Austria

Bad Gastein

A quick stop for 3 nights in Austria on our way to Oktoberfest, Bad Gastein is a small village in the Austrian Alps where Ian has skied twice before, only this time, being Spring, there was no snow and it looked completely different. We stayed in a great hostel with our own balcony looking up to the Alps and the lift station.

We learnt that a festival would be taking place at Bad Hofgastein, the next village down the valley. We didn’t know what to expect. As it turns out, it was a local village version of Oktoberfest – Austrian style. There were lots of little stalls selling all types of things, pretzels, beers and foods. We joined the locals in the beer tent where live traditional music was played, beers were sloshed, schnapps were shotted and the atmosphere was buzzing. We were the only tourists there and the fact that we could not understand most of what was being said or sang, just added to the experience!

Local festival in Bad Hofgastein

We took the opportunity to eat schnitzel and strudel which were yum!

We also took the gondola up to the summit of the main Bad Gastein range. The views were incredible and the weather was great and not to cold. We sat outside while we were up there and had a coffee looking out over the alps