I devoted the morning to visiting the tourist sights around Innsbruck and taking the train to our next destination in the afternoon. With Innsbruck being a compact city and these sights being close to each other and located in Altstadt, a walking tour of the city is doable in one morning. When researching this trip, I found several Innsbruck walking tours online. I eventually went with the itinerary with historical sights on the Innsbruck Tourism website (click here for a list of recommended walking tours).

Innsbruck Altstadt – Soaking up the Historic Vibe of the City

Our initial plan was to visit some of the sites, such as the Imperial Palace, Landestheatre, and some fountains. However, we walked past some the past two days, and some were not open during winter. For Triumpheforte, since it is next to our hotel and we walk past it every day, I struck this site off the list of places we will visit today. We also wanted to get winter jackets that we saw on sale yesterday (shops are closed on Sundays, so we only have this morning to shop). I reviewed my list of tourist sights and limited our list to St James’ Cathedral, Golded Roof and City Tower while catering some time to do shopping. After two days in Innsbruck, walking along Maria-Theresien-Straße has been our daily routine. This street is the one we used to look for food or to connect to Altstadt. The main street for shopping also lies on this street.

Golden Roof

Originally, we wanted to visit the City Tower first, but we were met with a sign at the counter that said they were closed. A lady behind the counter avoided all forms of eye contact with us. We headed to the Golden Roof next door since there was nothing much to do here. The Golden Roof was not made of gold but copper. The sunlight reflected from the roof gave the roof a golden facade, hence the name Golden Roof. The Golden Roof is essentially a balcony made for Emperor Maximilian to mark his wedding anniversary with his wife. The Emperor and his wife used this balcony to observe events that took place from the square below. There are some paintings and sculptures made of wood on the balcony. I read there is a museum where we can understand more about the Golden Roof. When we walked up to the door, a sign was posted on the door stating that the Golden Roof Museum is closed on Mondays. Since there is nothing much we can do here, we headed for St James’ Cathedral.

St James’ Cathedral

St James’ Cathedral is about a 5-minute walk from Golden Roof. We saw a sign at the door suggesting the cathedral was closed. We hesitated about going in and waited outside the cathedral till 10 am (Google suggested 10 am is the opening time). It was 9.55 am, and we were unsure if the cathedral would open by 10 am, so we decided to check to see if we could enter St James’ Cathedral. We walked up to the door and cautiously opened it. To our amazement, the cathedral was full of people during their prayers. As we did not want to bring attention to ourselves, we waited quietly by the entrance we came in from and waited for the prayers to finish. The cathedral’s interior is mostly covered with natural colour marble and elaborate carvings on the pillar. The colours of the frescos painted on the ceiling and the beams stood out amidst the naturally coloured interior of the cathedral. Looking at these paintings, it felt more like an art gallery rather than a place of worship. A large golden altar was at the back of the cathedral, occupying the centre. As we were looking around, I spotted a machine. A note on the machine stated that €1 was charged to take pictures inside the cathedral. After paying the €1, the service in the cathedral ended. This is when we could see the decorations in the cathedral closer. The frescos on the ceiling looked lifelike, and we could almost see the characters moving. The gold on the garb of the marble angel carvings on the walls stood out. The blue colour painted on the organ was visibly apparent from the silver and gold on the instrument. The cathedral was bright and beautiful.

City Tower

It was slightly past 10 am when we left St James’ Cathedral. As our train was at noon, we wanted to head back to the shops on Maria-Theresien-Straße to shop. We decided to check if the City Tower was open when we walked past it. The closed sign on the counter was still there, but this time round, the staff we saw earlier saw us approaching and removed the sign. The Innsbruck Card covers the entry to the City Tower. We got our tickets to the tower (which cost €4.50 per adult) after the staff scanned our Innsbruck Card and proceeded up the tower through a glass door. The ticket gantry to the City Tower sits one level above the ground level. Passing through the gantry, we were greeted by a pair of spiral staircases (one up and the other down) intertwining around a single pillar. The City Tower was used as a watch tower by the guards for nearly 450 years to warn citizens of fire and other dangers. Today, the 51m tower is a tourist attraction that offers visitors views of the city and the Alps. We walked up 133 steps on the spiral staircase to the viewing platform perched 31m on the tower. The viewing platform gave us a panorama rooftop view of the city. We could spot the colourful houses by the Inn River we were at yesterday. We were also able to see the Golden Roof from a higher elevation. The roof did look golden when cast by the sunlight. Donning on their white caps and occasionally hidden behind the low clouds, the mighty Nordkette mountain range appears to be guarding over Innsbruck. From the narrow platform, my friends and I spotted Seegrube and Hafalekar cable car stations on the Nordkette that we were on two days ago. We spent about 20 mins at the Clock Tower and the next 1½ hours shopping. My friend managed to get a jacket at a good deal in one of the shops. It was 11.45 am when we returned to our hotel, and we had not checked out our rooms yet. We quickly grabbed our luggage from our room and checked out at noon. Fortunately, the bus stop is only in front of the hotel, and most buses or trams that stop here go to Innsbruck Hauptbahnhof (a bus ride to the train station only takes 2 min). We arrived at the train station with some spare time to get a refreshment at the train lounge before we rode to our next town.

Golden Roof seen from the City Tower

Onward to Zell am See

Our train to our next town in Austria, Zell am See, departs at 12.21 pm, and we made it to the platform in time with minutes to spare. The idea of stopping by Zell am See came about when I was planning our Austria trip. I noted it would take 5 hours on the train from Innsbruck to Graz. I am not keen to be stuck in a metal box for that long time, and I wanted to break the train ride down by planning a stay at a village or town between Innsbruck and Graz. During planning, I chanced upon the town of Zell am See, where the locals would come in summer or winter. When looking at what to do in Zell am See, I saw that we could visit not one but two mountains – Kitzsteinhorn and Schmittenhohe near Zell am See. Less touristy plus more mountains we can visit, so Zell am See here we come. The train ride to Zell am See took slightly under 2 hours. As our train zipped past the country, we saw green pastures slowly overtaken by white powdery snow. About 30 minutes into the train ride, the ground was covered in snow! We were ecstatic, which meant we would see snow in Zell am See.

