Austria from above: A roundtrip tour of East and South Tyrol.

The park is located in the mountai­nous area south of the town of Bercht­esgaden. The eastern, southern, and western bound­aries of the park coincide with the state border between Germany and Austria. The area of the park is econom­ically unde­vel­oped, and there are no settle­ments. In the center of the park is a large lake, the Königssee. West of the lake is the massif of Watzmann (2,713 metres (8,901 ft)), the third highest mountain in Germany.

At the end of an eventful polit­ical life in 976, when Saint Wolfgang built a monastery with his own hands and worked several miracles, he had no idea that his hermitage would become one of the most famous tourist resorts in Austria. St. Wolfgang owes this above all to the pilgrimage church, which is dedicated to him and enthroned in perfect grace over the Wolfgangsee. Inside, the late Gothic church impresses with a richly deco­rated altar, which Michael Pacher completed in 1481. He shows Our Lady kneeling in front of her child and framed by two monks, Saint Bene­dict and of course Saint Wolfgang.

Adolf Hitler began using the vaca­tion retreat of Ober­salzberg in 1923. In 1933, it was made into a secu­rity zone where nearly every important Nazi figure had a resi­dence. Most of the build­ings have since been demol­ished. A museum near the former Berghof will inform you about the role Ober­salzberg played during the Nazi period. From here, you can follow the Kehlsteins­traße uphill to the Eagle's Nest, which was built and designed by Hitler. At the end of the road you will find a pede­s­trian tunnel leading to a gloomy hall deep in the mountain. Once there, take the elevators to the summit, where you can see the Eagle's Nest and enjoy the breathtaking view. This is a prime example of archi­tec­ture designed to intim­i­date.

The small Eibensee is one of the lesser known waters in the western Salzkammergut. The ascent leads along the Eibenseebach through the Wildmoos nature reserve. From nearby Marienköpfl you have wonderful views of Lake Fuschlsee and its surround­ings. The Eibensee is idyllically situ­ated between steep slopes that keep the wind away, so that the lake often lies as smooth as a mirror. On hot days you can swim in the lake. (round trip: 9.8 kilome­ters, 3 hours, up and down: 375 meters)

The varied hike leads along the Schatt­seitweg from the Gasthof Oberwirt in Ramsau to Hintersee. After a few minutes you reach the glacier springs, which are fed by the melt­water of the Blaueis glacier at Hochkalter, 1,500 metres above sea level. After you have crossed the Marxen­klamm gorge, through which a torren­tial white water rushes, you go on a nature trail through the magical forest. Over bridges and footbridges you reach the Hintersee and go back halfway up. (round trip: 15.7 kilome­ters, 5:15 hours, up and down: 734 meters)

The great hike begins at the large parking lot at Königssee. The first high­light is the Grünstein (1304 m) with a beau­tiful view over the Bercht­esgaden basin. From there it is possible to cross over to the Kphrointhütte. After a snack you can descend to the church of St. Bartholomä and return by boat to the starting point. The world-famous pilgrimage church, the first parts of which date back to the 12th century, is picturesquely situ­ated on a peninsula. Adja­cent to it is the former hunting lodge, which now serves as an inn. (Hin: 5:30 hours, 11 kilome­ters, up and down: 680 meters, only for expe­r­i­enced and sure-footed hikers, contains secured passages)

The fjord-like lake at the foot of the Watzmann stretches between steeply rising mountain slopes. It is 200 metres deep and is consid­ered one of the cleanest lakes in Germany. On its eastern shore, a footpath leads to the Malerwinkel, which has attracted count­less painters for centuries. There you have a magnif­i­cent view on the lake, the peninsula St. Bartholomä and the Schönfeldspitze. From the boat dock on the shore, boats go to the south end of the lake. From there you can cont­inue on foot to Obersee. The chapel on St. Bartholomä is the landmark of the lake. It dates back to the 12th century.

The town with 11,000 inhab­i­tants is the cultural center of East Tyrol. It lies at the foot of the Lienz Dolomites, where the Isel and Drau Rivers flow together and form a large estuary basin. A special feature of the old town is the Gothic St. Andrä church, which is consid­ered to be one of the most important build­ings in East Tyrol. West of the city lies the Bruck Castle. This Habsburg castle from the 13th century now houses a local history museum.

