Driving through the Balkans (4): Zadar to Portoroz (and around), and back

Itinerary (1)
Kranjska Gora (Slovenia) (2)
Zadar (Croatia) (3)

Portoroz is a quiet seaside resort along the coastline of Slovenia (which is very short, about 46 kms). The towns here make up the Slovenian Riviera, small but quite charming. Many of Slovenia's rich come here regularly, and you can see it in the feel of the place. And both Italy and Croatia are less than half an hour’s drive from here.

Rovinj

We spent 6 nights in and around Portoroz, exploring the Istrian region. It was a small town and it had been tough to find a good airbnb there. We mostly visited coastal towns nearby, like Piran and Izola in Slovenia, Rovinj and the wine region in Croatia, and Trieste in Italy. All these places felt different yet similar. September was already a quiet period as it was post summer, so it felt like slow heaven everywhere.

And we mostly took it easy, walking around, eating, listening to local music and enjoying the sunsets around. The weather was not helpful though as it had gotten cold and rainy by then. My favourite days were our visit to the town of Rovinj and the day in Kabola winery. I must say though, I found the first two weeks of our vacation definitely better than this part.


Day 14: Exploring the town of Rovinj (1 hour drive)

Our first day, it was raining all morning, so we started our day late after 2 pm. Given the long summer evenings, we still got enough time to explore around. As our airbnb in Portoroz was very close to the border, we planned to go south to the Croatian town of Rovinj. We reached the border within 10 mins, and thankfully remembered in time that we needed our passports when crossing between Slovenian and Croatian borders. So we were able to go back to our airbnb and get our passports. 

The drive to Rovinj first goes past the salt pans near Pororoz, where salt is produced. They are huge fields where sea water is evaporated. Past the saltlands, we drove through green rural areas, with some scenic towns on the way.

Rovinj

When we reached Rovinj, we were blown away by our first view of the town. It's a small town on a raised peninsula, surrounded by the sea on three sides. There were boats and yachts moored all around. And all the warm toned coastal houses on the peninsula made for a great view. Most of them were in pastel colours, shades of yellow, orange and pink. When we reached the town waterfront, we saw loads of activities being advertised, including dolphin tours. We however kept walking along the waterfront and reached the pier which allows one a nice view of the whole town.

We slowly started walking up towards the main church. We first stopped for snacks at a restaurant on the sea, Ascora. The views from there were outstanding. As we made our way through the old town, we passed through its winding streets full of activity. There were shops with beautiful clothes, art, handicrafts and other interesting things to buy. And musicians playing relaxing music on the streets. As the sun started to set by then, it all felt so magical - I think this is when I realised I liked this town 😀.

Sunset at Rovinj

As we kept walking, we saw 100s of people sitting along the rocks next to the sea, waiting for sunset. As there were clouds in the sky, the sunset that day was magnificent, with all shades of orange, red and purple in the sky. We hiked all the way up to the church on top which gave a nice view of the town and many islands around.

When we came down to the town square, there was a concert going on in the main area. And loads of crowds around. We stopped again now in the main square to have dinner at Atlas. We could hear the concert playing in the background while eating. The vibe there was great. It was nice to eat outdoors too. It was soon time to go back and we suddenly realised that the day was over, just like that. We don't know what we did all day other than walk around soaking the feel of the place, but we enjoyed the experience a lot.


Day 15: Exploring Piran and Portoroz

Breakfast with a view

We spent the day exploring both Portoroz and Piran. They are towns very close to each other, barely 20 mins apart. Piran is a historical town while Portoroz seems like a new resort town right next to Piran. The views all around of the charming towns was just so serene. We loved our meals in the airbnb balcony, with views of these towns around, rains and cold permitting of course.

We first went to Portoroz marina and walked along the waterfront crossing all of Portoroz. We made our way past hotels, resorts, restaurants, malls, yacht clubs, salt warehouses and other tourist buildings all the way. The whole waterfront felt quite upmarket and posh. It was barely a 5 kms walk to Piran all along the sea, but we decided to eat first on the water front and then drive to Piran. So we had lunch at Lanmar Portoroz. The food was quite average, with limited fish options available and not tasty either.

Piran

After lunch, we drove to Piran and walked around. It was another nice seafront town, with boats moored all around, sun washed houses, narrow streets, restaurants and the church on top. We circled all around the town, and could even see Italy across the bay. We hiked up to the church and got a panoramic view of the town around. We could see all the way till Italy and Croatia, with the lights twinkling along the sea. We saw some fort ruins on one of the mountains around. We could also see the whole town spread out around us, with the orange roofs spread out as far as the eyes could see. The view reminded me of a smaller version of Dubrovnik.

Piran at night

We walked down the hill to the main square, as the lights all around started lighting up. The town was not too crowded though. We stopped at a local cafe and ate the famous local cake, the S'Torta. It was a bit underwhelming though. As was the town. Rovinj felt a lot more buzzing than Piran. As we were walking around, it started raining again, so we ran to our car and didn't explore the town more.


Day 16: Trip to Trieste (Italy) (40 mins away)

The next day we visited a city in Italy (quite interesting that every day we would drive to a new country 😂). My friend was flying back from Trieste, so we drove there and explored the place before she flew out. Even though it was so close, we could feel a stark difference between Slovenia and Italy. In the architecture, in the driving, and definitely in the food.

On the way to Trieste, we stopped at a mall in Koper for the supercharger. It was quite a nice mall and we saw such stylish clothes in the shops there, we already knew we had reached Italy ☺️. And then there was the chaotic traffic when we got close to Trieste. People were honking on the streets, not following traffic rules and driving rashly. We were clearly in Italy!!

Walking through Trieste

Trieste city was quite huge and spread out. We had to drive quite a bit to get to the station. From there, we first walked to the city centre. It was full of imposing buildings - ornate offices and elegant palazzos - something we hadn’t seen in the last 2.5 weeks as we hadn't visited any city for a while. Though we could see hills in the background and felt that nature was close. We explored the local streets for a while, checking out the shops and enjoying the sun. It was a sunny day but the weather had turned extremely windy. So it wasn't as comfortable as I would have wanted it to be.