We arrived at Zell am See Bahnhof on time at 2:15 pm, and trains in Austria were extremely punctual (except for our ride to Hallstatt, where the train was delayed by over 1 hour). Like Innsbruck, our accommodation in Zell am See is about a 5-minute walk from the train station. But unlike Innsbruck, Zell am See is even smaller. Our check-in time was at 4 pm. Fortunately, the accommodation allowed us early check-in. We spent the next 1½ hours settling into our accommodation, exploring the facilities in our 2-bedroom apartment and lazing around. Originally, I planned to explore Zell am See, visit some of the major sites, and go to the promenade by Lake Zell. But we prioritised getting supplies from the supermarket and changed our plan to leisurely strolling in the town. Schloss Rosenberg was the first sight (after our supermarket trip) we saw in town. This nearly 400-year-old building, built by tradesmen in the town, is the office of the mayor of Zell am See today. The exterior of the building looked like a medieval castle with a large three-storey roof and pointy roofs in the four corners, which reminded me of the castles in Disneyland but on a smaller scale. We did not enter the building, so we were unsure if it was open to visitors. Opposite Schloss Rosenberg is a small garden, the Schloss Park, with a bar in the middle. As we walked around the town looking for dinner, we noticed the buildings in the centre of Zell am See have a small alpine town charm, with a good mix of wooden facades and brightly painted modern concrete buildings. Yet some buildings in the town centre still retained the medieval building facade, such as the clock tower and a bank in the centre of the shopping district. This clock tower is the bell tower of the St Hippolytus Church. As we were in an exploration rather than a visiting tourist sight mode, coupled with the fact that it was late afternoon when most of the sights would be closed, we did not bother attempting to find out if we could enter some of these sights we saw while strolling in the town. It was 6 pm when we finally found a place for dinner. We returned to our accommodation after dinner to rest for the night; after all, we would have an early start tomorrow.

No visit to Innsbruck is complete without a visit to the Top of Innsbruck, the mountain closest to the city. The mountain offered visitors a panorama view of the city and the surrounding mountains. The whole point of coming to Innsbruck is to visit the Nordkette.

Making our way to the Top of Innsbruck

The Nordkette is perhaps one of the easiest mountains to get to from the city centre. A system of funicular and cable cars (costs €52 for a round trip ticket) transports visitors up 2,200m to the Nordkette from Congress Station in Innsbruck Atlstadt. The way to the top of the mountain requires us to take three modes of transport. We started our trip up the mountains with a funicular ride and changed to two cable car systems. To get to Congress station, we took a bus towards the train station (also covered in our Innsbruck Card) from the stop in front of our hotel (casino) and alighted at Innsbruck University. The funicular took us across the River Inn as we transited higher up the mountain. We got off at the final station, Hungerburg.

Hungerburg – Our Prelude to the View of Innsbruck

Technically, the funicular was not directly linked to the cable cars that run up the mountain. There is a short walk from the funicular station to the cable station. Along the way, we stopped by a viewing platform, where we were able to see the entire Innsbruck City and the mountain ranges beyond the city. The view was magnificent here, and I highly recommend visitors stop by for the scenery. The snow-capped mountains beyond Innsbruck formed a very scenic backdrop for the city. We also spent some time identifying places like our hotel, the ski jump and Innsbruck Hauptbahnhof, among other attractions (apart from taking numerous photos at this spot) that we had visited or will be visiting. A small museum inside the cable car station at Hungerburg displays the history of this cable car system and the mountain ranges on Nordkette. Though modest, this museum was a great way to kill time while waiting for the cable car.

Seegrube – Fun in the Snow in the Mountains

The next cable car up to the Top of Innsbruck took 8 minutes to hoist us from 680m to 1,900m, the longest cable on the Nordkettebahn. As we ascended the mountain, the landmarks we previously saw at the viewing platform became increasingly unrecognisable. In exchange, we got a better view of the entire city, the neighbouring cities, and more mountain ranges at the back of Innsbruck. Mountains after mountains, seemingly donning white beanies, start to pop up as we ascend. The view was breathtaking. The scenery underneath the cable car also changed from concrete buildings to a sea of pine trees that called this mountain home. We started to see trails of snow on the forest ground the higher we ascended. Soon, most of the green pine tree forest ground was covered with snow.

Our initial plan was to stay in Seegrube for 1 hour for breakfast and see the view of the city from the Cloud 9 Terrace. Unknowingly, our stay got extended to 3 hours. We were captivated by the amount of snow and the spectacular view that was before us the moment we stepped outside the Seegrube cable car station. We could see more cities and almost the top of the mountains afar, coupled with the snowy ground forming the foreground of our photos; the terrace is an excellent place to take pictures. We saw a staff setting up deckchairs near the edge of the mountain. I told my friends that this was the Cloud 9 Terrace I read online, and the purpose was to let visitors relax and enjoy the view of Innsbruck from Nordkette. Shortly, the snowflakes we felt falling from the sky got us even more excited. We came to Austria in winter to experience snowfall (we don’t get snow in Singapore), which is exactly what we got. We were enticed to stay at Seegrube longer, playing in the snow, feeling the snow from the sky touching our faces.

We headed inside the restaurant for a warm cup of drink. As it was 1 hour before the restaurant started taking orders for lunch, we decided to have our lunch here before going up to the Top of Innsbruck (we were merely giving ourselves excuses to enjoy the snowy weather). After coffee, my friend and I went outside to play in the snow and take pictures. As we played in the snow, we spotted a small cordoned-off area. A sign beside it told us we could play on the sledges and snow bikes we saw here for free. Unsure what to do with it, a family we met showed us how to use it and encouraged us to join them. And I am glad we did that. We were cautious on our first try on the sledge, partly unsure how it worked, if we could brake in time or if we would do something embarrassing. However, the family we met was very encouraging and told us not to worry and just have fun. Our first try was indeed fun. Though we had sledged in Hokkaido some years back, the sledging was in a relatively more controlled environment. Staff were around to tell us when to brake, and barriers were set up to ensure we braked in time. Sledging up here feels like sledging in the wild, and the snow with people around enjoying the fun with us was a different experience. My friend and I initially wanted to do just three rounds. After the third round, we told ourselves, this is just too fun to stop at three. We ended up spending 1 hour sledging. We returned to the restaurant to meet with our friend and have lunch. After lunch, we encouraged our friend who had not sledged before to go sledging (partly because we wanted to play more). Unwillingly, she joined us after assuring her that it was safe and that we would be beside her. She also had fun sledging in the snow. We went for another three more rounds before heading to the Top of Innsbruck.

