ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Austria in the Fall

Updated on May 18, 2016
elayne001 profile image

Ruth, a.k.a. Elayne Kongaika, was raised in the orchard town of Orem, Utah. She married a Polynesian and has had amazing travel experiences.

Personal photo REK
Personal photo REK

On a crisp fall day in November, we drove through the Western part of Austria on our way to Germany. The autumn leaves were amazingly brilliant as though they were boasting just for us.

Even though the country is landlocked, the landscape includes great natural beauty from the Eastern Alps to lush forests and valleys. It is a favorite destination in the summer for musical festivals and in the winter for skiing.

Personal photo REK
Personal photo REK

Castles and Monasteries

Austria is known for ancient castles, monasteries and a few well-preserved medieval cities such as Salzburg, home of Mozart and other musical geniuses.

What an opportunity to learn more about some of the world's most famous and experience so much culture and tradition. The city is divided in two parts, the right and left bank of the River Salzach. The older part is on the left bank, dating back to Roman times, and can be accessed by several bridges.

We were with four of our grandchildren who kept the trip lively and never boring. The city is very family friendly and offers something for young and old. Of course, for most of us, it conjures up memories of The Sound of Music.

A
Salzburg, Austria:
Salzburg, Austria

get directions

A Medieval Fortress

A medieval fortress, the Festung Hohensalsburg, hovers over the city from a hilltop. It dates from the 11th century. You can ride up the steep incline to the castle on a railway. It housed prince archbishops who sought refuge during the Hungarian and Peasants’ War in the 16th century. It claims to have never been conquered by enemy troops.

Personal photo REK
Personal photo REK

Have you been to Austria?

See results

The Salzach River

The Salzach River flows through Salzburg. There is a bridge spanning this river which attracts couples who want to lock their love, literally. They engrave or scratch their names or initials on a lock and attach it to the fence of the bridge before throwing the key in the river. They have declared their eternal devotion for the world to see. Just for a moment, I thought how romantic this place was (the Makartsteg Bridge) and of all the couples it represented.

Personal photo REK
Personal photo REK
Personal photo REK
Personal photo REK

Birthplace of Mozart


After crossing the bridge, we headed to the vast courtyard and the proclaimed birthplace of Mozart. It is also called the Getreidegasse.

Personal photo REK
Personal photo REK
Personal photo REK
Personal photo REK

Narrow roadways accommodate tourists and motorcyclists as they make their way through the town. There are numerous shops with a variety of souvenirs. My favorite were little Mozart puppets.

Personal photo REK
Personal photo REK

The Residenz is early Baroque built for Archbishop Wolf Dietrick von Raiteneau, who made it his home in 1587. There is a collection of European art from the 16th to 19th centuries. Many of Salzburg's prince-archbishops lived and held court here.

Personal photo REK
Personal photo REK

Architecture

Highly ornate cathedrals with heavenly domes are plentiful in Salzburg. The architecture of the city is very impressive. We strolled down the slender walkways to peek in small shops filled with treasures. We discovered that most people in Austria speak German. Of course we had to sample a few of the pastry and tasty delicacies along the way.

One of the newer highlights in Salzburg’s includes their Cathedral Quarters with 2,000 stunning exhibits and covers 15,000 square meters. You can capture impressive views of the city during the tour where history comes alive.

Personal photo REK
Personal photo REK

Religious Buildings in Salzburg

There is a rich heritage of religion as seen in St. Peter's Abbey and Benedictine monastery, which dates from AD 700 and the Cathedral (Dom) designed by Santino Solari in 1614. Also, the Franziskanerkirche boasts a splendid altarpiece by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach with a splendid Baroque altarpiece from 1709.


Several museums in Salzburg offer interactive exhibits and educational programs, fine arts as well as historical collections. They include the Salzburg Museum, the Haus der Natur and Mozarts Geburshaus where you can view an audio-visual display telling his story.

So Much to See!

Besides the cathedrals and museums, Salzburg has a science center, a reptile zoo and a natural history center featuring 30 aquariums.

Cycling paths will keep bikers happy for many hours. Thirteen lakes are located on The Salzkammergut-Radweg cycle path, one of the favorites.

The Mirabell Garden or Schlosspark Hellbrunn are two of Salzburg's expansively landscaped parks. Five mountainous peaks surround the city including the Gaisberg, Nonnberg, Kapuzinerberg, Mönchsberg and the Untersberg.

I am sure you could spend a few weeks in Salzburg and not see all it has to offer. I hope to have the opportunity to return again!

© 2015 Elayne

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)