we left Vienna in the afternoon and took the N1 – the national road to the west. Passing St. Pölten and Melk we finally stopped at Ybbs at the Danube. Caravans can stay for the night at a parking directly at the river and close to the center (48.181162, 15.081862).
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| nice night view at the Danube river |
During the Roman Empire Ybbs was one of the settlements along the Limes. At this time a group of Egyptians lived here and built a temple dedicated to the goddess Isis. Isis lives on in the name Ybbs. A river from the mountains in the south also called Ybbs flows into the Danube here and made this spot a good location for trade which led to a wealthy town. Nowadays Ybbs is also known for the power plant at the Danube, which can be visited.
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| turbine of the Ybbs Persenbeug power plant |
Walking through the center we found many historic buildings, old entrances to the town and finally a wine bar ;-).
The next morning we took the bikes and cycled up the river on its right bank, which is very beautiful. We nearly reach Grein on the other side before we turn around.
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| Grein at the Danube |
Leaving Ybbs we followed the N1 again until we reached the province of Salzburg. We stopped at the Wallersee and went for a walk after the long drive but decided to continue a little further to Golling where we stayed the night at the caravan parking next to the Aqua Salza Thermal Spa. Sadly we were to tired to go to the spa.
The next day we had only a couple of kilometres to the Salzachöfen – a gorge of the river Salzach.
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| entrence to the gorge |
It’s a short walk down and you are between the steep rocks and close to the roaring river.
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| looking into the gorge |
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| the water washed its way into the stone for millions of years |
After visiting this impressive gorge we drove up into the mountains and past the Wilder Kaiser -„wild or fierce emperor“ – a limestone mountain range in the northern alps with impressive views.
In the evening we reached Kramsach and the Reintaler Lake where we stayed at the Seehof Camping for some days.
The first day we visited the Tyrolean Museum Village next to the camping. The buildings which were brought there are very old and it was very interesting to see how people lived in the past.
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| Soldier watching the entrance of a tyrolean farm house of the 17th century |
While Edi had to go to a meeting not far from here, I had to spend my days at this beautiful lake (which had also a FKK area – which means a nudist beach)
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| lake Reinthal near Kramsach |
I went for a tour with the bike and hiked to a nearby lake in the mountains – Berglsteinersee.
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| Berglsteiner Lake |
When Edi was back we hiked through the Tiefenbachklamm, another gorge nearby.
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| Tiefenbachklamm |
From the entrance you follow the river for 1,5 hours until the valley widens again and you reach a mountain hut.
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| finally the hut |
The speciality there is Prügeltorte – a sweet dish you should try – sorry we forgot to take a picture 🙁
After a stop at the supermarket we drove up to the Achensee where we stayed at Camping Wimmer directly at the lake. There is a route along the lake to hike or cycle. We explored our surrounding and cycled to Pertisau with big hotels along the lake. We stopped at Hotel zur Post and enjoyed a drink directly at the lake.
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| view to Achensee and Pertisau |
The next morning a thunderstorm passed, but afterwards we hiked up to the Dalfaz Alm. (Alm = pastures and hut in the mountains where you might get drinks, food and accomodation.)
The route starts just opposite the Camping and goes more or less straight up the mountain.
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| 1st stop at the waterfall |
We came past a beautiful waterfall which destracted only shortly from the strenuous climb up. It took us 2 hours to reach the alm but the view over the lake and the surrounding mountains was worth the climb.
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| nice views while hiking up to Dalfaz Alm |
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| Dalfaz Alm |
On the way down it got cloudy again and we heard thunder in the distance but managed to change into swimsuits and jump into the lake for a refreshing swim before the rain started.
The next morning we took the bikes to explore the lake to the north before we left the camping and drove down to the Inn valley and the Tratzberg Castle.
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| Tratzberg Castle, owned by the Fugger in 14th century |
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| original indulgence letter of the catholic church |
The weather wasn’t so bad so we drove up the Zillertal and over the Gerlos pass until we saw the Krimmler waterfall. It was to late for a visit so we continued to our stop for the night – a beautiful caravan parking on a mountain with great views and a good restaurant: Gasthof Friedburg.
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| at the Gerlos pass road |
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| Krimmler waterfalls |
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| at Gasthof Friedburg, nice location for ham radio (see the antenna) |
The next morning Edi used this great spot for radiocommunication while I climbed up to the remains of the castle on top of this mountain.
Now we are at the National Park Hohe Tauern, read more on our next post.