Hafelekar – The Top of Innsbruck

We took another cable car to the Top of Innsbruck, perched at 2,256m up the mountains. This is the highest point accessible to visitors on Nordkette. On a clear day, we will not only be able to catch a panorama view of Innsbruck but also be treated to the view of the mountain ranges. The cable car ride from Seegrube to Hafelekar took about 2 minutes to cover the 300m altitude. It was still snowing outside, and I was telling my friends we might not be able to see what we came for. True enough, we were soon disappointed to find out that we would not be able to see the city due to the low clouds and snowfall. The snowfall up here was heavier than we experienced at Seegrube minutes earlier.

We exited the cable car station and only saw a sea of white. We spotted a building up a slope not far from the cable car station and decided to go near it. This is the Victor Franz Hess Observatory, the world’s first high-altitude cosmic ray observatory. Walking up the slope near the observatory was another challenge due to the icy path. We wanted more time in the snow out here, but one of our friends was cold and headed inside the cable car station. Meanwhile, my other friend and I explored the place near the cable car station to take more photos. We spotted a railing that might be the viewpoint from which we looked into the mountain ranges. But we barely see the mountain peak due to the snowfall and the low clouds. After some pictures, we returned to the cable car station to join our friend. We took the next cable car back to Seegrube after spending about 20 minutes up here since there was nothing much we could do here. At Seegrube, we went a few more rounds of sledging because we had so much fun. This time, my friend and I used another sledge that looked somewhere between a sledge and a ski bike. We thought this sledgebike was more fun as it was more slippery.

The Alpenzoo – The Highest Themed Zoo in Europe

We took the 3 pm cable car from Seegrube to Hungerburg. Since we had some time, we decided to visit the Alpenzoo (costs €15, opens till 5 pm) to maximise the value of our Innsbruck. The alpine-themed zoo has 150 animal species, mainly curating animals living in the Alps. To get to the AlpenZoo, we took the funicular from Hungerburg towards Altstadt for one stop and alighted at Alpenzoo station. It took us about 5 min walk from the funicular to the zoo. The first exhibit had a beaver sign, but we did not see any beavers when we tried looking for them. Most of the animals we saw were birds and marine animals in the aquarium section of the zoo. The only interesting animal we saw was the Lynx; even the snakes were nowhere to be seen in their tanks, perhaps enjoying winter hibernation. We felt the zoo was boring and lifeless. Even the biggest animal we saw, the moose, does not have their antlers. We left the zoo after walking around for 1 hour and thought it wasn’t worth paying €15 to visit the zoo.

Iconic Photo Spot at Marktplatz and Evening in Altstadt

We spotted a bus stop in front of the zoo as we exited. Considering the funicular might be crowded, we took the 4.50 pm bus back to Innsbruck. Incidentally, the bus’s final stop was Marktplatz, located next to River Inn. This was the place I wanted to bring my friends to, where the iconic photo of Innsbruck featuring a row of colourful houses in front of the river could be taken. We stopped by to take some photos with the houses by the river and Nordkette as the backdrop. The Marktplatz was about a 7-minute walk to Maria-Theresien-Straße. We strolled in the Old Town, looking for dinner, and eventually settled dinner in a Chinese Restaurant. After dinner, we returned to Maria-Theresien-Straße, looking at and taking pictures of the St Anne’s Column and enjoying the tranquillity the quiet Sunday night brought.

Onward to Innsbruck

We checked out of our hotel at 8 am, in time to catch our train to our next city, Innsbruck. As the Salzburg Card is still valid, we took a bus to the Salzburg train station. We waited for the train in the OBB lounge, which serves some simple breakfast and drinks. Since we had breakfast at the hotel, we only had some drinks in the lounge.

We arrived at Innsbruck at around 10.45 am. The first thing on our minds was to get the Innsbruck Card, available for sale at selected hotels or the tourist information centre in the old town centre. Like many cities in Austria, the Innsbruck Card (€69 for a 48-hour card) allows access to most tourist attractions and all public transport in Innsbruck. In my research, while planning this trip, the attractions we plan to visit would cost us €94.50. We thought the Innsbruck Card was value for money, as it also included all public transport within Innsbruck. From my research before our trip, I learned that the Word & Press shop at the train station sells the Innsbruck Card. We checked with a friendly staff member at the shop and were informed that they do not sell Innsbruck cards. The staff told us we could get the card from Ibis Hotel, which is next to the train station. After getting our Innsbruck Card from Ibis Hotel, we headed for our hotel, about a 5-minute walk from the train station. We were relieved that the hotel granted us early check-in. We settled into our rooms and visited our first sight in Innsbruck.

Swarovski Crystal Worlds: The Art of Crystals

We returned to Innsbruck train station, where we caught the 12.40 pm bus to Swarovski Crystal Worlds (return trip from Innsbruck by shuttle bus costs €12). One of the benefits of the Innsbruck Card is that it not only gave us access to many attractions in Innsbruck, including Swarovski Crystal Worlds, but it also covered the bus ride to this attraction. The ride from the train station to Swarovski Crystal Worlds (costs €26) took about 28 mins. We were initially quite neutral about visiting the Swarovski Crystal Worlds, thinking it was an exhibition to promote the brand’s products. The front of the museum was a face with water flowing out of the mouth. I thought the face looked creepy.

The indoor exhibits of Swarovski Crystal Worlds have numerous crystal art in different shapes and sizes displayed across the 18 chambers. Some of these exhibits showcased the crystals hanging from the ceiling or mounted into the walls, but most of the displays have these crystals turned into artworks and some as part of the clothing (mainly for celebrities). When I saw these crystal-made garments, I wondered why anyone would wear these uncomfortable-looking clothing. After looking at the first few chambers, the wow factor dissipated. We rushed through the rest of the exhibits and walked towards the exit. My friends and I were lukewarm about these exhibits and spent only 1 hour through the 18 chambers. We weren’t interested in the rest of the park, where we skipped the outdoor grounds comprising a maze and a crystal forest. We waited for the 3.35 pm shuttle bus back to the city. I find the price was not worth visiting, maybe except for crystal enthusiasts. I wouldn’t have come here if not for the included from the Innsbruck card.