Trieste

There were a few canals in Trieste too, and the buildings around them were built in typical Italian style architecture. In fact some of the areas arount the canals looked straight out of Venice. We strolled through the high streets, near the canals, the waterfront, and explored the shops and restaurants there. The city was quite interesting, it had Italian, Austrian and Slovenian influences everywhere. But it felt quite chaotic and dirty, also a lot less safe than Slovenia and Croatia.

After all the walking around, I had an italian lunch in the sun, at Al Barattolo, a highly rated restaurant. Lunch took 2 hours to finish, it really felt like an Italian lunch. The restaurant was located in a closed street, so the wind was limited and it felt warmer to be outside. And the food was so tasty, after such a long time! It’s interesting how just being 30 mins away in Italy made such a difference to the food quality and taste. I loved the lunch there.

But I think I had had my fill of the craziness of a city already. While driving back, I almost felt happy to leave Italy and its chaos behind, to go back to my small little Slovenian town, Portoroz. With quiet around, nature everywhere and few people. It’s interesting how a few days in the countryside does to someone. Back in Portoroz, I recorded the sunset with timelapse on my phone, for the first time. And it came out quite dramatic.


Day 17: Sunset at Izola (20 mins away)

My last two days in Portoroz were lazier than usual, a lot more of just being than doing something new all the time. Today was a bit warmer than other days, so I spent the first half of the day swimming along the Portoroz waterfront. The water was fine to swim but a bit coolish. It still felt amazing to swim in the open sea here in such serene and pristine surroundings, with a stunning landscape in the background.

Izola from afar

In the evening, I drove to one of the towns we had seen while driving to Trieste but hadn't visited yet, Izola. It looked stunning from afar, a small spot of red along the water. I must say all these Istrian towns were quite atmospheric but they had started looking similar to me by now 😂. Izola was again a small touristy seaside town along the coast, with colourful houses, a small church on the hillside, loads of boats along the water, nice beaches and locals playing street music. People around the town were just sitting and chilling, so I did the same.

Izola at sunset

I walked along the marina and stopped at a restaurant on the beach to eat while enjoying the stunning sunset in the sea. Somehow the place was less crowded than the other towns, and I enjoyed the calmness here. And of course, I didn't mind it either, after the craziness of Trieste the day before. It was a short stop in this town but a nice quiet one. While driving back I noticed that the entire Istrian coast sparkles at nigh, dotted with all the villages and towns along the coast. It was quite a sight to experience at night.


Day 18: Visit to Kabola winery (Croatia) (20 mins away)

On my last day in Slovenia, I spent the first half of the day walking along the Portoroz marina, while waiting for my car to be washed. It was a long row of hotels, shops and restaurants along the marina including some luxury ones like the Kempinski right next to the water. There were some casinos too! I walked past some of the residential areas, and most of the houses there looked like holiday homes, they were simple but also posh.

Croatian Tuscany

After the car wash, I drove out towards Croatia towards a region known as Croatian Tuscany. It's a place away from the sea with small hills dotted with vineyards. The road to get there was a bit rough in places, and felt very remote. Until I came across row after row of vineyards in this very green part of the country. It was a picturesque valley, lined with vineyards everywhere. And even though I had driven only 20 mins from Portoroz, I felt I had come to a different world altogether.

Kabola chalet

A friend had suggested a few places to visit, and I stopped at the first of those wineries I came by - Kabola winery. In the end, I ended up spending all my time there. There was a small chalet with a very limited menu of cheese and meat. I tried the food and as I was the only customer for a while, I spoke to the waiter to learn about the place. He was Croatian and sounded very proud of his country. He had worked in many countries but kept coming back as he said Croatia was extremely safe. The downside was it was quite corrupt and wasn't very welcoming to immigrants. It’s also apparently a 100% Catholic country.

He also shared that this year they had had three months of no rain, which affected the wine harvest that year. Though we got all that rain in September while we were there 😂. Even though it was a quiet day that day, he said it was mostly Americans who visited the wineries here. He talked for so long that I felt guilty about not buying much. So I also bought a few olive oil bottles from there, one of the tastiest olive oils I have ever had. Overall, it was a relaxed day and I enjoyed it. The drive back to Portoroz was scenic again, through green hills with some orange roofed houses. It was a pleasure to explore the area for one last time.

View from our airbnb

Finally today evening was not that cold, so I managed to sit outside my airbnb for a little while to enjoy the sun going down, and the lights coming up slowly. It was a gorgeous view, and seeing it at night was even better when it wasn’t cold. Sadly, this only happened on the last day of the trip.

Overall, I had a nice time in Istria, all the towns were quite picturesque. My favourites from this part of the trip were the town of Rovinj and the day in the vineyards of Croatia. But overall, I wasn’t very impressed.


Day 19: Drive back (7.5 hours) from Portoroz to Greding (Germany) with lunch stop in Radstadt (Austria); night stay in Greding

And just like that it was time to go back. I was planning to visit Munich and Salzburg on the way, but then decided to just finish the drive back to Amsterdam over two long days of driving. The first day, the initial drive was through green areas on the Alps foothills. The mountains seemed so majestic all around but I seemed to be driving around them for a long time. Then I drove a bit through the Italian Alps which were great, the driving not so much. I also stopped at a supercharger in the middle of the mountains near an abandoned mall! There were some shops there but not many, it felt weird.

Austrian valleys

Then I entered Austria and mostly drove through the Alps there. The mountains were gorgeous, paintings in green, and it was a pleasure to drive through them. I mostly drove on highways with charming villages on the sides. There was some snow on the far-off peaks, but most of the drive felt like late summer. The landscape all around was so stunning, it kept me entertained on the long drive. In fact, I wanted to stop at every turn and didn't even realise how the long drive flew past.

Lunch view in Radstadt

For lunch, again I stopped at a random town called Radstadt. I had lunch at the Stegerbrau hotel with a magnificent view of the valley below. After that, I wandered around the high street which had typical Austrian architecture. But it was totally empty. And the views from everywhere in town were just magnificent. Somehow in Austria, even pit stops feel like perfect paintings, such a beautiful country it is.

