c524380 Ch01.qxd 4/17/03 8:50 AM Page 4 1 The Best of Austria There’s so much to do in Austria, from exploring historic castles and palaces to skiing some of the world’s finest alpine slopes. All the choices you’ll have to make when planning your trip can be a bit bewildering. We’ve tried to make your task easier by compiling a list of our favorite experiences and discoveries. In the fol- lowing pages you’ll find the kind of candid advice we’d give our close friends. 1 The Best Travel Experiences • Skiing in the Alps: This is the rea- Vienna, where the chefs have been son thousands of visitors come to making the dish for decades. We Austria in the first place; skiing is recommend several restaurants the Austrian national sport. The where you can sample this dish. country abounds in ski slopes, and See chapter 3. you’ll find the best ones in Tyrol, • Listening to Mozart: It is said Land Salzburg, and Vorarlberg, that at any time of the day or although most parts of Carinthia, night in Austria, someone, some- Western Styria, and Lower Austria where is playing the music of also have slopes. The season lasts Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. You from late November to April, might hear it at an opera house, a depending on snow conditions. At church, a festival, an open-air con- 1,739m (5,700 ft.), the Ober- cert, or more romantically in a tauern region extends its ski season Belle Epoque cafe performed by a until May. The daredevils among Hungarian orchestra. Regardless, you can ski glaciers at 3,355m “the sound of music” drifting (11,000 ft.), even in summer. See through Vienna is likely the cre- section 8, “The Best Ski Areas,” in ation of this child prodigy. Try to this chapter. hear Mozart on his home turf, • Feasting on the “Emperor’s especially in Vienna and Salzburg. Dish,” Tafelspitz: No Austrian See chapters 4 and 7. dish is more typical than the fabled • Watching the Lipizzaner Stal- Tafelspitz (boiled beef dinner) lions (Vienna): Nothing evokes favored by Emperor Franz Joseph. the heyday of imperial Vienna Boiled beef might sound dull, but more than the Spanish Riding Tafelspitz is far from bland. Boiled School. Here, the sleek white to a tender delicacy, the “table stallions and their expert riders end” cut is flavored with a variety demonstrate the classic art of dres- of spices, including juniper berries, sage in choreographed leaps and celery root, and onions. An apple- bounds. The stallions, a cross- and-horseradish sauce further breed of Spanish thoroughbreds enlivens the dish, which is usually and Karst horses, are the finest served with fried, grated potatoes. equestrian performers on earth. The best Tafelspitz is served in Riders wear brass buttons, doeskin c524380 Ch01.qxd 4/17/03 8:50 AM Page 5 THE BEST TRAVEL EXPERIENCES 5 breeches and black bicorne hats. sang “How Do You Solve a Prob- You can watch the performances, lem like Maria?” as well as that lit- but you’ll need to make reserva- tle gazebo where Rolf and Liesl tions 6 to 8 weeks in advance. See danced in the rain. There’s also a p. 129. stop at the Felsenreitenschule • Cruising the Danube (Donau): (Rock Riding School), where the Johann Strauss took a bit of poetic von Trapps gave their final per- license in calling the Donau “The formance. See p. 241. Blue Danube,” as it’s actually a • Driving on Top of the World on muddy-green color. But a Danube the Grossglockner Road (Land cruise is a highlight of any Austrian Salzburg): For the drive of a life- vacation. The legendary DDSG, time, you can take Europe’s longest Blue Danube Shipping Company, and most panoramic alpine high- Handelskai 265, offers mostly 1- way, with hairpin turns and bends day trips. On board, you’ll pass around every corner—the stuff some of the most famous sights in Grand Prix is made of. It begins at eastern Austria, including Krems Bruck an der Grossglocknerstrasse and Melk. See “Boating on the at 757m (2,483 ft.); continues ‘Blue’ Danube” (p. 149). through the Hochtortunnel, where • Heurigen Hopping in the Vienna the highest point is 2,507m (8,220 Woods: Heurigen are rustic wine ft.); and ends in the province taverns that celebrate the arrival of of Carinthia. The mountain part each year’s new wine (Heuriger) by of the road, stretching some 1 placing a pine branch over the 22km (13 ⁄2 miles), often at door. Austrians rush to these tav- 1,983m (6,500 ft.), has a maxi- erns to drink the new local wines mum gradient of 12%. You can and feast on a country buffet. drive this stunning engineering feat Some Heurigen have garden tables from mid-May to mid-November, with panoramic