Night Stroll in Innsbruck

It was about 4 pm when we returned to Innsbruck, and we wanted to find some food as we only had breakfast. We explored the city of Innsbruck, hunting for food and some shopping. The city of Innsbruck is compact and very walkable. The walk from the train station to the old town, where most of the attractions in the city are located, took about 15 mins. There are restaurants and cafes dotted around the city, with more choices of cuisines for food. We started our hunt for luncheon from the train station and strolled into Maria-Theresien-Straße, the main street in Innsbruck, where most of the shopping and restaurants are housed in baroque-styled buildings. Along the Maria-Theresien-Straße, we saw the Triumphpforte, an archway built by Empress Maria Theresa in the 18th century using the stones from the old city gate. This archway marks the entrance to Innsbruck city. Further towards the Altstadt along Maria-Theresien-Straße, we spotted St Anne’s column (Annasäule), built in 1703 to mark the liberation of Tyrol from Bavarian troops. At the top of St Anne’s column stands the statue of St. Mary. We walked further along the Maria-Theresien-Straße and arrived at the Golden Roof. At night, the Golden Roof lost its “golden glitter”, revealing its bronze nature. The buildings around the Golden Roof had a strong baroque architecture style. Most of the shops in Innsbruck close at 6 pm, this part of the town seems quiet. We settled for dinner and returned to our hotel.

The very reason that made Austria our travel destination was a picture of Hallstatt in winter at night. The snow-covered town with the night light cast on the houses by the lake made this town look charming. Hallstatt is located near Salzburg, and it took about 2 hours to get to Hallstatt from Salzburg and 3 hours from Vienna.

Getting to Hallstatt

There are two main ways (other than self-drive) to get to Hallstatt: by train or bus. We initially wanted to take a bus from Salzburg train station, as I read that the bus option would take us directly into Hallstatt without the need to take the ferry ride across Lake Hallstatt. The bus option offered a more scenic view compared to the train. The downside of taking the bus is we will be required to change three buses, which are not as frequent (and are about 1 hour apart). Not knowing if we would make it in time since the timing between buses is mere minutes apart, we opted for the easier train option. We took the train from Salzburg Hauptbahnhof and switched to another in Attnang Purcchiem for Hallstatt.

Change in Plan

Days after we purchased non-cancellable train tickets to Hallstatt, an email correspondence with the Hallstatt Salt Mine notified us that the path to the Hallstatt skywalk would be closed due to the amount of snow in January. Since the skywalk is closed and allocating a full day to the Hallstatt will be excessive, the other place we could get a bird’s eye view of Hallstatt would be 5-Fingers on Dachstein Krippenstein. We changed our plan and carved out the morning for 5-Fingers. To get to Dachstein Krippenstein, we took the train to Obertraun Dachsteinhöhlen Bahnhof and transferred to a 7-minute bus ride on #542 (the bus stop is outside a church opposite the train station). It was snowing when we arrived at Obertraun Dachsteinhöhlen Bahnhof. We were very excited to see snow in this part of Austria.

Dachstein Krippenstein – Top of Hallstatt

When we arrived at the Dachstein Krippenstein cable car base station, we were told that the 5-fingers attraction was closed due to the heavy snowfall. Our only option is to get the Panorama Ticket and ride the cable car up the mountains for a meal. Since we were already here, we bought the Panorama Ticket (which cost €46.40 on site), including the return gondola ride from the base station to the highest mountain station (2,200m). The snowfall made the scenery we saw on the ride up to the top of the mountain magnificent. We were able to see Lake Hallstatt on the way up. To get to the top of the mountain, we were required to change cable cars at the first station (about 1,300m) to the highest point. Our view of the mountain started obscuring by the low clouds as we approached the second station.

As soon as we reached the peak station, the snowfall got heavier, and the temperature dropped to -12.2°C, making it tough for us to even step outside the cable car station. There is a restaurant at the peak station, and we thought the price was quite reasonable given its location. We settled our lunch here while watching the heavy snowfall and occasionally skiers setting off from the starting point for their way down to the base of the mountain. At times, the clouds gave way to the sun, giving us a good view of the ski slope from the restaurant. After lunch, we headed into the open area to feel the snowfall. And since there is not much we can do here (we don’t ski, nor were there sledging facilities), we decided to descend the mountain and head to Hallstatt.

Spending the Afternoon in the Fairy Tale Town of Hallstatt

We took bus #543 from Dachstein Krippenstein base station to Hallstatt, which dropped us off at the carpark just outside town. As the bus stop outside town was next to the lake, we were already treated to the postcard view of Hallstatt the moment we alighted from the bus. We were surprised at the relatively thin crowd in Hallstatt. After all, Hallstatt is a tourist town that people flock to because of the view. Hallstatt exists due to the salt mine in the mountains behind the town. Salt has been mined here 7,000 years ago, even older than the pyramids of Egypt. There is only one path which cuts through the whole town (I told my friends we would not go wrong by following the crowd), where we saw houses seemingly stacking on each other (as some were built on the higher slopes). The pavement into the town was next to the lake, giving us a great view of the lake and the surrounding mountain ranges. It was snowing when we arrived at Hallstatt, and the snow-covered ground made this fairy-tale town even more charming. This is the view we came for and the reason why we wanted to visit Hallstatt in winter.

After about 20 minutes of walking (and photo-taking), we came to an open space surrounded by houses with a wooden monument in the centre. This is Central Marktplatz – the town square of Hallstatt. We saw colourful houses surrounding the monument, snow-covered pine trees in the mountains behind, and snow on the ground. This is a perfect picture of a snowy town in winter. The absence of the crowd added a sense of tranquillity to Central Marktplatz, making it even more charming and relaxing. We spotted a church not far from the Central Marktplatz, sitting by the lakeside. The grounds the church sits on are covered with snow, making it a perfect place to take winter pictures. A small platform extends into the lake, a great spot to take pictures. We did not enter the church as we did not find the entrance.

