Austria – Holiday Break Away
by Margaret Swaine
Stepping out of my hotel in Salzburg I see the Alps. I wonder whether they are ones which inspired Mozart who was born here, or hold the path which Julie Andrews sang along in the Sound of Music. In any case, I’m heading for the train station for a close up look as I plan on glacier skiing on the Kitzsteinhorn near Kaprun, a scenic two hour ride away. I might just as easy chose to play golf, hear a concert, sample special wines or visit an historical edifice such as Hohensalzburg, Europe’s largest fortified castle, for Austria is rich in sports and culture.
Austria, the birthplace for modern skiing, is still one of the foremost destinations in the world for skiers. The mountains are ideal for downhill runs, with intricate lift networks designed to tie resorts, villages and often whole valleys, together into one large ski region. For those who love to live on boards, the country offers eight year round skiing areas on the glaciers which dot the Alps.
Two years prior, while skiing in October in the Ziller Valley region of the Tyrolean Alps, I bumped into the Canadian ski team practicing on the Tux glacier. When I asked what they were doing in Austria, the answer was a succinct “snow”. Turned out they were even staying in the farming village of Hintertux at the very hotel where I laid my bags. It was a romantic area with all the villages which nestled along the eight-kilometre valley full of character: ancient mills, historic parish churches, farmsteads and the like.
At Zell am See and its twin resort of Kaprun, my destination this year, ski slopes rise from a historic town set on the banks of a glittering lake. About 12 miles away, the glacier is reached by an underground rail way up through the mountain. However by ski is not the only way to enjoy the Alps – in summer hiking and biking are popular pursuits.
Austria has an amazing 50,000 kilometres of marked hiking trails and 10,000 kilometres of signposted cycling trails. Those who like company should contact the North American tour operators who offer village-to-village hikes through green valleys or hut-to-hut hikes along the peaks, as well as cycling trips all through pristine landscape glittering with rivers, alpine flowers and blue skies.
In Tyrol twenty hotels have come together as the “Tiroler Wanderhotels” group offering innovative walking packages and a super walking service with authorized guides. The Tyrols Cycleways Guide provides detailed plans of specially selected routes.
The scenic Tauern bicycle path is a gorgeous, roll through the Alps, which can be largely downhill if you plan it right. Deep in the Hohe Tauern range in the Gastein Valley, the town of Badgastein is a world renown super spa. The waters of its hot springs, endowed with trace elements and radon gas, are piped into all the major hotels and pensions. While touring around, I saw many guests luxuriating in the soothing thermal water pools after a day of perhaps tennis, hiking or golf. Trips to a former gold mine, Böckstein, have a special therapeutic effect from the high humidity, heat and radon gas.
Austria has over 80 spas of classical European variety where hot springs, mud packs, hydrotherapy, massage, and other time-tested treatments are offered. Many of the resort hotels, such as those at Badgastein, offer spa packages, or even spa and sport deals.
My favourite bike paths go through wine regions. To the west of Vienna is Lower Austria, the largest wine-growing region. In the centre is Krems, where a taste of more than 120 Austrian wines can be enjoyed in the cellars of a 17th century former Capuchin monastery, Kloster Und. In the Wachau, between Krems and Melk along the Danube River is a very scenic cycling path, amid narrow terraced vineyards clinging to the steep valley slopes. It passes the famous hilltop castle of Durnstein where Richard the Lion Heart was held prisoner. Durnstein is a well preserved medieval fortified town which overlooking the Danube. A glass of wine here is pure romance.
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In Styria, in the southeast, the hilly grape vine covered land has been called a second Tuscany, though it just may be even more picturesque. You can stop for wine and home grown food at any of the over 200 buschenshanks, which are farms allowed to sell the produce of their labour on premises. Many have picnic tables outside in view of the vineyards. Graz governs Styria and is the second largest city in the country, with all of a quarter million inhabitants. It’s a charming cultural city with a lively bar scene probably due to the three universities. Not to be missed is the largest historical collection of arms in the world at the Zeughaus – more than 30,000 pieces dating back to the 16th century.
