Written by: David Press
11/24/2010 7:57 PM 

Having finished our stay in Vienna we couldn't see how anything could possibly top what where we had just had the pleasure of staying, and to be honest we still haven't topped it, but the rest of Austria has proven to be just as good. We took a short train ride to north west to Salzburg only to find out that we were visiting the picturesque region in which the Sound of Music was filmed. Now if I sound slightly dismayed by the fact, it might have something to do with the fact our hostel played it every morning and Jess didn't stop talking about it. It did however mean we were guaranteed some pretty amazing scenery.

Our stay was only short so we got to it pretty quickly with a stroll around the tight walking lanes in the main part of the city. The city is surrounded by hills and has a crystal clear, albeit extremely shallow river running through the valley at its centre. As such, much of the city buildings are on hills and any walking around town involves some strenuous work, but it's more than worth it and good for the heart. At night, like most places we've visited, the lighting makes everything fairly beautiful and the tight lanes make for a cosy atmosphere in most parts.

Given we arrived later in the afternoon than normal, we had to make the most of our second day. The itinerary included a rather long walk around the hills of Salzburg, including the Castle Hill and culminated in a drink or two at the Augustiner Brewery. Views throughout the walk were stunning, with the Autumn leaves and hill top vantages making it a must do in Salzburg. Hopefully we've managed to capture some of it in our photos for all to see.

I mention that it ends at the Augustiner Brewery and I say this because if your remotely human I doubt you'll recount the short walk back to your accommodation. It may sound a little hard to believe for some, but I actually found the beer from this brewery better than that of the any I tasted in Bavaria around a week later. The bock bier in particular was outstanding. If your capable of withstanding the culinary and thirst quenching temptations available at Augustiner, then your a better person than I (or Jess for that matter).

The time flew by in Salzburg and it wasn't long before we were on a train to Innsbruck with the hope of seeing some snow. We saw snow, unfortunately it wasn't close enough for us to touch. It did however make for some incredible views of the Austrian Alps that surround the city and made our stay very memorable. I have a feeling we'll be back sometime again before we head home for a cheeky ski trip.

Innsbruck is a very small, heavily tourist based city, but it is stunning and the people friendly. Our first stop for food gave me the opportunity to end my craving for a European cold meat and cheese plate which we consumed with the best wine we have tasted so far on the trip. We were in heaven and the interest shown by fellow tourists passing by, meant we weren't the only people who thought it looked sensational on the plate. I know I talk about food and beer in my blogs with frequency, but I am genuinely in a constant state of bewilderment with how good the food is here and how much cheaper almost everything is.

Being in a small city in the Alps meant that other than skiing and hiking (or similar mountain based past times), there wasn't much to do if your not interested in the outdoors. Unfortunately we were visiting a little early for skiing (although there is a glacier that you can ski on year round) and the weather was bad enough to make it too dangerous for beginner hikers. It was a real shame as we were pretty excited about the prospect of either hiking or sneaking in some early season skiing. When your unable to do the most common activities in the Alps what better to do than drink and be merry...well apparently shopping is one such thing and Jess made sure she managed a fair bit of that. Thankfully it wasn't pointless as she is certainly a lot warmer in her new jacket and is rather pleased with the beanies to match her new ski pants (which she acquired in Vienna). Don't worry though, I managed to sneak some beers in with the local owners of our hostel for a family members birthday. They were all great people and I hope we see them again if we do indeed sneak back to Innsbruck again.

From Innsbruck we had a short train ride north to Munich which I'm going to have to let Jess chat about as quite frankly my fingers are sore after typing for so long (in other words the cold frosty Belgian beer sitting in front of me is simply too tempting). I hope your all keeping well and look forward to chatting with you all at some point soon. Oh and thanks for all the comments, it's great to hear from you. If you have any amazing places you think we simply can't miss, please post them as we have virtually two months from new years on with open plans!!!

Trackback Print

Tags: Austria , Salzburg , Innsbruck , travel , hostels , snow , alps , skiing , Food , Beer

Categories:

Location: Blogs David Press Austria

Your name:
Your email:
	(Optional) Email used only to show Gravatar.
Your website:
Title:
Comment:
Add Comment   Cancel