The walk to the viewpoint took about 15 minutes up some slopes and stairs. The view here was stunting. We could see why this is the perfect spot to take pictures of the town, especially in winter. I highly recommend not to miss this spot when coming to Hallstatt. From this viewpoint, we were able to get to the town, the lake, and the mountains in one frame. It wasn’t too crowded at the time we arrived at the viewpoint. We had about 1 hour before sunset (sunset at 5.30 pm), and I wanted to return to this viewpoint to take capture night shots of the town. I thought the snow-covered Hallstatt would be especially beautiful when lights were cast at the building.

As we walked through the town earlier on, I saw a street behind some of the houses that seemed to be perched high up on the side of the hill earlier today (I call this street the “Roof of Hallstatt”). I thought it would be interesting to see Hallstatt from a different perspective, and since we had 1 hour to spend before sunset, my friend and I went to this “Roof of Hallstatt”. Seeing the snow-covered roofs of Hallstatt, facing the lake with the houses in between us, I thought Hallstatt looked equally beautiful here. We even spotted a waterfall up here on the walkway. We returned to the viewpoint as it was near sunset and waited for the right moment when the sky was sufficiently dark and the lights in the town were bright enough for the contrast. After waiting for about 30 minutes, we got our shot.

The last ferry to Hallstatt Bahnhof, across the lake, was timed to the last train that ran through the station. Tickets for the ferry ride (€4 one way) will only be sold at the time of boarding (i.e., we cannot book or purchase in advance). We saw Hallstatt getting smaller from the ferry as we moved towards the other side of the coast. Soon, it was time for us to bid farewell to Hallstatt as we boarded our train back to Salzburg. The train ride from Hallstatt to Salzburg took around 2 hours. I thought spending ½ day in Hallstatt was sufficient (provided the Salt Mine and funicular were closed). Other than the view from the viewpoint, there is nothing much anyone can do in Hallstatt, although I might spend 1 day if the Salt mines were opened. I thought we made the right decision by spending the morning in Dachstein Krippenstein, although there was nothing much we could do there when 5-fingers were closed.

We wanted to cover as much Salzburg as possible today to maximise the 48-hour Salzburg Card, which costs €36 per adult. The sights we visited today would cost us €74.90 (excluding the public transport we took), about double the amount we paid for the Salzburg Card. One thing good about the Salzburg Card is that it is valid for the entire 48 hours from the time we activated it and not by day. Since we activated it on 9 Jan at 9.30 am, it will remain valid until 11 Jan at 9.29 am, the entire 48 hours.

Untersberg – The Mountain that Spans into Germany

One of the ways to maximise the value of our Salzburg card is to visit Untersberg, the mountain ranges that span into neighbouring Germany. Our Salzburg card included a return cable car ride (€32 for a return cable car ride) to the summit station at Geiereck, about 1,776m in the Alps on the Salzburg side of the mountain ranges. To get to the base station of the Untersbergbahn, we took bus #5 from Salzburg Hauptbahnhof (€2.50 one way from Salzburg City) to the final stop of Untersbergbahn. Bus #25 also runs from Salzburg Hauptbahnhof to the base station. The cable car ride took about 8 mins up to the top. As we ascended the mountain, we saw the mighty surrounding mountain ranges sitting magnificently across the land in their white snow cap. As we approached the summit, the terrain below us turned from lush grassy plains to sharp mountain edges. Soon, we saw traces of snow draping on the mountain terrain below us. The snow coverage area increased as we were closer to the summit station. Passing the last cable car pylon, we were immersed in a snowy wonderland.

There weren’t many facilities in the Untersbergbahn summit station, other than the cable car, and only one restaurant called home here. We couldn’t hold our excitement at the sighting of snow and made our way outside. The view outside the station was breathtaking. We were treated to a vast landscape beyond the snowy grounds we were standing on. We could see Salzburg city and the nearby Salzburg airport from where we stood. However, the lack of railings and our uncertainty about the path prevented us from getting close to the mountain’s edge. There seem to be some trails that would lead us to a cross on top of the summit station. Having that in mind, we slowly navigated our way. The first few steps out of the station covered in snow were fine, but the icy path as we walked further uphill along the trail was slippery. There weren’t any railings around that we could use to ease our trek up the slope. We saw a wooden lodge housing a restaurant not far from the summit station that we had just exited. We carefully navigated our way to the cross above the cable car station, looking for the next step that did not result in us sliding backwards. Soon, we came to a crosspoint; the way up to the cross was steep, and with the icy path, we were not confident we could make it up. Or we could take a right on what seems to be an easier path up and down some slopes to another cross in the distance. We opted for this path. As we were walking up the slope, it became the icy path proved to be challenging. After the first slope, we thought it might be too challenging to press on despite seeing some groups easily passing us. We made a U-turn and headed back to the cable car station at the peak of the first slope (partly due to more sights we wanted to visit in the day).

The walk back downslope on the icy path was very challenging. We were unsure if the next step would result in us tumbling down the slope or, worse, down the mountains. We thought the way down was exhausting, both psychologically and physically. After a few minutes of mental challenge in taking our next small step down, my friend and I decided to slide down the slope. It felt safer, but our bums suffered. Soon, we were at the same wooden lodge we had seen earlier and knew we were close to the summit station. The final stretch downslope to the summit station was very icy and slippery. Fortunately, we saw a path leading to the station’s terrace deck (the second floor), which was easier to walk on. We finally made it back to the station and had lunch in the restaurant to reward our efforts (partly because we were hungry) while waiting for the next cable car down (cable cars depart the station at the quarter of the hour).