The easternmost province, Burgenland, is the flattest, with a large shallow lake, called the Neusiedl. The locals enjoy the water for boating and swimming and the winemakers for its provision of a constant humidity that encourages noble rot in the grapes, a beneficial fungus, responsible for the famous dessert wines of the area. Rust, a town close to the shores of the lake, is home to the Wine Academy, founded in 1989. It acts as a wine information centre, a wine store and a learning centre. It offers the Austrian Wine Experience, a week-long seminar in English, which includes lectures and overnight trips to the major wine regions. Close by is the town of Eisenstadt, the capital of this second largest wine growing region, and home of Joseph Haydn when he was court composer for the Duke Esterhazy. Public concerts of Hayden’s music are played by musicians in 18th century dress in the Esterhazy palace.
In fact at any given moment there is classical music in the air in Austria. This year many of the regular festivals celebrate the bicentenary of the birth of Schubert and the 100th anniversary of Brahms death. For example while Mozart serenades and palace concerts are year round in Salzburg, from mid-September to early October Schubert in Salzburg concerts will be held by the Bach Society in five towns in the province and in November Schubert Days (three lieder cycles from the prince of song) are featured at the Mozarteum.
In Vienna Schubert’s works are scheduled at both the Spring Festival in the Musikverein (April 3 to May 6) and at the Music Festival of the Vienna Festival at the Konzerthaus (May 8 to June 19) featuring international stars such as Riccardo Muti, Nikolaus Hanoncourt and the Vienna Philharmonic. At the KlangBogen concerts of Vienna’s Summer of Music in July and August almost every one of Schubert’s works for piano will be played, along with all 17 Mozart operas. The music film festival held every summer outdoors in front of the City Hall in Vienna will screen Schubert of course, as well as Leonard Bernstein conducting works by Johannes Brahms and opera hits. With free admission and seating, after a day of sightseeing it’s the perfect spot to grab a snack from the specialty food stands, sit back and be transported by this city of music.
In Styria the International Music Festival of Brahms takes place from September 18 to 21 in Mürzzuschlag. The Brahms museum, where the composer wrote his 4th symphony, presents his story and is on the Brahms-Way, a hiking path which follows an authentic route of his, and is close to the Steinbauer tavern which serves the original Brahms-Jause.
The country also has about 80 golf courses and so music is sometimes combined with this sport. Golf enthusiasts from 20 countries go to the traditional seven Salzburg Festival tournaments held in Klessheim in August to enjoy concerts, opera and the links. Gut Altentann Golf and Country Club in Henndorf, near Salzburg, is an 18 hole Jack Nicklaus designed course where the Austrian Open has been held. In ski country near Zell am See, the Schmittenhöhe, a championship course where John Daly has played in an exhibition match, is a solid test of golf
A few miles north of Vienna, Schloß Schönborn is a fine course which meanders through the abandoned hunting ground that surrounds the castle. Near Graz in the village of Frohnleiten, the Murhof Golf Club is a haven set in a tiny river valley encircled by pine covered mountains. At high altitude in Seefeld in Tyrol, the Golf Academy has PGA certified pros and an indoor Master Golf Training Centre. In wine country is Burgenland’s Bad Tatzmanndorf, where Austria’s first golfodrom was built as well as a David Leadbetter Academy. Hotels, such as the Steigenberger group, offer golf packages combined with thermal spas and other luxuries.
The most exciting development in golf in the country, Fontana in Oberwaltersdorf, a half hour drive from Vienna, has Canadian roots. Spearheaded by Magna’s Frank Stronach, designed by Canadian Doug Carrick (Angus Glen and more), with the on location supervision of Barry Britton, builder of Lionshead and others, the course which is due to open this spring has already been called the finest in Europe. Its chateau like clubhouse, set on a large man-made lake is ground fed with aquifer water of Lake Louise hue. The newly contoured rolling hills where flat farmland used to be, complete with challenging water hazards and awesome sod bunkers make this a real destination course. While proficiency in German is not required (English is the official language of golf), you should be proficient in the game – most courses will ask to see your current handicap card.
The Austrian National Tourist Office (ANTO) Web site includes 4,000 pages and 3,000 pictures which give a comprehensive view of the Austrian tourist industry, including dates of musical events, hotels, cultural attractions and video clips. The address is: www.austria-tourism.at