The end is nigh

Time to leave Füssen. Not before a delicious breakfast though.

We were heading to our last destination today – Erding. Erding is just out of Munich, closer to the airport, thus more convenient. Plus, it looked like a cute little town. We headed off, and found ourselves over the border back in Austria for a while. Firstly we lake Lake Plansee, which looked stunning with beautiful crystal clear green water. You could see right to the bottom of the lake.

There was a cool looking single cloud above the mountains.

Then we drove through some golden Autumn foliage to Linderhof castle where we had a quick look around.

Nice little castle and grounds. We didn’t go inside though as we didn’t really have time. We headed off and after a quick stop at a dairy for a yogurt (we couldn’t really buy any cheese unfortunately but it looked so good)

We soon found ourselves on the German Autobahn. We didn’t drive over 130km (which is actually what the speed limit is) but man, so cars sped past us in the fast lane going at about 250+. Pretty crazy, but still everyone is really courteous and driving on Perth roads is actually worse. Also the trucks have to stay in the slow lane. We made it to a small town called Wolfratshausen and decided to stop for lunch. We found a cute little cafe where we had homemade Zucchini cream soup and a coffee. Delish!

A bit more Autobahn driving…

Before arriving in Erding. We had the afternoon and evening to explore the town. And get icecream.

Cute little town.

For dinner we went to a traditional Bavarian restaurant and had schnitzel and zweiblrostbraten. Very friendly owners here.

All your fairytale castle dreams come true

Our first morning in Füssen started off with a delicious breakfast at Gasthaus Weiss. Then, upon recommendation from the owner of the Gasthaus, we decided to walk the one hour hike through the forest to get to the magical Neuschwanstein Castle. Sure, we could just drive there, but that’s too easy right? Plus, it was a beautiful and sunny day, perfect for a trek through nature. The trail began right behind the Gasthaus. Very convenient. We took hiking sticks and everything. It was actually a really beautiful walk.

The Autumn leaves were just starting to colour and we found a magical looking lake covered in fog.

We barely saw another person for the entirety of the walk. Then, as we approached the castle car park, we found all the people. As by magic they all appeared. We had decided we weren’t going to go inside the castle and that we would only look at it from the outside. To get up to the castle you need to trek up a hill for about 30 minutes. Some people go in a horse carriage, but that’s a bit weird to be honest.

The best views of the castle are from the Marienbruck bridge (which was about another 20 minutes walk). We had heard that the bridge had closed the prior day for maintenance, so we were a little disappointed with our timing. As we wandered around the castles grounds, we saw no further evidence about the bridge being closed, so we decided to take a chance and go check it out anyway. There were a few nice views on the way to the bridge anyway. Luckily, once we made it to the bridge it was miraculously open! We thought perhaps because the weather was so unseasonably warm they decided to keep it open. Whatever the reason, it was open, so we got our there, checked out the view and snapped some pics. It was a little scary out in the bridge actually.

A nice man took a photo of both of us.

After seeing the castle, we had Leberkase semmel for lunch.

Then we caught the bus into the town, where we had a disappointing coffee with sour milk (we didn’t drink it), did some shopping in a Trachten (traditional German/Austrian clothing) shop, bought some souvenirs and eventually had a good coffee (and cake)

Then we decided to head back to the hotel but got a bit lost and walked too far. But we saw some cool things, so that was ok (but we had walked about 20 000 steps by this stage, so we were getting a bit weary)

After all that walking, we decided to go to the thermal spa just out of town. It was pretty amazing there and form the outside baths you could see the castles and mountains. Very cool. We also had dinner there.

Germany is just around the corner…no wait…so is Austria

Goodbye Innsbruck! Hope to see you again soon!

Hello nearby Seefeld and delicious Affogato coffee and strudel.

Then, we crossed the border into Germany to Mittenwald.

After much deliberation, we decided to up the cable car to the top of the mountain in Mittenwald. It looked like another planet up there.

We had Weisswurst for lunch.

And looked around a bit.

And then onward to Füssen. But not before crossing the border back in to Austria for a while.

Then, literally just across the border back in to Germany, we arrived in Füssen our base camp for the next two night. Very lovely here.

One day in Innsbruck

We weren’t sure what to do today. It was our only full day in Innsbruck. Should we go up a mountain? Should we hang around in town all day? Should we go for a bike ride? Should we drive somewhere? So many decisions to be made. One decision that we didn’t have to make however, was breakfast. Goldener Adler has a good breakfast.

Then we nipped over to a nearby food market to have a look and bought some Hungarian Paprika. After discussions with one of the ladies at the hotel we decided to go up the mountain. It was such a clear day after all. We had been up this mountain before – but it was covered in snow that time.

First you have to catch a cool furnicular train.