After Radstadt, I got stuck in traffic for an hour. But the views were so engaging all around, I didn’t mind it much. From Austria, I drove into Bavaria which had smaller hills, but still green. And the villages were also less dramatic here than Austria. Also the drive felt so different, I feel I took a different route this time than the way to Slovenia.

For the night, I had picked a random small town on the way, Greding to stay at. I reached there around 9:30 pm and checked into the hotel, Hotel Bayernhof. It was a small old style hotel, where I got a physical key for the room! And the staff closed the doors after I checked in, and left, at 10 pm!

Greding at night

Which should not have surprised me so much. After check-in, I went out into the town for a stroll. It was a nice little place with pretty buildings, a town centre, and strong town walls all around. Though there was not a soul out at 10 pm! In fall time! Everything was shut - shops, restaurants, even hotels - and all the residents were asleep. It felt like a ghost town.

Even my hotel had no staff to do anything at that time 😂. This was quite an interesting experience for me, as we city people always assume things will be open late, but places in remote places don’t work like that apparently.


Day 20: Drive back (7.5 hours) from Greding (Germany) to Amsterdam

I had liked Greding at night but felt too scared to explore it given there was not a single soul in sight! So I decided to explore it in the morning, and it turned out to be a pretty Bavarian town, with a lot more hulchul during the day. Many cafes were open, people were sitting in the squares and sunning themselves. It felt nice.

Greding through the gate

There were three churches in town, I walked up to one of them and it turned out to be quite a simple one. There were so many old people tending to the garden in the cemetery there. When I saw that, I thought to myself, there are some joys of living (and dying) in the same town or village for generations.

And then I was off, on my way back home to Amsterdam. This last day of the drive was quite boring. The landscape was mostly the green fields in the plains of Germany, which don't offer much variation. So I just drove continuously without many stops.

I stopped at a supercharger in Geiselwind, it felt like such a modern and cool one. The town looked pretty too. Then I stopped at another supercharger where I had a Subway lunch. The drive was green, though quite flat once I entered the Netherlands. I think it quickly got me out of my holiday mood, and I just drove on without breaks. Thankfully there were no delays today.

The stark difference from where I started, the green hills of Bavaria to the flatlands of Netherlands, was quite unmissable. Though after weeks of travel, I did welcome the simplicity and orderliness of my home in the Netherlands. It had been a great three weeks in the Balkans. I loved the experience of driving there, and exploring those areas. And looking forward to more visits, soon.

Driving through the Balkans (1): Itinerary

Kranjska Gora (Slovenia) (2)
Zadar (Croatia) (3)
Portoroz (Slovenia) (4)

In the fall of 2024, towards the end of my sabbatical year, we did a three week driving trip from Amsterdam to Slovenia and Croatia. We stayed for a week in the Slovenian Julian Alps, in Kranjska Gora and explored the mountains around. Then we spent a week in the Croatian coastal town of Zadar. The last week was spent in the Slovenian coastal town of Portoroz exploring the coastal towns of Slovenia, Croatia, and Italy. And then I drove back to Amsterdam.

I loved the travels and wished I could have spent more time at each of these locations - I enjoyed every moment of it. The lakes, the small towns, the beaches, the rivers, the beauty - everything was like the perfect dream. We crisscrossed many countries during this trip, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia and Italy. Here is the itinerary of what we did where (as well as all that we didn’t get time for!).


Day 1: Drive (7 hours) from Amsterdam to Erlangen (Germany) with a lunch stop in Limburg (Germany); 1 night stay at Hotel Bayerischer Hof in Erlangen

Day 2: Drive (6.5 hours) to Kranjska Gora in the Julian Alps (Slovenia) with a lunch break at Hallein (Austria) and a short hike in St Johann im Pongau (Austria) on the way; 6 nights stay in Apartment Kotnik in Kranjska Gora

Day 3-7: Exploring Triglav National Park and Julian Alps around Kranjska Gora

Vintgar Gorge

• Slemenova Spica hike near Vrsic pass (30 mins away) 
• Lake Jasna (5 mins away) 
• Walk and swim at Lake Bohinj (1 hour drive) 
• Lake Bled area (45 mins drive): Walk around Lake Bled, mountain biking till Vintgar Gorge, 2 hour walk in Vintgar Gorge along the Radovna River, boat ride in traditional pletna boats to visit the Island and the Church of the Assumption, and a swim in the lake 
• Hike to Mountain Home Tamar (30 mins away) 
• Visit to Laghi di Fusine and the town of Tarvisio-Boscoverde (Italy) (20 mins away) 
• Things we couldn’t do: 
• Visit Mojstrana (Peričnik Waterfall), Radovna Valley and Radovljica Old Town (20 mins away) 
• Hike the Path of The Pagan Girl around Hrvic pass (30 mins away) 
• Lake Bled area: Hike up to Bled Castle, hike up Osojnica, meal at Bled Castle restaurant (45 mins away) 
• Lake Bohinj area: Hike to Zajamniki Hut on Pokljuka plateau (a shepherd village), taking the Vogel Cable Car, and hike to Savica Waterfall (one of the most beautiful waterfalls in Slovenia) (1 hour drive) 
• Scenic drives to Sorica and Škofja Loka (1.5 hour drive) 
• Soča River Valley including the towns of Bovec and Tolmin (1.5 hours drive) 

Day 8: Drive (4.5 hours) from Kranjska Gora to Starigrad near Zadar (Croatia) with lunch stop in Ljubljana (Slovenia); 5 nights stay in an airbnb in Starigrad-Paklenica

Day 9-12: Exploring beaches and the Croatian coast near Zadar

• Swimming in Starigrad-Paklenica 

  

  Plitvice National Park

  
  
