Austrian Lakes & Mountains

From our local boarding point, we travel to Dover for the ferry crossing to Calais. Travelling across northern Europe with comfort stops, we make our way to Germany and our overnight stop with dinner bed and breakfast, in our selected hotel.

After an early breakfast and our cases are loaded we continue our journey through Germany, passing places like Wurzburg, Nurnberg and Ragensburg. From here the road follows the Blue Danube with views to the north of the wooded hills of the Bavarian Forest. Near Passau, where the river Inn joins the Danube, we enter Austria. At Reid we leave the motorway for a pleasant country ride towards the Salzkammergut, the Austrian Lake district, and St. Georgen, where we settle in for our 6 night stay with half board and entertainment at the family run Hotel Tirolerhof.

The first of our excursions will take us to the best-known village of Mondsee, for the most colourful village centre, and the “Sound of Music” church. Time to explore the church, walk down the avenue of trees to the warmest of the lakes, have coffee and cake at one of the delightful café’s. Then we travel around the lake to Wolfgang see, passing St. Gilgen, where the cable car goes up the Zwolferhorn 4500ft, to the popular village of St.Wolfgang, with a largely traffic free centre. “The White Horse Inn” famed by the operetta of the same name, is by the lakeside. The pilgrimage church with its beautifully carved altar by Michael Pacher. Many beautiful hotels, café’s restaurants and shops, horse drawn carriages that show you more of St Wolfgang, plus you have the option of going on a boat trip across the lake to then take the cable car to the top of the Swolferhorn (5000 ft ).

Boat trip on lake: (45mns) 7€…Cable car ride: approx. 22€

Today begins with a drive around the shore of Lake Attersee passing the town of Bad Ischle, a lovely Spa town. Home to Emperors and Composers, Franz Lehar’s house for instance, he wrote the operetta “The Merry Widow.” Where he lived and worked is much visited. The “Kaiser Villa” is where the Emperor Franz Joseph spent his summer months. The highest mountains in this part of Austria are the Dachstein Massifs, below which is the much photographed Hallstatt. A salt town full of old world charm, built on the side of Lake Hallstattersee. You can see the macabre bone house alongside the church. Walk the tiny-sloped walkways between the houses, smell the smoke of the wood burning stoves. A jumble of houses built on a slope below the muhlback waterfall. After lunch we continue our journey to the deepest of the lakes, Trauensee 600ft deep. At the northern end of the lake we visit the pleasant resort of Gmunden gateway to the Salzkammergut, now famous for its Gamunden Pottery.

Today we will visit the capital of upper Austria, Linz. This beautiful city on the banks of the Danube has a lot to offer. Often nicknamed as the 'Danube City', Linz lies predominantly on the southern side of the River Danube and the public square of the Hauptplatz marks the very heart of the city, being surrounded by various cafes, where you will no doubt get the opportunity to sample the famous local speciality, Linzer Torte. The Hauptplatz was once known as the Adolf-Hitler-Platz, since this German leader was always extremely fond of Linz. This afternoon for those who would like to come, we will visit the German Concentration Camp of Mauthausen. The Mauthausen-Gusen Camps, located near Linz, were the last Nazi concentration camps to be liberated by the Allies. While in operation, it was the source of quarrying for stone for Hitler's prestige projects across the Reich. During WW1, a prisoner of war camp existed to the east of Mauthausen. Russian, Serbian, and mostly Italian (at times 40,000 men) soldiers were imprisoned there, around 9000 of who died in the camp. A war cemetery exists in their memory. During World War II, from 1938 to 1945, concentration camps were set up to the west of the town. In early 1940, a large number of Poles were transferred to the Mauthausen-Gusen complex. An estimated 30,000 Poles died at Mauthausen-Gusen. Inmates were subjected to barbaric conditions, the most infamous of which was being forced to carry heavy stone blocks up 186 steps from the camp quarry. The steps became known as the "Stairway of Death."

Today we travel to Salzburg where we will spend most of the day in this splendid city. The Hohensalzburg Fortress which dominates the skyline in this historic centre, Mozart’s birthplace, in the most famous street in Salzburg, the Getriedgasse with its many wrought iron shop signs. The Cathedral, the Horse Pond, St. Peters cemetery, the Nonnberg Nunnery where Maria came from and the Mirabel Gardens for exquisite flower beds, sculptures, and Dwarves Garden.

Bidding farewell to Austria and our hotel, we travel back into Germany, making stops on route, to arrive for our last night of the tour with dinner, bed and breakfast at our chosen hotel.

Leaving after breakfast, we retrace our steps to Calais, for our late afternoon ferry crossing back to Dover. Arriving back at our destination by mid to late evening. The Driver and Tour Manager will do their professional best to ensure that you enjoy this tour. It will be at their discretion to rearrange the itinerary to better the tour for your comfort.