I know it’s been a while since the last blog, we have just been out and about enjoying the countryside too much, leaving little time to catch up with ourselves.

So, leaving Graz behind us we headed into the mountains to find a bit more of the traditonal beauty of Austria, and it is fair to say that we weren’t disappointed.

The rain was still ‘doing it’s thing’…but we have generally been lucky enough that it hasn’t impacted us too much in so far as we have just worn the waterproofs a little more than expected, or been lucky in so far that it has rained most heavily later afternoon/evening when we have been inside anyway.

Keith had found a little campsite (Campingplatz Pyhrn Priel €42 , Spital am Pyhrn) in a valley that appeared to be in the back end of nowhere, although it was only 5km from the closest town. We are glad that appearances are deceptive as it had put quite alot of people off – definately a bit of a bonus for us as it was stunningly beautiful.

We had been looking for a somewhere for a couple of nights over the weekend with hard standing which was proving difficult to find as oddly the majority of campsites believe that the grass should be sufficiently dry at this time of year….it is mid-June after all – just a shame that they were mistaken… that however, was a good thing as we fell upon this place.

After lunch we headed out for a walk into the hills in the afternoon to take in the views, then the following morning took the bikes out for a beautiful 22km circuit, taking in Windischgarsten and Spital am Pyhrn, getting back to the motorhome just as the heavens opened – perfect timing for lunch.

The skies cleared again just as we finished washing up and we managed to get another long walk in in the afternoon, and despite the skies looking very black, it held off until we got back. A lovely campsite situated in a beautiful area for walking and cycling or just looking up and admiring the snow topped mountains that surrounded it.

On Sunday morning we moved slightly further West to get to Hallstatt which can only be described as a ‘picturesque’ gingerbread Austrian town. Although it is stunningly beautiful, it also unfortunately comes with the bus loads of tourists which takes away some of the beauty.

Hallstatt is at the end of a lake on windy, narrow roads at the foot of the mountains. As land is scarce, I am guessing if you, or your family have property there, you can dictate your market which is pretty much what the campsite does. The reviews (Campingplatz Klausner-Höll 50€ p/n) were poor but the owner just doesn’t suffer fools gladly. The website quite clearly states the price, location and facilities, it is the only campsite in the town, and he doesn’t make any apologies for it which appears to frustrate some – mainly the Germans, quite funny really!

We however, had completely the opposite experience – I had barely turned the engine off when the owner appeared with two beautifully poured pints of Guiness, then following a conversation with Keith about his previous life as a game keeper, he presented us with half a kilo of his Wild Boar sausages….hunted and made by him – lovely chap!

As we were lucky enough to have a little bit of sunshine when we arrived, and with the forecast looking pretty grey again over the coming days, we set out to do our best to take in some of the beauty… and to be fair, inspite of the quantity of people, it is a beautiful place.

Hallstatt is tiny, with one main pedestrian street going through the center and a couple of other roads adjoining it, but all traffic free as there is a tunnel that goes round the town through the mountain. The buses arrive, drop everyone off and then disappear, leaving everyone for three hours in the town – so it is just a matter of catching it at the right point, probably at about 8am or 10pm!

In addition to Hallstat being an ‘idyllic’ town, it also is home to the oldest saltmine in the world. As Tuesday was forecast rain all day, we thought that it would be a good way to spend the morning so we set off to get the funicular up the side of the mountain and learn more about the set up and process.

It was very well set up and an interesting couple of hours with a great guide. And by the time we came out to walk back down again, the cloud had cleared enough for us to get some ‘moody’ views from the top of the funicular which was a bonus.

The saltmine is another one of those things that you do once – and we are glad we did it – but wouldn’t ever do it again … whether in Austria, the UK or elsewhere – for me, there is only so much you can/ want to learn about salt, although I appreciate that many would disagree.

Leaving Hallstatt behind we moved only very slightly further North West to possibly one of the most beautiful places we have ever visited – St. Wolfgang im Salzkammergut, where we had found a spot at Camping Appesbach (40euros p/n without elec).

The weather was still incredibly unpredictable and changeable – one minute being blue skies and sunshine, and the following torrential rain, but even when it was raining it was still incredibly beautiful.