• Exploring Zadar Old Town and Borik beach (45 mins away)
• Boat to Ugljan Island and swimming at some beaches (45 mins drive and boat to the island)
• Hike in Plitvice Lakes National Park (2 hours drive) 
• Things we couldn’t do: 
• Kolovare Beach, Marina Borik and Zadarska sfinga within Zadar 
• Visit to Sibenik town, and kayaking from Vodice to Prvic Sepurine island (1 hour drive) 
• Visit to Pag island (1.5 hour drive) 
• Boat ride to Kornati islands and Kornati national park 
• Trip to Krka National park (1 hour drive) 

Day 13: Drive (4 hours) from Starigrad to Portoroz (Slovenia) with lunch break in Senj (Croatia); 6 nights stay in an airbnb in Portoroz

Day 14-18: Exploring Istrian towns and vineyards

• Rovinj (1 hour drive) 

  

  Piran town
  
  

• Piran and Portoroz 
• Trieste (Italy) (40 mins away) 
• Izola (20 mins away) 
• Kabola Winery (Croatia) (20 mins away) 
• Places we couldn’t visit: 
• Nearby Croatian towns of Motovun and Pula (1 hour drive) 
• Dolphin watching in Rovinj (1 hour drive) 
• Skocjan Caves (45 mins away) 

Day 19: Drive (7.5 hours) from Portoroz (Slovenia) to Greding (Germany) with lunch stop in Radstadt (Austria); 1 night stay at Hotel Bayernhof

Day 20: Drive (7.5 hours) from Greding to Amsterdam with lunch stop at supercharger on the way


I absolutely loved this road trip and have become a huge fan of both Slovenia and Croatia. Both these countries seem amazing for tourists. The highlights from the places we visited were:

• Around Kranjska Gora, the visits to Lake Bled, Lake Bohinj, Vintgar Gorge and the Spica Hike (basically everything we did 😂)
• Around Zadar, the swims around Ugljan island and the day in Plitvice National Park
• From Portoroz, I enjoyed the visit to the town of Rovinj and the day in Kabola winery

I would absolutely recommend these places, any day!


Map

A week in the Austrian lake region

Wolfgang see

This summer, I spent a spectacular week in the Austrian lake region called Salzkammergut, staying at many of its picturesque lakes and villages. It was such a picture perfect holiday – towering green mountains, clear skies, a glorious warm summer and sparkling lakes with warm waters to swim in. Just thinking about it makes me happy again. I landed in Salzburg, and then spent 3 days around the St Wolfgang lake and another 3 next to the Fuschl See. The whole week felt so surreal, I loved it. And as always, Austria remains one of my favourite countries to visit. (I realised this was my 11th visit to the country, so clearly it’s a favourite of mine 😉).


Salzburg

Having shifted from London to Amsterdam, I am slowly realising that getting direct flights to anywhere in the world was a luxury I had in London, and is not necessarily something I can take for granted anymore. While planning to join a friend in Austria on her wedding anniversary celebrations for 3 days, the only way I could take direct flights was to go on a one week holiday😊. And so I did, as it was in Austria – one of my all-time favourite countries.

It took a bit longer to get to Salzburg than I would have expected, given all the chaos currently going on in so many European airports, including my home one, Schiphol. So what could have been a 4-5 hour journey turned out to be a 9 hour one! I turned up 4 hours earlier at the airport when it ended up taking just 45 mins to get to the gate.

Anyways, it was nice to get back onto a plane, as it’s become so much rarer since the pandemic. The whole week I was in Austria was warm and sunny. And it started with when I was landing - the green fields everywhere, all the way to the snow covered mountains, sparkled in the sun just as I was landing. Everywhere it felt warmer and sunnier than where I had flown from, summer was here. It was 26 degrees and I soon got into the relaxed holiday mode.

The Salzburg airport was the anti-thesis of Schiphol, it took me just 3 mins to enter and leave the airport building! I decided to go local and took the local bus to get to my hotel. And it felt nice to slowly drive through Salzburg town, with all its colourfully painted buildings. It felt like a sleepy place which moves at its own pace. A place you can relax in while staring at the snow covered mountains far off. The bus passed by the river and through some of the stunning neighbourhoods next to it, and that is when I decided that would be where I would spend my one evening (and run) in town.

Walk along the Salzach

I was staying at a small hotel near the city centre which was a nice clean hotel. After checking into my hotel, (and getting over the laziness of the 9 hours to get there), I left soon to explore the city, the way the locals do. My hotel was about 10 mins walk to the river, and I decided to just walk towards it. I walked through the old market lanes of Salzburg where I had spent some time 15 years ago. They all seemed to not have changed a bit.

Walk in the countryside

And then I came to the Salzach river where I had one of the most magical evenings ever. I walked for a couple of hours just next to the river, on either side. Initially the walk was still in town, but very quickly I was in the suburbs, and it was enchanting. Walking through forests, huge wooden houses and so on, with the snow covered mountains far off. There were so many birds on the trees, runners and bikers on the roads, and restaurants all along the river. It was fun to just walk along, stop and sit in the grass next to the river, dip my feet in the water, and then start again. Lots of people that day were doing the same. (I was surprised to see the number of people biking here. Also the bikers here were much nicer and polite than the ones in Amsterdam).

Salzburg at night

There were multiple bridges on the river, and I just crossed across on the one which was full of people just sitting and chilling with their friends in the sun. It was really magical. I had dinner at one of the restaurants lining the river, the Gasthof Ueberfuhr while enjoying a warm sunset. 

Castles of Salzburg

I walked back after, and made a short stop at the city centre where were located all the churches, many castles and the shopping streets I had visited last time. This side of the river was definitely grander than the side I was living on. I also realised how much I had changed since then, just choosing to walk along the river rather than visit all the places listed in the must visit websites for Salzburg😊. I really enjoyed this evening in Salzburg, it had felt like I was walking and dancing on air.

Morning run

The next morning, I went for a run along the river, in a direction opposite to the previous evening, apparently north this time. The run turned out to be tough as it was already extremely warm even at 8 in the morning (20 degrees with full on sun). But the scenes were so charming, it was worth being out in the sun. I ran while gazing at all the colourful houses around as well as the majestic castles on top of the mountains. I also stopped to dip my feet in the water, along a beach like part of the river. The water felt icy cold, and totally welcome on such a warm morning. And just like that, it was time to say goodbye to Salzburg.