At the northern end of the pano­ramic road lies Kaprun in the Hohe Tauern National Park. Several cable cars lead over the glacier onto the Kitzsteinhorn, a free standing mountain with magnif­i­cent views in the Gross­glockner massif . The glacier railway Kaprun 2 has been closed since a fire broke out on 11 November 2000. However, since then several cable­ways have opened. There is a viewing deck on the station’s roof – at 3 029 meters above sea level.

While gentle meadows, forests and sun-drenched plateaus char­ac­terize the lower Puster Valley, the Hoch­pustertal is partic­u­larly known for the rugged peaks of the Sesto Dolomites. Above all, of course, the Three Peaks. The landmark of the Dolomites is equally popular with photog­ra­phers and hikers. For those who find the hikes too stren­uous, many cable cars are avai­l­able, leading to look­outs and summits. Even Gustav Mahler appre­ciated the beauty of the Dolomites. He spent the summer months from 1908 to 1910 in his composing cottage in Toblach, where every summer the Gustav Mahler Music Weeks take place in his honor.

This striking massif in the Sexten Dolomites has become the most famous landmark in the Dolomites. At 2,999 meters, the “Big Peak” was first climbed in 1869. Even today, the peaks are still very popular among climbers. The easiest objec­tive to reach is the Auronzo hut, the Rifugio Auronzo (2,320 m), directly south of the massif on the Forcella di Longeres, which can be reached by cable car from the vaca­tion town of Misu­rina.

According to legend, the town of Zahre was founded by two 13th century Tyrolean soldiers who settled in a sunny and remote high mountain valley in the Carnic Alps. Sauris is in fact a German linguistic enclave in Friaul, where an archaic dialect is still spoken. It was not until several years ago that the serpen­tine mountain road was put in, allowing access Sauris by car. Thanks to its remote­ness, the town (popu­la­tion 400) is very unique: it is a kind of living outdoor museum. Old farm­houses and barns with archi­tectural features typical of the town house stores for wooden masks as well as restau­rants with antique-looking signs.

The world-renowned center for mountain-sports is located in the Valle de Boite in the Ampezzo Alps. Cortina is surrounded by the most beau­tiful peaks of the Dolomites: the Tofana di Mezzo (3,244 m), the Monte Cristallo (3,221 m) and the Sorapis (3,205 m). In most cases mountain railways lead to the summit. Until the middle of the 20th century, the spoken language was mainly Ladin. Since then Italian has taken over. Local cuisine and expres­sions are still greatly influ­enced by the old Austrian Empire. Gulasch and Krapfen (donuts), Gröstl and Chenedi (Tyrolean dumplings) reflect the long asso­cia­tion with Tirol. Polenta and bean soup on the other hand orig­inate from the Vene­tian plain.

The Bolzano Munic­ipal Museum is currently the home of the exhibit “The Man from Hauslabjoch”- better known as “Ötzi.” The mummy was discov­ered protruding through the ice in a glacier in the Ötztal Alps in 1992. A public pros­e­cutor was initially brought in because of the mummy's head injuries. The case was closed, however, when a forensic examiner deter­mined that the body was 5,300 years old! Of partic­ular interest is the life-like Ötzi recon­struc­tion based on 3D images of the mummy.

This loop trail starts at Korb castle and leads to the striking castle ruins of Hocheppan and Boymont. Along the way, there are a number of over­looks offering a view of the vast Bozen Valley. (1:45 hrs, 5 km, eleva­tion change: 210 m)

Those who wish to climb the Gantkofel not only need to be in good shape, but should also be unafraid of heights and steady on their feet. Yet the steep and narrow trail should pose to diffi­cul­ties to alpine hikers. At 1,866 meters, the peak offers an amazing view of Bozen and the Dolomites. The hike ends at the Moarhof, a historic mountain farm­house, where you can order goulash, dumplings, fried eggs and other South Tyrolean delica­cies. (5:15 hrs, 8.5 km, eleva­tion change: 930)  

This short walk will take you through the old town and along the Talfer toward St. Peter. From there, you will pass through vine­yards on your way to St. Magdalena. This is where the high-quality St. Magdalener Clas­sico wine is produced, which you can try for your­self in the Eberle restau­rant in St. Magdalena.