Festung Hohensalzburg – One of the largest 11th-century Fortress in Europe

Since we did not have time to visit Hohensalzburg Fortress yesterday, we prioritised it after visiting Untersberg. Hohensalzburg Fortress is an 11th-century fortress that stood guard over Salzburg, perched on the 506m Festungsberg. The Fortress was initially built to protect the political interests of the archbishop of Salzburg. It was expanded over the next 600 years. The more significant expansion was in 1500 when the archbishop angered his people through his authoritarian ruling style by turning the Fortress from a defensive structure into a self-sufficient residence. Armed with our Salzburg card, which not only grants us the Basic Pathway tickets (€11.20 per pax) to the Fortress (which includes entrance to the castle area, the Panorama Tour and several fortress museums) but also includes a return ride on the FestungsBahn (€6 return). We took bus #25 from Untersburgbhahn base station to Petersbrunnstraße, and from the bus stop, we took a 16-minute walk upslope to the funicular station. The walk took us to the back of Altstadt, where we could see the old town from a different perspective. Along the walk, we saw St. Erhard church, a masterpiece of Salzburg architecture originating in a period dominated by the Italian baroque style and the Salzburg Cathedral, towering over the old town buildings.

Taking the Festungsbahn is the fastest and easiest way to access Hohensalzburg Fortress (the other option was to walk up), which takes less than one minute to reach the top station. Exiting the station, we saw a German sign pointing us in two directions: to the left is “Tower Aussichtsturm”, and to the right is “Dinner & Konzert”. Not knowing what it meant, we assumed the right would bring us to some restaurant and took the left turn. This direction brought us to a large bastion where we got some really amazing views of Salzburg City. From here, we could see the Salzburg Cathedral towering over the buildings in Alstadt and the newer parts of the city further beyond, with the Salzach River running between the two areas. At this bastion, we could feel the graduere of the Fortress. We climbed the only stairs that seemingly led to the inner Fortress. While climbing the stairs, we realised the first landing gave us a better photo shot with Salzburg City below (highly recommended to take pictures here). The staircase landed us in the courtyards. Some unmarked buildings and small huts occupied the space in this courtyard, suggesting that Christmas markets might be operating here. From the staircase, we saw a sign marked “Panorama Tour” hanging from the side of the building wall, which was our next stop.

We headed inside the door for the Panorama Tour, which took us from the salt depot through the dungeon and finally to the viewing platform. The Panorama Tour is very easy to follow, there is only one way with stations and introduction of the various parts of the inner Fortress. First, we walked past a set of windows that gave us a good view of Salzburg City below, but I thought the views here paled in comparison to that from the bastion. The first room the walkway led us to was the Salt Depot, filled with a white table-like structure (which could be salt deposits) and a detailed model of Salzburg’s old town and the Fortress. There are panels explaining how Salzburg came to be and its connection with salt. Further on the path was the prison block. On the ground floor, the dungeon was visible through a metal grate on the floor. There are brief introductions about the prison cells and the dungeon in this room. Other than the grated floor and the exhibits, a wooden spiral staircase would lead us to the tower’s top deck. There were some empty rooms with nothing but a wooden chest on each floor of the tower. These would be prison cells. I thought the highlight of the Panorama Tour was the view from the platform above the prison cell block. From here, we can see the city of Salzburg and enjoy views of the surrounding Alps. We could also see Untersburg, which we visited in the morning. Descending from the tower, the rest of the tour was rather uneventful. We walked past some windows that gave us some good views of Salzburg from the Fortress. When we exited the building at the end of the walkway, we ended back in the courtyard, not far from where we entered the building earlier.

Through an archway, we came to another building—a staircase leading up to the fortress’s museums. These museums were segregated into different parts but were essentially one big hall. This is where we learned more about the fortress’s history and the way of life inside it. There is even a large hall displaying armour and cannons used in the Fortress’s heydays. As we were not museum-goers, we quickly skimmed through the museum and concluded our visit to the Hohensalzburg Fortress.

Salzburg Altstadt

Most of the attractions in the Salzburg area are situated in Altstadt. Since we were at Hohensalzburg Fortress, it made sense for us to visit some of the sights in the old town. Our first stop would be the Domquartier, a 5-minute walk from the funicular station.

DomQuartier

DomQuartier is a museum complex (€15 for full access) that displays secular and sacred art collections centred around the Salzburg Cathedral and Cathedral Square. The State Rooms, Archway Terrace, Salzburg Cathedral Organ loft, and the Cathedral Museum are the main parts of DomQuartier. Entrance to the DomQuartier required us to show our Salzburg Card to the ticketing counter in exchange for a ticket. A flight of stairs led us to a huge hall, the Carabinieri Hall, where another staff briefed us on using the audio guide from our phone as we walked through the State Rooms. The Carabinieri Hall was the largest room in the Residenz and was donned with impressive frescos painted on the ceiling. It seemed to serve as a concert hall today as we saw a small stage and some chairs in the centre of the hall. This is where we started and ended our tour of the DomQuartier.

State Rooms

The State Rooms served as the prince-archbishop’s residence and was where he worked. There were 10 staterooms opened to the public, each serving a purpose, with the first few rooms serving as the guard’s room or waiting rooms for people who wanted an audience with the prince-archbishop. All of these rooms had different frescos painted on their ceilings, with some depicting the rulers claiming their success and some with paintings of the gods interacting with humans. Of these 10 rooms, I thought the Conference Hall (the second room from the Carabinieri Hall) and the Audience Hall (the fourth room from Carabinieri Hall) were the most interesting. The Conference Hall has a bright red velvet wall, which is more vibrant than most of the rooms we have seen. The four crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and the elaborate ceiling frescos accompanied by the carvings on the ceiling made the room look posh. Here, Mozart first performed as a child at 7 (although we saw the piano Mozart used in the next room). The other significant room was the Audience Hall, filled with large, costly hand-woven tapestries from the era of Prince-Archbishop Wolf Dietrich. Here, we met a museum staff who generously shared some facts about the rooms (and the subsequent few rooms) and somewhat became our private guide. The staff told us that the Audience Hall is the most valuable room in the entire DomQuartier due to the antique tapestries and the Louis XVI furniture purchased in 1775 in the Audience Hall. The last door of the State Rooms opened up to the Cathedral Archway Terrace.

Cathedral Archway Terrace 

The Cathedral Archway Terrace links the Residenz to the Salzburg Cathedral. We mainly used this as a thoroughfare to the next building. From this terrace, we could see Domplatz, a square surrounded by the buildings of DomQuartier. Since there was nothing much going on here, we continued the path into Salzburg Cathedral.