St Wolfgang am See

The wedding anniversary celebrations I was joining were in the village of St Wolfgang am See, which is on the banks of one of the lakes in the area, the St Wolfgang. I hadn’t been able to figure out a way of getting there easily, so was just going to take a taxi. But my hotel receptionist suggested that I take the local bus as it would be cheaper. I wasn’t able to find the route online but she found it for me (A good example of where you can sometimes still find better options by asking people rather than depending completely on information available online).

Bus stop at Strobl

So I took the local bus from outside my hotel, first to the village of Strobl (which could have been one of the prettiest bus stations ever 😊). And then I took a short connecting bus to St Wolfgang. And as it turned out, the buses ran free on Fridays. So I got this spectacular and lazy ride along the lakes all for free! The drive was right out of a Yash Chopra movie – green lush hills and grasslands along large blue lakes, with fresh air and lot of sunshine all around. It was such a delightful ride.

St Wolfgang see

Very soon, I was in St Wolfgang and checked in to my hotel, the Scalaria. It had a great location right on the lake, with panoramic views all around. And there were birds chirping outside my window the whole time. It was like being in a different world altogether. The view of the lake from the window extended till everywhere and was quite surreal. Like out of a painting, except some yellowish stuff floating along the banks. Which I later figured out was the Sahara sand which had blown over across the continent in a storm a few weeks before.

The first day, I went out for a walk in the village, and it was a typical Austrian village, with colourful houses all along. There were a lot of nice shopping streets. And the area around the lake was really relaxing. I just sat there for a bit, enjoying the serenity around. The church bells from the local church rang soon, adding even more to the serene ambience around. There were loads of people swimming in the lake, and that inspired me to go swimming every day for the rest of my stay in Austria. As the water was so warm, and the outside even hotter.

The next three days, we had various events related to the anniversary in different parts of the Salzkammergut area. The first evening, we drove to the Wirtskultur restaurant in the town of Mondsee for dinner. It was located right on the Mondsee lake. The food there was amazing. And it was so hot, we got outside the restaurant to cool down for a bit. That’s how I got to see the local church, the only bit of local sightseeing we did there. It was all lighted up at night and looked majestic. And just like that, after a really hot day, it started pouring in the middle of our dinner! So we all had to run in, and then run back to our hotel in pouring rain. As they say, you can never be sure of the weather in the mountains.

During the boat ride

The next day, in the morning we did a yacht ride in the lake and the weather which started out cold and rainy turned warm and sunny suddenly. We spent 2 hours on the boat, just chatting and enjoying the stunning environs around. We passed by huge peaks, charming villages and so many people on the water enjoying water sports. It was so breath-taking, that after some time we just stopped taking pictures. Every moment, every turn was mesmerising.

Wolfgang church

In between the yacht ride and the evening event, I again went into town. I finally got to go to the Wolfgang church which has a lot of historic significance. It has two altarpieces which is apparently quite rare. And its outside looked impressive too with some grand views of the lakes around. I also realised that lot of people don’t take credit cards in Austria even till now, which felt quite a surprise after being in NL for so long. After the church visit, I went for a swim in the lake and it felt amazing, just like the swims of the last year in Switzerland. It felt refreshing, even though the water was freezing and I loved it.

In the evening, we had a function in the Scalaria itself, including a laser show to celebrate the event. It was fun. I also wore a saree, which felt like being in a Yash Chopra movie, saree and the Alps😊 .

The last event of the anniversary was a lunch at my friend’s place which is on the banks of the Mondsee lake. They live in a huge house overlooking the lake, it looked amazing in the sun. This is the life – to live in a village with such gorgeous nature around. It felt heavenly to visit her and made me resolve again to buy a holiday home in Austria😊.

Once the anniversary celebrations finished, I drove to my abode for the next 4 days, the small charming little hotel of Seewinkel in the village of Fuschl am See (which surprisingly is the headquarters of Red Bull). Again through the green mountains and lakes of the Alps.


Seewinkel hotel

I spent the next 4 days of the holiday in the lakeside village of Fuschl am See. And it was like being in paradise. I did a different activity every day, depending on whether the weather was sunny or rainy. And all of them were fabulous. I could have lived in this small village and its environs for a few more days too and not get bored. There were just so many ways to enjoy the nature around, it was perfect.

View from the hotel

The first afternoon when I reached the village, I was just blown away by the simplicity of the views outside the hotel. It was a small family run chalet right on the lake with lot of sun beds kept outside. It had a beach like area with sand on the lake and a walkway going into the water. And total calmness around. Oh my god, what a sight it was.

Seewinkel hotel

One of the highlights of my stay in Fuschl am See was definitely the hotel, so small and yet so contained and relaxing to stay in. I had a great time there, both inside and the areas around. It had many seating areas for you to relax – outside on the beach, on the ground floor next to the spa, the restaurant on the first floor with glass windows to enjoy the lake views and so on. It also had sofas and chairs on each floor to just sit and chill. And was always cosy and warm even when it was cold outside.

It had a nice restaurant offering lunch and dinner, with a tasty menu. I had dinner there one day and enjoyed it. They had many water sports equipment available for their guests – paddle boats, surf boats, canoes, kayaks, SUPs etc. They also offered tours for mountain biking or hiking in the area. The highpoint for me though was the small little spa in the hotel with sauna and steam bath, it was cute and I went there every day after the day outside in the cold and rain.

Reflections along the Fuschl see

Right in front of the hotel was the huge lake, where you could just walk in and swim. And right outside my window, there used to be llamas and horses and ponies grazing all day. How much more idyllic can a holiday get? I will always recommend this hotel to everyone who goes there, totally worth it. 


Fuschl am See

The first afternoon in Fuschl, I just sat outside the hotel in the sun for a while. And then went for a swim (which I ended up doing 4 of the next 5 days too😊). The water was actually so warm, it felt amazing. I swam to the other side of the lake to see the village centre. There were lot of people doing different water sports in the lake, including sailing and boating. And loads of people sitting around it fishing all day long too.