The border pass in the Eastern Alps between the Austrian Tyrol and the Italian Southern Tyrol is a 1,370 meters high crossing over the main Alpine ridge and hence also the water­shed between the Adri­atic Sea and the North Sea. The pass is, together with the St. Gotthard, Simplon and Mont Cenis passes, one of the four most important routes of the Alpine transit and also the most widely used for road trans­port. As early as the Stone Age there were paths that led via the Brenner. This is evidenced by the discovery of “Ötzi”, who was murdered 5,300 years ago 50 kilome­ters to the west at the base of the glacier. Anyone who has time should take the old Brenner road, which runs parallel to the motorway. 

The town dates back to the Roman route station “Partanum” on the Via Claudia. In 1361 it gained in importance when it became the offi­cial resting station on the trade route from Augsburg to Italy. Quaint farm­houses are found espe­cially in Garmisch. Southwest lies the Zugspitze – the highest mountain in Germany at 2,964 meters – and its top can be reached by cable car! The famous Bene­dic­tine Abbey from 1330 is located 15 kilome­ters north in Ettal.

As early as 1888, the Tyrolean Trade Asso­cia­tion had decided to open a “Trade Museum”. The tradi­tional Tyrolean crafts­man­ship was threat­ened by indus­trial­i­sa­tion at that time. The collec­tion initially concen­trated on hand­i­crafts. Over the years, the collec­tion was expanded to include other themes, before the Tyrol state took over the museum from the Tyrolean Trade Asso­cia­tion in 1926. Since its reopening in 1929, the museum has been inspiring count­less locals and visitors.

The late Gothic bay window is located in the old town of Innsbruck and bears its name because of the 2,657 fire-gilded copper shin­gles on the roof. The magnif­i­cent house was built in 1420 as the resi­dence of the Tyrolean sovereigns. However, the magnif­i­cent dungeon was only added 80 years later on behalf of the then German King Maxi­m­ilian I.. In 1536 the leader of the Tyrolean Anabaptist move­ment, Jakob Hutter, was burned alive on the square in front of the Golden Roof. Many of his followers then emigrated to America and founded several commu­ni­ties in Penn­sylvania, where they are still called Hutterer today and live a tradi­tional, pre-indus­trial lifestyle. Today the Golden Roof houses a museum.

The circular hike around the Patscherkofel offers magnif­i­cent views of the Viggartal, the Viggar­spitze and the Glungezer. The first section leads from the mountain station of the Kofelbahn along the Zirbenweg past the Boschebenhütte to the Hochmahdalm. Here you can stop for refresh­ments on the sun terrace with a fantastic view of the Stubai Glacier. (return: 5.5 kilome­ters, 2 hours, up and down: 250 meters)

The small town in the valley of the Weißen Traun has been the most popular holiday resort in the Chiemgau Alps for over a hundred years. This is mainly due to the parish church of St. George, which, with the Ruhlpoldinger Madonna from 1230, is consid­ered the most beau­tiful village church in Upper Bavaria. The local museum exhibits alpine folk art, the wood­cutter museum docu­ments the everyday life of the wood­cutters in Chiemgau. An alpine nature trail has been set up at the Rauschberg.

Once the cruel King Waze­mann ruled over the Bercht­esga­dener Land with his wife and child. Once he crushed a peasant family with his horse. The farmer's wife cursed for God to turn him and his family into stone. Imme­di­ately the earth opened up and spit fire: the king became a scary mountain, surrounded by secondary peaks, which are still called Watzmannfrau (wife) and Watzmannkinder (chil­dren) today. Writer Ludwig Ganghofer used the myth in his novel “Die Martinsklause”. Later, the 2,713-metre-high colossus fascinated alpin­ists and mountai­neers. The first ascent of the central peak took place in 1800, but it was not until 1868 that the three main peaks were crossed. A total of over 100 mountai­neers have already died in the walls of the evil king.