Urban Hiking in Salzburg Austria

  Location: Gaisberg Mountain, Salzburg, Austria
Duration: 1 day

Distance: Up and down (ok, around 5 miles)

   
 For me, Salzburg Austria is quintessentially Europe. There is the old hilltop fortification jutting into the skyline; the old city quarter with cathedrals and squares; a strong dark river dividing the old and new; lots of people bicycling and strolling with purpose, all ringed by imposing mountains. Public transportation is good enough, with trains and buses at your disposal, though if staying close to the city heart it is best to just grab your umbrella and take an urban hike. It is an enchanting location that beacons you to relax a bit, maybe sit along the riverside or hike a mountain just to see the views; it is filled with cafes and restaurants that entice you with ice cream treats and dense German fare. In short it is the perfect place to visit and stay for a while.

  To this girl who spends most of her days in the wide-open South Dakota prairie, it was a titillating delight to be surrounded by mountains in all directions. Locals know each by name and are happy to point them out and describe the charms each offers. Depending on your pleasure there is one within easy access that is waiting for you. We managed to do some hiking, gondola rides, and summer tobogganing; and felt we barely got a taste of what the mountains have waiting. Now there is impressive wilderness stretches in Austria- with glaciers, mountain lakes, meadows and imposing mountaineering- The National Park Hohe Tauern- unfortunately this region will have to wait for a different visit. I spent my time in and around the city of Salzburg and had my fill of the delights of climbing a mountain to find a beer garden waiting at the top. Not a bad reward.

  Now I employ the term mountain loosely here- as most people would call them hills in Salzburg- but they were imposing enough to make my breath catch when I looked down from the top, so I am going with mountain. But according the “The Sound of Music” (which was filmed here and actually is one of the reasons tourists visit) those hills, they’re alive with… well you know. We had no trouble finding transportation to hiking trails. The day we set aside for a longer hike, we just simply walked out our door and headed in the direction of the mountain we were aiming for- Gaisberg. After about a half hour walking through the city we started to climb and then met up with the dirt path. The nice thing about mountains is if you are hiking up you just head up the trail and when done go the opposite direction. There were many trails but you never had the sense that you could get very lost as there is a well-used road that runs to the top that you could always manage to find if needed. The trails are blazed with a red and white marker which, after being on several trails, I started to suspect really was the marker not so much of the trail but that you were on the right path to the beer at the top! The terrain changed from beautiful old farms, to meadows, to mountain forests; lovely every step of the way. It is difficult to gage the difficulty of the trail as we were led the entire way by my 9 year old son who charge up and then down, and was managed by my aunt; so we had three generations able to enjoy the hike but it in no way was an easy walk in the woods. We had hiking poles that we were glad for as the constant incline, coupled with areas of rock and forest debris, did make you watch your feet more than the views in sections.

  We all happily enjoyed relaxing at the restaurant once we reached the top. You can have the weiner schnitzel and beer guilt free knowing there is the whole second half of the hike still ahead. The views catch your breath as you see the Salzburg panorama while the brightly colored hang-glides take off and float and soar. Good cheerful conversation with friends completes an amazing morning. Revitalized, you get the luxury of making an “urban hiking” choice: save the knees and take the bus down, or extend the hiking pleasure and walk back the way we came. You know what we picked! Down was slow on me but it brought a grin of delight watching my son sliding and skidding down the rocky areas with confident delight. The round trip, door to door, took 8 hours.