Donna Kemper

We'll be travelling from Salzberg to Oberau and want to catch as much as possible in between. My thought was to make stops in Strobl, Bad Isel, Gosau am Dachstein the first day, Hallstatt (with tour of salt mines), th e Ice Caves, Bad Aussee and Altausee the second day and arrive in Oberau that evening. Is this feasible? Any suggestions for lodging the first or second night? The third morning we go back to Salzberg to hop a train to Vienna. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. dk

bo_jack

I do not know where Oberau is and cannot find it in a couple of Austria guide books. However, I have vacationed twice at Wolfgangsee, where Strobl is. You have plenty of time to do what you describe -- the distances are not large. However, I would stop in either St. Gilgen or, preferably, St. Wolfgang rather than Strobl -- either is more interesting than Strobl. The salt mine and ice cave are probably interesting stops -- I found the salt mine near Hallein (south-west of Salzberg) to be a good tour. Don't know anything about the other towns you name -- but if you are just driving around for the scenery -- try going south on the A10, then west on 311 to Zell-am-See and west on to Kimml Falls -- a very senic drive and about an 8 hour day trip from Salzberg and back -- with plenty of time for stopping in interesting places. If you can be more specific, I will try to answer what I can. There is plenty of good lodging at Wolfgangsee -- if you decide to stop there.

DAVE

I don't know where Oberau is. Perhaps you are talking about Oberammergau which is in Bavaria not Austria. Salzburg is real nice, the salt mines in Halstatt are truly remarkable.

bo-jack

Oberau is located on the Eastern Tirol map of the Fodors book. It is south of Kufstein, west of Kitzbuhl, near Worgl.
I hope that helps. We are hooking up with our son there before going back to Salzberg to hop a train to Vienna. I hope this helps. Thanks so much for your suggestions! dk

bo_jack

Found it with your guidance. Given the location between Salzburg & Innsbruck -- I definitely would recommend the route south on A10, west on 311, then west on 168 & 165 through Krimml. Very senic, part of an Austrian Park System where a dozen or so of the villages are "conserved" -- but not much of a tourist area yet. I've been along this route only as far as Krimml (was there two weeks ago, in fact). But the map looks like an easy route north on 169 from Zell am Ziller to your final destination. There are lots of guest houses available on this route -- but I have no specific knowledge of them -- except that the food is good. Strobl & Bad Ischl are east of Salzsburb and seem almost like a separate trip to me. Another suggestion -- you are real near Berchtesgaden, Germany, on your route -- very pretty -- my personal preference would be to go there, rather than in the Strobl, Bad Ischl direction. If there and you want to see "eagle's nest" -- stop in the tourist office and get a good map.

topoftheworld

I drove Inssbruck to Reutte, Krimml, Zell am See, Bad Ischl, Bad Gosain Hallstatt, Obertraun and Salzburg, in that order. Words canot describe the beauty of lakes lost in deep canyons or the (first two) little towns. I was there a week. Next time, I plan to
visit the eastern side of the Dachstein
Massif, visiting St Wolfgangsee. Need to hear from someone who has been to Altausee.

bo_jack

One word of slight caution. There was a serious car/truck wreck and a fire with fatalities in the Tauern Tunnel last week. (South of where we were -- so I'm not exactly where it is.) However, safety of tunnels is becomming a real and political issue and is likely to put pressure of some of the more heavily traveled roads in terms of upsetting normal traffic patterns. So when there, you might want to ask about driving/traffic conditions for your proposed routes and plan in a little extra time.