We had only planned on staying three nights but quickly fell in love with the area. Thankfully the owners of the campsite were kind enough to re-arrange pitches so that we could stay for an additional four nights to make the most of the area and also the weather… as it was looking better later in the week..

To settle ourselves in slowly, we had a wander down to Strobl at the Southeastern end of the lake on the first afternoon, caught up on the shopping and took in the beautiful views.

The following morning, we woke to the most beautiful ‘moody’ views out over the lake. I left Keith to continue to admire the scenary whilst doing his exercises and set off on a stunning run into St Wolfgang itself and then out the other side, winding my way down the side of the lake on a small lane… exactly how you want to bring in the day – mountains, crystal clear glistening water and beautiful contours and lush greenery….. a little hot and sweaty but I definately had a smile on my face when I got back…. truly invigorating.

After catching up on some admin, we decided to try out the campsite restaurant for lunch as it had such good reviews and weren’t disappointed. The chef apparently is ex-michelin star restaurant and used to work in London until COVID hit when he was made redundant and he decided to look further afield and ended up here.

Keith had a fish soup to start which had a great flavour and was served with some delicious breads, the fish main was full of flavour and texture, as was the traditional ‘kaserspatsel’ which is the cheesey- noodle / macaroni cheese-type dish with crispy fried onions on top, both of which were served with a lovely, refreshing salad…. a step above any normal campsite restaurants and well worth a visit.

After lunch at the campsite, we walked into St Wolfgang and I showed Keith my morning running route as it was so beautiful.

The following day we cycled over to Bad Ischl which took us up and over the hills, through some beautiful countryside and when we arrived found they had a vintage car rally in the town – incredibly impressive.

We really went a bit full on over the following few days exploring the area in more depth by foot and by bike, pushing the bikes – and our legs – a little further… they were a great investment – the bikes at least…. the legs I am still unsure of!!

We had been told there was a possibility of a market in St Gilgen – the other side of the lake, so we thought we would see what it had to offer. We set off on the bikes and found our first oompah loompah band of the year, which had taken over the market square and thankfully, as we had arrived just before lunch, were in the middle of a set and demonstrating their best whilst the audience were happily tucking into Brutwurst and tankards of beer. We also found a the market with local, seasonal produce and bought some fantastic cheese, honey and eggs… our fault for being distracted by the oompah loompah’s as by the time we made it back to the market, most of the stalls had packed everything away despite only being mid-day.

We then decided to take on the three lake challenge… the challenge was more for me, rather than anyone else as I still have a fear of steep downhill runs on gravel following my accident 25+ years ago… weird how the brain works isn’t it?

Our route took us to Lake Schwarzenzee, Lake Attersee and Lake Mondsee… roughly 50km round trip with 800m ascent and 800m descent….stunningly beautiful.

I was a bit of a nervous wreck after the descent on the way there, with the forearms aching from gripping the handlebars too hard, but thankfully after a bit of lunch by one of the lakes and a coffee, the return ride wasn’t quite so bad as the descent on the way back was mostly on the road and not gravel. Needless to say it was a beautiful ride, pushing my limits a little but it was good – perhaps it will give me a little more confidence in myself for next time.

We arrived back to the campsite to the arrival of Pete, Liz and Monty who were stopping off for a night en route. They brought the weather with them as although we had planned a BBQ – using the Hallstat Wild Boar sausages – and amazingly, we even managed to sit outside to eat!

As always, it was lovely to see them but the evening went far too quickly and all too soon the sun had set and they were leaving in the morning… just need to plan these catch up’s in more frequently!

We woke to sunshine and clear blue skies again so, after saying our goodbyes to Pete and Liz, we headed up the Cog railway to the top of Schafberg. The Cog train has been running since 1893 and takes roughly 35 minutes to cover the 5.85 kilometers track which rises 1190 vertical meters.

All I can say is that the photos don’t do it justice. It had unfortunately started to haze over by the time we got to the top and although it was breathtaking to the naked eye, the photos – despite actually using my camera as well as my phone to make a comparison – aren’t as clear as I would have hoped…. but although I like to share our experiences, it is our memories that count and it was an incredible experience.