Cathedral Organ Loft

Our walk through the DomQuartier led us through the main organ loft. We originally wanted to visit the Salzburg Cathedral before coming to DomQuartier, but the entrance to the cathedral was not included in our Salzburg Card, which we eventually skipped. Little did we know that part of the DomQuartier included the entrance to the loft of Salzburg Cathedral. However, we were only allowed to stay at this loft at the cathedral. The highlight of the loft is our ability to get up close to the cathedral’s organ. However, we were more interested in the over-the-top baroque-style architecture inside the Salzburg Cathedral. From the loft, we were closer to the carvings on the pillars and the fresco painting on the ceiling. We were also able to see the altar from a distance.

Cathedral Museum

The door at the other end of the loft led us to the South Oratory, where the Cathedral Museum is located. On display here were statues of some of the saints, numerous crosses and chalices, as well as paintings and sculptures related to the Catholic religion. I am sure this museum would be a heaven for Catholics. As we were neither Catholics nor appreciative of arts, we spent our time inside the Cathedral Museum browsing through and seeing which artefacts were made of gold. The exit from the Cathedral Museum led us back to the Imperial Hall, part of the Residenz, which was subsequently linked to the Carabinieri Hall. It was time to head out to our next site.

Mozart’s Birthplace

After Domquartier, I was looking at somewhere nearby to visit. Mozart’s Birthplace popped up to be the next nearest attraction to us. I read about how pointless it was to visit this sight before our trip to Austria, and since we were near, we decided to visit this museum. Mozart’s Birthplace is a little difficult to find, as it does not have the entrance of a regular museum, and there are no signs pointing to it. After searching for a while, we found it through a small entrance opposite the Mango clothing store. The entrance to Mozart’s Birthplace (€15 per adult) was included in our Salzburg Card. This museum has three storeys, mostly rooms filled with memorabilia, some musical notes and a statue of Mozart. The room where Mozart was born also has nothing much inside except for a few photos and some notes. I had thought this room was the museum’s highlight, and there should at least have a small bed (or its replica) where baby Mozart used to sleep. Guess most of the furniture must have been lost through the time. We saw a small piano that Mozart used to practice on as a child, which I thought was this museum’s highlight. For €15, I thought Mozart’s Birthplace was extremely expensive. We would have skipped this place if not for the Salzburg card, which included the entrance to this site.

St Peter’s Abbey

After Mozart’s Birthplace, St Peter’s Abbey is a mere 5-minute walk away. St Peter’s Abbey is one of the oldest monasteries in the German-speaking world, founded in the 7th century. The abbey is famous for its cemetery and catacomb, built into the mountain behind it. St. Peter’s Abbey seemed closed when we arrived, where we were met with a huge closed door that wouldn’t budge when we tried pushing it. We headed to a shop nearby and were told the abbey was still open, the friendly staff at the shop told us we just had to just more strength and pull the entrance door. We headed back and did what we were told, and we were able to let ourselves into the church. Once inside, the cathedral was not brightly lit, and no one was in the building. We could see the elaborate baroque-style carvings on the walls and the altar from the dim lighting. We couldn’t seem to find the entrance to the cemetery, and since there wasn’t much going on here, we left the abbey for our final sight of the day.

Mönchsberg – Night View of the Salzburg

One of the places for the best night view of Salzburg (or so I read online) was the Mönchsberg, one of the five mountains in Salzburg. Mönchsberg is a popular local recreational area with nature and forest footpaths. At the top of Mönchsberg sits the Museum der Moderne, which was closed upon our arrival. However, we did not come for the museum but for the night view. The viewing platform is just outside the museum, accessible by an open elevator till 11 pm (costs €4.40 up and down and is included in the Salzburg Card). True to the recommendations I saw online, we were treated to a great night view of Altstadt and Hohensalzburg Fortress from afar. We could even see the Salzach River from up here. The warm night lighting cast upon the buildings in the Altstadt made them look like the city was built out of gold. The Hohensalzburg Fortress, sitting on the hill above Altstadt, looked as if it was guarding the city. The view was breathtaking, and to add icing to the cake, there weren’t many people around. After taking some pictures of the beautiful night view of the city, we left Mönchsberg for dinner near our hotel and returned to rest for the night. We have an early start tomorrow visiting the fairy tale town of Hallstatt.

Austria – The Classical Music Capital of the World

My motivation for visiting the Central European country of Austria stems from a photo I saw years ago on the tranquil picture of Hallstatt, a small quaint town sitting by a lake’s edge with towering mountains surrounding it as though they were protecting its residents. With Hallstatt as our must-visit destination, I expanded our Austrian Trip, starting with Vienna, our gateway to Austria. As I wanted to visit a few states and focus the trip on the country only, I looked into the capital cities of each of the states. For this trip, we visited the states of Salzburg (Salzburg City and Hallstatt), Tyrol (Innsbruck), Styria (Graz), and Burgenland (Vienna). As we had to travel from the west (Innsbruck) to the east (Graz) of the country, to avoid spending 6 hours on the train, I had to look for someplace in between to break the travel. As I researched where to stop for a couple of days, I chanced upon Zell am See, a lakeside town surrounded by mountains and included this town in my travels.

Custom Clearance

There aren’t any direct flights from Singapore to Austria. To get there, we can either transit to another neighbouring country from Singapore (such as Bangkok) with direct flight connections to Austria or another country nearer to Europe (such as Istanbul). We also had the option of flying into Munich, about two hours by train from Salzburg. We opted to fly into Vienna from Taipei as I always wanted to try EVA Air, which has direct flights to Vienna.

After a 14-hour flight from Singapore and stepping foot in four countries, we finally arrived at Vienna International Airport. I was rather surprised at the efficiency of the immigration clearance at Vienna International Airport. As many immigration counters opened this morning, we cleared immigration within 5 minutes of queuing. From deplaning to immigration clearance to collecting our luggage, it only took us about 30 minutes in total. As I had catered for 1 hour for immigration clearance and booked our train 2 hours after our arrival, we spent the rest of our time at the airport terminal waiting for our train. Fortunately, there are some shops and cafes where we can walk around and kill time. We used the extra time to settle our Vienna City Pass, which we will use when we arrive in Vienna. We headed to the OBB counter to purchase the pass, which gave us paper tickets. I prefer a physical card to a paper or online ticket, which we discovered was available at the Vienna City Pass counter in the centre of the arrival hall.