Dinner at Seehotel Schlick

In the evening, I walked along the lake to the Seehotel Schlick restaurant which was one of the 5-6 open air restaurants lining the lake. It had a beautiful view of the lake and the sunset. And the best part of the dinner was a boat with some locals just floating on the lake. And they were playing local folk music late into the evening. The whole time. It turned out to be such a captivating background to the dinner. I just fell in love with the village already. Apparently, the local group does this type of jamming every Sunday whenever it isn’t raining. What an idyllic life they have.

Sielbach village on the hike up

The next day, I went for a short hike nearby, up the Ellmaustein peak. I left a bit later in the day around 1 pm as it was a rainy day and I wanted to avoid the rain. I used the local Austrian bergfex hiking app during the day. I first walked to the Sielbach village and then took a turn up towards the peak. All along, there were so many wildflowers in yellow and white, with full fields in these colours. The path up was full of pine trees.

View from the top

I took more than 2 hours to go up and from there, got such a breath taking view of the lake. There was a huge wooden cross on the top and I sat under it for two hours, enjoying the sun and reading my book. I did not want to leave the spot, but good I did when I did. The path back was extremely steep, and coming back was quite tough, taking me more than an hour. Also, it started raining by the time I reached Fuschl. So to avoid the rain, I just stopped at the first restaurant I saw, Jacob’s and had an early dinner while sitting on the jhoola there. And the rest of the day was just spent resting at the hotel, enjoying the views outside as it rained all night.

Around the river

The next day, most of the day was raining but there were a few hours in between when it was quiet. So I went for a flat hike around the lake during this break. The path circled the lake, mostly close to it, but through very different terrains – small villages, hotels, golf courses, picnic areas, forests, restaurants, farms and so on. The water of the lake had a green emerald shade, and looked different at every turn. Within the 13 kms walk, there were so many differences in flora and fauna, it was fun. Each place felt more idyllic than the one before.

Hiking path

I started with walking past the Red Bull headquarters which were a cluster of modern buildings in the middle of nowhere. It did look cute though, sitting in this idyllic Austrian lake side village. Their HQ also had a few training buildings next to it – what fun it would be to come for corporate trainings to such an idyllic location. We passed through some wildflowers pastures in white and yellow, some gorgeous holiday homes with boats and boat ramps going into the water, the many many beaches and benches along the lake, the spruce and pine forests and so on. There were typical farm smells everywhere and a lot of cow dung smell at times too.

Beach along the lake

All the time, it kept raining in spurts, but it was fine as the trees protected me for a while. And when the rain got too much, I stopped for lunch at the SchlossFischlerei. They were selling raw, just freshly smoked fish there, and it was really tough to eat. I didn’t, choosing to eat something easier. But it was quite a sight to see people have the whole fish just like that. And as usual, I made it back to the hotel just in time before the rains. Enjoying the rest of the evening sitting by the cosy places in the hotel, enjoying the views of the lake outside.

 

The next day was mostly rainy and foggy. And whenever there was a break, I would sneak out to do something. In the afternoon, I went boating in the lake, and it was so relaxing, just floating along with such picturesque views. It got sunny then too, and was nice to see all the villages from down below in the lake. Such places always give a new perspective.

Fuschl am see at night

That evening, I walked to a restaurant in a golf course nearby, in the neighbouring village but it was already closed by then. So I ended up having dinner at the Eden burger, again by the lake. I tried sitting outside as it was gorgeous. The restaurant got the last rays of the sun when it set at the other end of the lake. But soon it got too cold to sit outside, so I just sat inside and had a nice cosy dinner.

On my last day I again went for a swim and kayaking in the water. And then I realised there were waves in the water! Huge ones. Anyways I came back safely and then it was time to leave. And I found it tough to leave the lake, seriously. I had loved going swimming in its warm waters every day. Surprisingly, it was warm even in the morning and even when the temperature outside was 14 degrees! Don’t know how, it felt swimmable all the time.


Leaving Austria

And just like that, it was time to leave the Austrian lake district. I was still going local, so took the bus to Salzburg. And as I reached Salzburg, it felt like I was back in a city after a long stay in the countryside. Even though Salzburg was small, it still felt like being back in a different world, a world I did not want to come back to.

I had reached much before time as I had kept a lot of buffer for buses being late but they were totally on time. So I stopped at Mirabell gardens in Salzburg for a bit, just to look around and also slept on the park bench, for a bit – the last of the sun I was going to get for a long while. And very quickly, I was back at the airport. Also interestingly, we could see one of the city castles from the airport itself, even though it was 2 miles away. And then soon it was time to say good bye to even the mountains. To come back to rainy and foggy Amsterdam.

This was a great holiday, as usual. And I can see myself going back again. Maybe to a different part of the lake district, like the Attersee, St. Gilgen or Gmunden am Traunsee. This area has a lot to offer, to everyone, always.

Living life, Alpine style - Vienna and Semmering, Austria

Austrian Alps

I think this has been an Austrian-special year for me. I had two unplanned weekend travel trips and both of them were in Austria. One was to Ebbs and Kufstein and the second was a weekend spent in Vienna and two days in a small alpine ski village called Semmering. It was again a trip with no bookings made in advance and no previous planning on what to do. And it turned out to be absolutely amazing. I went on a few local trails which were quite scenic. And the whole relaxed vibe to the trip made it one of the most memorable vacations I've had in a long time.


Day 1 - Eating around in Vienna

The trip started with a scare though. I was about to miss my flight to Vienna as there was a lot of traffic to Heathrow. Somehow I made it though, checking-in 1 min before the security gates closed. It was an early morning flight and so I slept all the way in the flight, to be ready for the action packed day ahead.

Once in Vienna, I took the airport city express to go to the city centre which takes just 15 mins to get you there. The weather was already warm and sunny by then, making the city look very bright. While waiting for my friends, I walked to the nearby mall and noticed a lot of vintage cars standing outside for some show of some sort. And the area was full of tourists, all out in the sun. It was quite hot and I wanted to stay outside rather than be in the mall. So I walked to the nearest green area in Google Maps which turned out to be a park all along the almost drying river Wien. And it was so hot, just sitting in the green shade felt heavenly.