We had decided to walk back down, rather than take the Cog Railway both directions and it is fair to say that this was quite hard work. There is no doubt that walking downhill on un-even rocks is tiring, and when there are 10km of it, you definately feel it afterwards!

The route was beautiful whilst out in the open and then lovely and tranquil when it went into the forest, just quite hard on the muscles in the legs and feet… we both felt it for the following few days having used muscles we had neglected for a while. Glad we did it once, but we wouldn’t walk down again.

Dragging our heals behind us, we finally left the campsite and St Wolfgang after an amazingly full on week of cycling and walking and headed to Salzburg – our final stop in Austria.

We chose to stay at an Aire 6.5km outside the center which was owned by the same company as the one in Graz (25 euro p/n without elec). The Aire was tucked in between a motorway and a railway line, and although fairly tranquil probably a bit of a shock to the system after so much greenery and tranquility over the last few weeks, so we decided to head into Salzburg in the afternoon and in our heads were already contemplating only staying one night instead of the intended two.

I guess we wouldn’t expect anything less in Austria, everything has been so well kept and beautiful, and Salzburg wasn’t an exception to the rule. It is the birth place of Mozart and where ‘The Sound of Music’ was filmed…..so there is also no surprise that there are music schools everywhere you look, I think the university must focus on music too. The only way you can describe the old town in Salzburg is ‘refined’ and ‘elegant’… a little like walking round an enlarged Bond St.

All the boutiques, cafe’s and restaurants were beautifully set up to match the elegant architecture – leaving us feeling slightly shabby in comparison, so we headed over to the new town on the other side of the river to have a coffee where we felt slightly more in place…. although the other side of the river is still ‘refined’ too… just a little less so….like us!

A lovely place to visit, but not necessarily a place that we would come running back to unless we were specifically passing this way.

Moving on from Salzburg – and Austria as well, the plan was to do a couple of new stops on the Romantic Road whilst we were travelling through as the towns are so beautiful. Unfortunately our first stop was due to be Landsberg am Lech, and it turned out to have a fairground on the Aire so after a quick pit stop to re-think – and a bit of lunch – in Aldi’s carpark, we travelled a little further up the road to Harburg where we parked up next to the castle for the night (8 euro p/n inc).

Although we didn’t have a huge amount of time to explore, the town appeared pretty and the castle – which apparently is one of the oldest in Germany, dating back to 11th/12th century was pretty impressive. They had placed themed ‘fairy’ tales all around the exterior… Keith and I are proud to say that we managed to get most of them, although I was a little disappointed to see that Harry Potter was now included … as much as I love the stories, I am not convinced you can class it in the same league as Snow White or Rapunzel!

Walking and cycling looked plentiful, so we would look to stop off again if we were passing through, albeit I will try and plan my morning run a little better as I ended up going down a few dead ends – and 180m ascent/descent….ouch!

We moved on though as we had set our sights on getting to Dinkelsbuhl and as it was Friday and we were conscious that places get busy the further you get into the weekend, we didn’t want to leave it until Saturday. We managed to sneak in and get probably the last ‘big’ spot before the carpark started to fill up – little did we know that it was also a medieval festival this weekend.

Dinkelsbuhl is a beautiful town with perfectly maintained, coloured buildings and cobbled streets. Most of the town wall remains intact with 18 towers that still stand at different points around it.

It is a tourist location but there is no denying that it is very attractive and this weekend we were honoured to have a large number of people dressed up to the full in medieval costume, accompanied by music and some axe throwing to make the most of our visit.

As Pete and Liz were due to arrive at Dinkelsbuhl today and space was limited we did a cheeky little shuffle this morning, handing over our space to them so that they could enjoy the medieval festival and beauty of Dinkelsbuhl as we moved on to Sommerach to walk through the vineyards and buy some wine!

We have been cooking a fair bit – especially as its taken a while for me to get the blog updated – and the new ‘keeper’ recipes are as follows:-
– Olive Tapenade Hummus
– Mushroom wraps with mango salsa and crushed avocado
– Coriander and Mint Chutney