It was time to say farewell to Vienna, and board the train for Salzburg.  I have to say, Austrian trains are the best I’ve seen – so clean, comfortable and punctual. We settled in upstairs for a 2.5 hour trip.  After leaving the suburbs, we were soon in typical Austrian countryside – rolling green hills punctuated by small, neat villages.  As we travelled further west, the hills got bigger, until we were seeing mountain peaks.  Before long we were pulling into Salzburg’s main station.

A trolley bus took us to the airport, where we took temporary possession of our rental car. No upgrade this time, but it’s a Volvo, and does the job nicely without the bells and whistles of the BMWs or Mercs of past trips.  The quickest way out of the city was the A1, and before long we were in the Salzkammergut Lake district. Along with thousands of other holiday makers!  There were cars and cyclists everywhere. The lakes were picture perfect, sparkling turquoise in the sun. We wished we had bikes – they certainly seem the best way to get around.

We arrived in Bad Ischl by mid afternoon, and made our way slowly through town, up narrow winding streets that looked like driveways. Google kept urging us on around blind corners, until sure enough we pulled up at Haus Anastasia, home for the next four nights. We were met by Elaine and Russ, a British couple who fell in love with Austria and moved here 12 years ago. Elaine explained everything, and won my undying gratitude by offering to do our laundry!

We are in a small upstairs apartment, with everything we need, and lovely views from every window – even the loo.  The only downside is that the steeply sloped ceiling in the sitting area is playing havoc with my unbalanced head.  Ian went for a walk into town while I had a horizontal rest for the remainder of the afternoon.

View from our bedroom

View from the loo

View from the balcony

Overnight the cloud and rain rolled in, and the temperature this morning was considerably cooler.  We stayed in bed for as long as possible, had a very late breakfast, and finally set off in the car at about 12.30pm.  Our plan was to drive to the east side of Lake Hallstatt, park at one of the stations, walk for about an hour, then catch the ferry across the lake to the town of Hallstatt for a wander around. Hallstatt has been my wallpaper for about a year, and is one of those places made way too famous by Instagram.  It is best viewed from the water, and there is nowhere to park in the car-free town.

Lake Hallstatt

Clouds coming in

Hallstatt across the water

We think we are driving on a cycle path but Google says its ok

Well Google sent us off the main road, down increasingly smaller residential streets and lanes, and finally onto what looked like a cycle path beside the lake. It was very pretty but we were wondering how we were going to turn the car around. There was no parking to be had anywhere, so we abandoned the walk/ferry plan – besides the weather was not ideal.

We retraced our route and drove back around the lake into Hallstatt itself, where the signs told us that a car park was rarer here than at Chaddy on Christmas Eve.  Thanks to the throngs of tourists, we drove slowly enough to see a glimpse of the town. Appealing enough, but it wasn’t living up to the reputation – at least not from inside the car on a rainy day.

No parking in Hallstatt

Nor in Obertraun

We had to content ourselves with views from the car

Funicular to the salt mine

Hallstatt

We pressed on to Obertraun, where parking was also as scarce as hen’s teeth. The only place to stop for lunch was at the northern end of the lake, at Steeg, which had a pleasant grassy picnic area. We pulled in there and ate our lunch, watching the clouds descend lower and lower on the peaks opposite.

Finally a parking spot!

Picnic in the rain

Eventually we retreated home. Hopefully we will have better luck over the next two days. If not, there’s always the thermal spa resort just down the road – all indoor – so rain is not a problem!

Cheers.

Home sweet home