Our plan for the day was to visit a few eating places but not to hurry anywhere. So our first stop was lunch at Reinthaler's Beisl restaurant, located in the city centre. The area was quite active and lively during noon time, filled with tourists walking around just admiring the city, eating and shopping. The food there though was not to my liking. I am not a fan of Austrian food given how heavy it is on meat. And so I had to pick something just about passable to eat.

Our next stop was a local food market near the Opera House, called the Naschmarkt. It was a long street lined with small stalls on both sides, selling all kinds of food stuff and some handicrafts. It was quite a cultural mix with people selling all kinds of food from Turkish to Indian to Chinese to Austrian to ice cream which felt just perfect for the hot weather. We walked around for a bit, stopped for ice creams and cold drinks and were so tired by the end of it, that we came back to our b&b for a quick power nap.

Our b&b was a small studio near the Opera house. It was well done up, convenient and even had an AC which felt very welcome at this time. It was located very close to all the key locations and hence easier to come back to for breaks in between.

Lanes of Vienna

After the break, we left for our evening set of 3 food stops. We walked to all these places and got to see a lot of the city up close. Most of Vienna felt like grand old stone buildings in light brown shades, with lot of small paintings and sculptures everywhere, lending it an old world charm. There were loads of museums everywhere to interest tourists. Most of the streets were wide and felt well spaced out. And this time of the year, there were enough locals and tourists around to make it feel lively and alive everywhere. At the same time, it also felt very slow paced and relaxed, and easy to walk anywhere, even in the middle of the city.

View from rooftop bar

Our first stop of the day was a rooftop bar on top of a hotel called Dachboden. It was famous for the stunning 360 degrees views it offers of the city. The sun was also setting by this time and shone yellow light on a lot of the buildings which made it all very enchanting, just like a painting. We spent an hour or so till sunset and then were off to our next stop, our dinner restaurant - Ulrich. We wanted to sit outside but there was no space, so sat inside which was well done up too. And it had much better food than what I had eaten till then.

Cake Sachertorte

The last food stop of the day was Cafe Sacher - to eat the famous Cake Sachertorte of Austria. It is a chocolate cake which was created accidentally by Sacher for the King of Austria and has now become world famous but its recipe still remains a secret. It is only baked in 2-3 specific locations in Austria, the ones which have the original recipe. So we went to the original location owned by the original creator, Cafe Sacher and were met with a long queue of people waiting outside even at 10 at night! We also waited for half an hour to get in, but once inside realised that the queue was artificially created as there was still space inside. Also, the cake felt like any ordinary good chocolate cake, so I felt it was a bit of a letdown. But still always good to have a good desert.

During the walk back to our airb&b, we again walked a lot and saw a few late night concerts happening outside some of the museums and other buildings. We also walked past the Maria Theresien Platz Square which has a statue of one of the best known Austrian monarchs, Maria Theresa. The statue is in a garden with grand buildings all around, and has a magnificent view all around. Vienna felt quite safe and lively even when we were walking back at night. Anyways after the long day out in the sun, all the walking had made us tired and we called it an early night.


Day 2 - Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna and first view of Semmering

The next day we had only one stop on our itinerary in Vienna - the Schonbrunn palace. So we started the day with a lazy breakfast at Cafe Museum right outside our b&b which was a healthy start to the day. And then we took a cab to the Schonbrunn palace, which was 15 mins away, spending a couple of hours there. You can either go in the palace or just walk around in its grand gardens which are free to enter.

Gardens of Schonbrunn

I spent most of my time in the gardens which are located all around the palace. There are green hedges all around, and lot of flower beds. And the gardens behind the palace extend to the Neptune fountain and all the way up a hill. And in the sun, they looked spectacular. The flowers were all in full bloom, the grass was bright green and the palace provided an imposing background. I walked around through the gardens and the fountain all the way up the hill to the Gloriette.

Schonbrunn Palace

From up in the Gloriette, you can get panoramic views of the palace and beyond. And this is where you realise that the palace is right in the middle of the city, which is what you forget otherwise as it feels so removed.

Gardens at the palace

After getting a lot of Vitamin D in the garden, we were off to our last food stop in Vienna - lunch in the city centre at Phil. It did not have a good vegetarian range but I am used to that in Austria by now. The temperature was also so hot by now, the open restaurant didn't help much as being anywhere without an AC felt like a pain. We had lunch there and then were ready to go to our next stop (btw we had a lot of focus on food on this trip because my friends are foodies. Else I would never have written about food and food places so much 😜 )

My friends then left back for London and I proceeded to my next destination. Again my weekend destination selection had an interesting background. I was earlier looking to take a train to Salzburg to spend the weekend in the mountains but then decided to get off at any beautiful town or village on the train route which looked picturesque in Google images. So I zoned in on Semmering which was a small skiing village on the route and booked an inexpensive Sportshotel for my stay, which looked like a no-frills ski hotel.

The train I took from Vienna started in the plains and then got into the mountains passing through many breath taking views, chugging along the mountain sides through bridges and narrow ledges before reaching Semmering. The views of the mountains, the valleys and the rivers were all very magnificent, shining in green in the bright sun. The Semmering railway construction was not easy, especially given the tough landscape. The station was also located in a narrow gap in the mountains, and felt very simple.

Town of Semmering

Once there, I caught sight of the Semmering village with its colourfully painted houses all along the hill and picturesque views of the valley below. The Sportshotel I was staying in was on one of the hills and a 20 mins walk away. But the whole walk was uphill and there were no taxi options available given the village was in the middle of nothing. So I walked up with my suitcase in tow through the village to the hotel.

And I was pleasantly surprised by what I found. Given how inexpensive the hotel was, I wasn't expecting a lot. But it clearly surpassed my expectations. It felt like a place right in heaven. The rooms were cosy and comfortable with impressive views of the valley below. It also had a sauna and an indoor swimming pool. And the hotel had a huge open terrace with outside sitting right next to the its restaurant.