Our ride to Salzburg – Our first stop of the trip

We originally booked First Class seats on the 3-hour ride from Vienna Airport to Salzburg City, but we upgraded to Business Class seats about 2 months before our trip. I find it whimsical how the Austrian National Railway – OBB termed the classes of their rides. Perhaps I was too used to the classification of onboard aircraft, where First Class is always the top passenger class. On OBB trains, the Business Class is a higher passenger class than the First Class. Getting from the airport arrival hall to the train station couldn’t be easier. We spotted a ramp from the customs exit that took us directly to the train station below the airport. Our train arrived on time, and we were surprised that we were the only ones in the carriage. We ordered lunch from the train menu, which was delivered to us by the friendly train attendant. Our 3½ hour train ride to Salzburg City whisks us through the countryside, from lush grassy patches to snow-capped fields. When arriving in Salzburg City, the first thing to do is to get our Salzburg Card, which not only offers free admission to most of the sights in Salzburg but also includes all the transportation in the city. We got our cards from the Press P&B bookstore in Salzburg Hauptbahnhof. After getting our cards, we were on our way to check into our hotel and freshen up before heading out to visit the sights in Salzburg. Fortunately, our hotel allowed us early check-in. Our initial plan was to visit Hohensalzburg Fortress in the afternoon, but the hotel’s reception staff advised against the visit as it was approaching closing time. With our tired bodies from travelling from Singapore to Vienna, we decided to start our trip easy and visited the Mirabell Palace and Gardens instead.

Schloss Mirabell and Gardens – Tracing the Steps of the Sound of Music

Mirabell Gardens was made famous by the movie “The Sound of Music” and has been one of the tourist attractions in Salzburg since the 1960s. Visitors come here for the famous Pegasus Fountain in the middle of the Gardens in front of Schloss Mirabell and would usually skip a visit inside the palace. The Prince-Archbishop originally built Schloss Mirabell for his mistress and their children. Today, the palace is a government building housing the office of Salzburg’s mayor and the municipal administration. During my research for the trip, the city’s travel site (click here for the site) recommended visiting the palace for the famed marble staircase. The best thing is a visit inside the Schloss Mirabell was free. The Marble Staircase, featuring baroque-style architecture, was one of the only two things opened to the public inside Schloss Mirabell.

We had a hard time looking for the entrance to the staircase. When we finally found the staircase, we were greeted by a closed glass door, thinking the door was locked and closed to the public. Disappointed, we went around the building and attempted to take pictures of the staircase from the outside through a window. As we tried to pierce into the famous marble staircase from outside, we saw people walking inside the building. This is when we realise the inside of Mirabell Palace is not closed to the public, and we just have to pull the door to gain access. The famed Marble Staircase was a few steps from the glass door. We could see the opulent marble staircase with many angle carvings on the railings of the stairs that span three levels. Even the railings were carved from marble into some wavy patterns. More sculptures that looked like Greek characters (or maybe Gods?) carved out of marble are installed on the walls of the staircase. As we were the only ones at the Marble Staircase during our visit, we spent the next 30 minutes at the Marble Staircase taking as many pictures as we wanted.

As we were leaving the Marble Staircase, I spotted a sign in front of a closed wooden door on the first floor that points to Marmorsaal (Marble Hall). I tried my luck opening the door and was surprised that it was unlocked, revealing an antechamber and another opened door with a red velvet rope after the chamber. Initially, we thought we could only see the Marble Hall from the first door. After some hesitation (plus there wasn’t anyone around to stop us), we snuck into the antechamber up to the velvet rope. We could see the opulent famed Marmorsaal, formerly the Prince-Archbishop’s banqueting hall, from the velvet rope. The hall was especially beautiful, with the warm lighting illuminated by the chandelier hanging in the middle. From the entrance, we could see the entire hall covered in marble with carvings on the walls covered in gold and intricate carvings on the ceiling. A grand white piano sits in the corner of the hall, with a long marble table occupying the space at the back and several chairs arranged neatly in the hall. Today, Marmorsaal is used for weddings and concerts and it was recorded that Mozart even performed in this very hall.

We exited Schloss Mirabell and headed back to the gardens. Sitting at the entrance to Schloss Palace was the famed Pegasus Fountain forged in copper. As it was winter, the gardens were barricaded off, and we could only see the garden from its parameters. Most of the trees were in slumber for the winter, but we could see some grass and flower patches in the gardens from a distance. There are two great photo spots at the gardens: the spot nearer to Schloss Mirabell allowed us to get a shot of the gardens with Hohensalzburg Fortress in the background, while the spot at the other end gave us a good shot of the gardens and its sculptures together with Schloss Mirabell. As we could not get into the gardens, we left after some photos.

Dinner at Getreidegasse – The Shopping Street of Salzburg

After visiting the gardens, we landed in the Markartplatz, where Mozart’s residence is just across the road. A Google search informed us that the place was still open. At the entrance, we were told by one of the staff that the Mozart Residence was closed for the installation of new exhibits. Seeing we could do nothing here, we headed across the Salzach River to the old town for dinner. Walking up to the banks of the Salzach River, we were treated to the scene of the old town with Hohensalzburg Fortress sitting at the top like a crown jewel. We were mesmerised by the scene and its reflection on Salzach. We crossed the Salzach River on the Marko-Feingold-Steg bridge, full of love locks on both sides. On the bridge, we could still see the night lights cast on the buildings and Hohensalzburg Fortress.

I usually do not plan places to eat for my trips, but I prefer to discover the food (plus, some restaurants can be overrated). We walked into one of the streets on Getreidegasse, the main shopping street in the Old Town of Salzburg City. I enjoyed the tranquil walk on Getreidegasse, a street that is not wide, surrounded by charming buildings that have seen and changed with the needs of the residents over time. Today, the buildings on Getreidegasse mainly houses shops and restaurants. We settled in a small rustic restaurant for dinner, serving delicious schnitzels. After dinner, we explored the old town a little more and stumbled into a square with a statue of Mozart. I was telling my friends that we were in Mozartplatz. Since we were a little tired, we returned to our hotel to recharge for our Salzburg exploration tomorrow.