views of the although the road is safest from Danube Valley, whereas others pro- mid-June to mid-September. The vide shaded, centuries-old court- views are among the greatest in the yards where revelers can enjoy live world, but keep your eye on that folk music. Try the red wines from curvy road! See p. 282. Vöslau, the Sylvaner of Grinzing, • Exploring the Alps: There are few or the Riesling of Nussberg, while places in the world that are as listening to a Schrammelmusik splendid as the limestone chain of quartet with all the revelers singing mountains shared between Austria “Wien bleibt Wien.” See “The and Bavaria. Moving toward the Wienerwald (Vienna Woods)” in east, the Alps slope away to the chapter 5. Great Hungarian Plain. The Aus- • Reliving The Sound of Music: In trian Alps break into three chains, 1964, Julie Andrews, Christopher including the High or Central Plummer, and a gaggle of kids Alps, the Northern Limestone Alps, imitating the von Trapp family and the Southern Limestone Alps. filmed one of the world’s great In the west, you discover fairy-tale musicals. The memory of that Tyrolean villages, the Holy Roman Oscar-winning movie lingers on, Empire attractions of Innsbruck, as a steady stream of visitors heads and some of the world’s greatest ski to Salzburg just to take The Sound resorts, including St. Anton, Zürs, of Music tour. You visit the Lech, and Kitzbühel. Filled with Nonnberg Abbey where the nuns quaint little towns, the Eastern c524380 Ch01.qxd 4/17/03 8:50 AM Page 6 6 CHAPTER 1 . THE BEST OF AUSTRIA Alps sprawl across the Tyrolean and stunning views await you at country, West Styria, and Land every turn. See chapters 8, 10, 11, Salzburg. Centuries-old castles and 13. 2 The Most Romantic Getaways • Hof bei Salzburg (Land Salz- • Stuben (Vorarlberg): The rich burg): Lying on Lake Fuschl and famous might flock to Vorarl- (Fuschlsee), this chic resort is only berg’s stellar ski resorts, Zürs or a 15-minute ride from the conges- Lech, but we think you should tion of Salzburg; it boasts a sneak away to the little village of breathtaking alpine backdrop of Stuben, 10km (6 miles) north of blue clear but chilly waters, Lech on the west side of the Arl- mountains, and evergreen forests. berg Pass. A way station for alpine Based here, you can also easily get travelers for centuries, Stuben was to Fuschlsee as well as Wolf- the birthplace of the great ski gangsee and Mondsee. The town instructor Hannes Schneider. In offers some romantic places to winter, you can take a horse-drawn stay, notably the Hotel Schloss sleigh from Lech to Stuben. Once Fuschl (& 06229/22530), whose here, stay at Hotel Mondschein main section dates from 1450. See (& 05582/511), a 1739 house p. 287. converted to a hotel. See p. 413. • St. Wolfgang (Upper Austria): • Pörtschach (Carinthia): Many On the Wolfgangsee, one of Aus- wealthy Viennese have lavish sum- tria’s loveliest lakes, St. Wolfgang mer homes in this resort town on lies in the mountains of the the northern perimeter of Lake Salzkammergut. It’s the home of Wörther. Known for its lakeside the White Horse Inn (& 06138/ promenade, it attracts a sports- 2306-0), which served as the set- oriented crowd that wants to hike, ting for Ralph Benatzky’s operetta play golf, ride, sail, and water-ski, The White Horse Inn. Lying 50km or just enjoy scenic drives through (31 miles) east of Salzburg, the the countryside. Lake Wörther resort is a summer paradise, with itself is Carinthia’s largest alpine lakefront beaches and cafes and lake, yet its waters are warm, often hiking opportunities in all direc- going above 80°F (27°C) in sum- tions, plus skiing in winter. See mer. We recommend staying and section 3, “St. Wolfgang & Bad dining at the romantic Hotel Ischl,” in chapter 9. Schloss Leonstain (& 04272/ • Mutters (Tyrol): On a sunny 281-60), where Johannes Brahms plateau above Innsbruck, this little composed his Violin Concerto and resort has been called the most Second Symphony. See p. 432. beautiful village in Tyrol (quite a • Bad Aussee (Styria): An old mar- compliment). Mutters, a central ket town and spa in the “green base of the 1964 and 1976 heart” of the Salzkammergut, Bad Olympics, attracts visitors year- Aussee is 80km (50 miles) south- round. The most romantic place east of Salzburg. In the Valley of to stay is the Hotel Altenburg Traun, it’s set against the backdrop (& 0512/54-85-34), a restaurant of Totes Gebirge and the Dachstein back in 1622 and later a farm- massif. June is a lovely time to visit, house before its conversion into when fields of narcissus burst into an elegant hotel.