Terrace at Sportshotel

The terrace had many sofas and a swing to sit and enjoy the view down below till miles around - of mountains all around, surrounding valleys in between, with roads and bridges spanning them and many small villages visible everywhere. I sat outside for some time, had dinner in the restaurant and just enjoyed the view, doing nothing but staring outside and taking in the fresh air. I also saw the sunset behind one of the mountains, during which the sky turned all hues of orange and yellow, shining in beautiful colours and throwing bright coloured lights and shadows on the mountains around. It was all so magnificent, I can never forget that scene and time.


Day 3 - Sonnwendstein trek in Semmering

Breakfast with a view

The next two days in Semmering were mostly spent lounging in the hotel and exploring the local trails nearby. Each day started with a tasty breakfast in the hotel terrace, enjoying the scenery around. And that delayed me every day as I would end up staying longer to just sit and admire the view outside. Somehow, I still managed to do one moderate treks each of the days.

Trail directions

The first day I did an 11 kms, round trail up the Sonnwendstein mountain. The trail started going up the mountain from the hotel itself, went up and down a few mountains and then through Polleres-hutte to a church on the peak. It was supposed to take 4 hours to cover the whole trail but I of course took longer, getting lost a bit but also stopping very regularly and walking leisurely most of the way. The trail wasn't too well marked and at times I had to just guess which way I wanted to go up the mountain, even using google maps to orient myself. Sometimes the path went up, sometimes down. Sometimes it was like a broad road kind of way, and sometimes a narrow rocky trail. And it was an adventure trying to figure out the right way as some patches of the trail did not seem much used.

Views on the trail

But all in all, it was an adventurous trek with lot of different views along the way. It initially started with great views of the Semmering town, and then there were jungle paths through dense vegetation, opening up to vast meadows with cows grazing away lazily, and their bells adding music to the silence all around. There were also some bluebells on some of them mountain sides, adding colour to the green around.

I reached the Polleres-hutte in about 3 hours and made a stop there. The Polleres-hutte has a cafe from where you could see all the way to the plains, on the other side of the mountain. I also had my lunch there which was terrible, but at least the view was good 😁. I had asked a few of the hikers going down if they had been to the church but they just mentioned that they had only stopped at the Polleres-hutte. My trek description had a mention of a church and it is good that I went looking for it rather than turn around.

It was a 15 mins walk up the peak to reach the church on top of the Sonnwendstein mountain and it is something that should not have been missed in any situation. The church was simple and very old. But the best part of the trek was there - a 270 degrees view of the Alps around. It was one of the best views I have ever seen. You could see the plains, the bridges, the valleys, the rivers, the villages and so on. I loved it so much, I stayed up there for an hour, even though it was getting a bit dark.

View from the church

While I was up there, another trekker reached the peak and he mentioned that he was on a trail of Austria from one end to the other, from the Hungarian border to the other. Everyday he was walking among the mountains on various trails, getting closer to the other side of the border. He had no plan other than a detailed map and was staying at whichever village he made it to. It sounded such a cool thing to do, maybe one day...

Restaurant on a lake

The way back down to the village was through a straight path which felt more like a road than a trail. It had some views similar to the ones while going up but mostly the path was through forests on both sides, covered by green trees in patches. While I was about to reach the bottom, it started raining and I stopped at a nice restaurant located next to a small lake. Its surprising, how any turn in these parts of the world can turn out to be picturesque and worth a photo.

Once back in the hotel around 7 pm, I went to the the sauna and the swimming pool. It felt very relaxing after all the walking around. The hotel had a lot of such options, including a solarium - I guess all of it is to keep guests busy during skiing season after the skiing is done. The rest of the evening, I spent time sitting outside again, reading a book in the swing and just enjoying the calmness and serenity all around. I loved the day and being close to nature made me feel very happy and elated. I so miss the mountains always! And the weekend was turning out to be pure bliss, as I had never expected it to be this spectacular!


Day 4 - Maria Schultz trek in Semmering and back to London

Narrow trail

The next day, again after an amazing breakfast siting outside with this view, I went on a shorter trail to the village of Maria Schultz. It was supposed to be an 8 kms, 2.5 hours trek but took me more than 4 hours I think! Maria Schultz is a nearby village, even visible from Semmering and the path I took was the local interconnecting path. The way there was fun, through small green jungles and narrow paths covered with trees everywhere. It was hot and I welcomed the shade all the way down. Though the trail again was not so well marked but you could get there by guessing how to reach the village down the mountain.

Maria Schultz village

Once there, the village looked like any other typical Austrian village, with a few coloured wooden houses and a nice alpine church. Surprisingly, there were loads of people visiting the village which surprised me. Walking back from there to Semmering turned out to be an interesting walk though. I either got the directions wrong or they were the wrong directions, I landed up walking on the main road, with cars passing by in both directions. It was a bit of a not so fun walk given it was uphill and so hot.

Bollywood song locations

On the way, I was greeted with more Yash Chopra locations - green meadows and forests dotted with beautiful houses. Towards the end, I did hitch a ride from a passing biker for part of the walk which was interesting, right out of DDLJ again (I will never be able to separate out Europe and Alps from DDLJ, definitely not in this lifetime!).

Semmering station

I made it safely back to the hotel, enjoyed the terrace view for a bit longer and then soon, it was time to go back to London. Its always so tough leaving a place after you have a nice time there. I walked back to the station, which was a bit easier as it was downhill and I found myself thinking how this small station in a narrow gap in the mountains reminded me of Koyasan from my Japan trip. A small place nestled in the hills, with a narrow station to reach it. And as if stuck in its own time...

The trains came on time and I was easily able to reach the Vienna airport much before time. And so another such unplanned Austrian weekend came to an end. Austria a great place to go always. The locals speak English. It has the Alps. And is not expensive as Switzerland. Plus there is an air of laid back nature there which makes it the perfect weekend getaway place from London. And so again, I came back to London totally energised and ready to take on the city challenges. And can see myself being back there quite regularly in the future.