Austria Continued - Lofer, Wallersee and The Danube

31 May

Leaving Innsbruck and a beautiful two hour drive through the valley following the river Inn.  Passed farmsteads, fields of veges and strawberry pickers, the chateau in Brixleg, through Worgl and a climb into ski villages dominated by snow capped Alps.  

Found our campsite in Lofer, ‘Park Grubhof’ (24 euros) situated in an old park by the river Saalach.   Found a great pitch by the river and went for a recce of the camp.  Would have to say it’s one of the best camps we’ve been in, well organised, very modern facilities, on a river with biking and hiking paths and beautiful views of the mountains.

  

Thought we’d make the most of the rest of the afternoon (and hopefully beat the next downpour) and went on a two hour hike following a track next to the camp through the woods and meadows and into the village.  Here you can catch two cable cars that whisk you up to the Almenwelt Lofer, an alpine pasture and the starting point of hiking and biking trails.  Lets hope the weather is better tomorrow.

1 June

After a walk to Chaeau Grubhof, the residence of the original land owner and now part of ‘Camp Grubhof’, we went for an explore following a pretty pathway through the meadows and little farming hamlets.

2 June

Made our way to the River Danube as the weather hasn’t cleared.  Excited to be able to catch up with our Austrian friends who we met last year at Lake Bled in Slovenia.  

Meandered through ski villages, woods and meadows, popped into Germany at Bad Reichenhall and back into Austria.  Drove through Salzburg and caught a glimpse of the old town where we explored last year.

Rupert and Claudia live near Neumarkt am Wallersee, a pretty area of meadows, lakes and farming hamlets.  Found the closest camp, ‘Camping Strandbad' at Seewalchen (20 euros) situated on Lake Wallersee.  

Went for a recce through the fields and to the lake which is overlooked by a restaurant which backs onto the camp.

Spent a wonderful evening with Rupert and Claudia who took us back to their home where we met son Rupert and daughter Marget as well as ‘Josh and Clara and the gang’!

A fabulous spit pork dinner overlooking the lights of Salzburg!

3 June 

A beautiful ‘green’ drive through the country side with a dash of red, the poppies are starting to bloom!  However as we got closer to Linz the drive became ‘commercial’, with lots of traffic and lights, added an extra hour to our trip.  Passed Linz it changed just as quickly as we hit the ‘Romantic Road’ and caught glimpses of the Danube River, which incidentally is not ‘blue’!  Through woods and passed Stein Castle and a lovely drive following the Danube to Marbach and ‘Camping Marbach’ (18 euros) on the Danube. 

Went for a two hour hike uphill and through the woods to the pilgrimage church ‘Maria Taferl’.  At this beautiful baroque basilica we enjoyed a fantastic panorama of the Danube Valley.

4 June

Left camp heading to Krems situated along the Danube in the Wachau Valley.  The Valley has a picturesque landscape formed by the Danube and is known for it’s quality wines (mainly ‘dry whites’), castles and ruins and the urban architecture of it’s towns and villages.  Drove through orchards, cute villages and vineyards to our next designated camp, ‘Camping Donaupark Camp Krems’ on the Danube.  We were so fortunate to be given a pitch overlooking the Danube and the beautiful Gottweig Abbey high up on the other side of the river.

Went exploring and took the cycleway along the Danube, passed the ‘spit fish’ outdoor eatery through the vineyards to medieval Durnstein with it’s striking blue tower of the Monastery Durnstein.  

The Donauweg is the most popular cycleway in Europe running over 1,000kms and following the Danube River through ten countries.  

The most picturesque part is between Passau and Vienna. 

Hiked up the slopes to the Castle Ruin where 'Richard the Lionheart' was once kept prisoner.  Took advantage of the ‘history info stops’ on the way up. 
Stunning panoramas of the Wachau Valley from the top. 

In the evening we strolled through the little village of Stein next to Krems.

5 June

Watched the tourist boats and barges from our pitch, drank coffee and chatted with our neighbours.  

Twenty camper vans have arrived today, they’re part of the ‘Netherlands Camping Club’. 

6 June

Determined to see the beautiful Benedictine Gottweig Abbey close up, we crossed the bridge over the Danube and followed the cycle path to the base of the Abbey.  A steep climb to the Abbey.  

Stunning both inside and outside, baroque architecture.  There is a restaurant on the other side of the Abbey with panoramas overlooking the valley.  20kms and we were back at camp just missing a thunderstorm.