Then, two cable cars to the top of the peak.

It was still a bit cloudy when we first got up there, but it was very cool because we were above the clouds.

It was quite cold up there. And windy.

We decided to go in to the cafe for a Jagertee to warm up.

Then a bit more of a look around as the fog had cleared by this stage.

Then we caught the cable car back down one station to Seegrube. It was lovely and sunny there. We walked up part of the mountain and back around.

We decided to have lunch there. We had this Sour Tirol Cheese (cant remember what it was called) with salad and bread. It was good. And it was lovely in the sun.

Then we headed back down the mountain. We had some coffees in the town.

And then rented a couple of bikes and road up along the river.

Then dinner at the Speckaria. Yes, we went here last time. Yes, it was good.

Innsbruck is the best.

Surprise Wild Park

After breakfast today in Zell Am See we had a quick wander down to the lake, as it was a foggy morning and we thought it would look nice. It did look pretty cool.

Then we packed up and left Zell Am See bound for Innsbruck. It was still pretty foggy for part of the drive. At one point we were in a world of clouds. Really spectacular.

About half way to Innsbruck we saw a sign for a Wild Park and we decided we needed to visit. After a few kilometres drive up a mountain we reached our destination. The car park was actually quite busy, clearly we weren’t the only ones with this idea. The Wild Park was on the side of the mountain and featured donkeys, rabbits, goats and huge deer. Great views over the mountains too.

By the time we had finished looking at the animals, it was lunch time. We decided to take our chances with the restaurant at the Wild Park. Yeah, it was definitely a risk – at home we would never eat at a food establishment linked to a zoo or the link. But things are done differently in Austria – the food here was all organic, straight from local farms and absolutely delicious. In fact, this meal was one of the highlights of our trip. Fantastic.

After lunch it was back in the car. We made another quick stop in the small town of Kitzbuhel. We had coffee and a tiny cake at a very pink cafe.

And then, before we knew it, we were in Innsbruck. After checking in to our hotel (Goldener Adler – the same place we stayed 5 years ago) we had a brief jaunt about town and got ourselves some dinner in a nearby restaurant. We ❤️ Innsbruck!

Großglockner

After breakfast this morning at the hotel (average buffet, with loud morning commercial radio being played 2 1/2 stars) we decided to head up to the local mountain – Schmittenhöhe for a bit of a look around and a wander. Although we had originally planned (back in Australia) to use this day to go up the Großglockner mountain, we had, for various reasons, decided to abandon that dream. So we put on our warm mountain hiking clothes, and headed up to the the gondola station. Or where we thought the gondola station was. When we got there we realised that we were in the wrong spot and the gondola station we wanted was about a 1/2 hours walk away. So we decided to go back to the hotel to get the car keys and drive to the station. And then, after checking the weather forecast we decided to change all current plans and head to the Großglockner after all. Finally, we were on our way.

It was about an hours drive to the official start of the Großglockner road. You are greeted with this sign.

The Großglockener is a very large mountain. With a lot of windy roads and hairpin turns. Spectacular but also a little scary.

After about 20 minutes or so, we made it to the top. It was cold, but amazing.

We had morning tea at the restaurant at the top. Food was good, but service was a little curt. There was lots of random taxidermy in the restaurant.

Then it was time to continue on our journey down the other side.

When we got to the end we came upon the small town of Heiligenblut which was incredibly picturesque.

Then on to Lienz for a delicious lunch.

And icecream

Before heading back to Zell Am See for dinner. We went to an awesome place called Kraftwerk. Great name for a restaurant and great food.

Goodbye Ramsau, Hello strange town

Sadly we had to leave Ramsau today. We didn’t want to. We wanted to stay there forever.

Our apartment there was so amazing too – it even had a freaking sauna! Although we didn’t end up using it.

As we left Ramsau, we said good bye to the Bison that were grazing in the nearby paddock and headed of on our way to our next town – Zell Am See.

First stop, Radstadt. A cute little town that we wanted to stay in also.

But journey on we must. So after a quick stretch of our legs, we were on our way again. After another brief stop, we arrived at our destination Zell Am See. We were a little shocked at the amount of traffic there, and after a bit of confusion as to how to actually get to our hotel, we managed to check in to our new hotel. We were starving by this stage, so got some lunch at the hotel’s cafe.

Then we went and looked at the lake. It was quite nice, but we were a little disappointed that we didn’t stay at the Grand Hotel right on the lake.

We decided to go on a boat cruise, because included with our accommodation we got a ” Summer Card” which entitled us to a free trip.

It’s a funny old place, Zell Am See. Quite picturesque, but very, very touristy. Not at all like other parts of Austria.

Well, in some ways it was still like Austria – goulash dinner.