Austria At Its Most Authentic

A land of lakes, peaks, hikes, heartfelt songs and naked saunas, Salzburgerland dishes up classic Austria at its most authentic

- Stuart Forster

Gruss Gott!” exclaimed a cheery hiker as he crunched purposefully past me on a broad mountain path strewn with pebbles. This traditional greeting - frequently used for brief encounters across the Salzburgerland translates literally as “greet God', but originates from a phrase meaning ‘may God bless you'. As I looked around, sun blazing down on the Alpine peaks, I thought: surely it's hard not to feel blessed here.

The hiker was lithe and tanned, effortlessly swinging his walking poles and carrying his mid-sized pack; his gait suggested an ability to cover significant distances with ease. As we passed on the slopes of the Schmittenhöhe, a mountain that peaks at 1,965m, I wondered if he might be about to complete the Hohe Tauern Panorama Trail, a ten-day, 152km hike through Hohe Tauern National Park, opened in May 2021, which ends (or begins) at the lakeside town of Zell am See, just down below. I doubted I'd be moving as freely on my tenth consecutive day of trekking here. But the beauty of these mountains is that they have trails for walkers of all abilities, including intermediates like me.

Indeed, this part of Austria has drawn me back repeatedly since childhood. I love the walking, the language, the culture, the cuisine; it's among my happy places. So I'd returned for a few days exploring around Zell am See and Kaprun to reacquaint myself with a region where spending time outdoors comes all-too-easy after what felt like way too long indoors in recent times.

WALKING ON AIR

Perhaps I'd try the Panorama Trail another time. For now, I satisfied myself with a number of other pleasurable walks amid the Salzburgerland mountains. The infrastructure here - from well-waymarked routes and handy cable cars to mountain huts serving up snacks, beer and hearty meals - means it's easy to explore.