Great recomendation. Have done good chunks of the Deutsche Alpenstrasse. Cheers.