We are on holiday and will travel from Austria to Spain in 2 weeks. A relaxed road trip with many stops and lot's to see.
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| Neue Donau Wien |
We stayed the last days in Vienna near the Donauinsel, an island in the river Danube, which is a vast recreational area. We found a nice spot at the Neue Donau near a Restaurant called Toni's Inselgrill.
(48.201598, 16.454635)
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| Toni's Inselgrill - a stop for hikers, cyclers, scaters and everybody else |
When we finally left Vienna we took the road to Triest, the former port of the Habsburg Empire.
This road is still called Triester Straße. When we reached Wiener Neustadt, once residence of the Habsburg monarchs, we stopped at the Lagerhaus, an agricultural institution in Austria, where we used the weighbridge to check our weight: we are at the limit with 5.370 kg.
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| Weighbridge tells us the truth |
We drove on to Seebenstein, which has a castle on a hill surounded by forests. We thought about taking a walk around the castle but decided against it, so we would get in time to our next destination.
The road took us now over the mountain range of the Wechsel - and into the next federal state of Styria. Our destination was Riegersburg, a little town which has lot's to offer.
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| Veste Riegersburg |
First there is the castle on a steep hill: Veste Riegersburg. You can reach it with a lift, but then you will miss a lot. Better to walk up on the old path leading through 3 historical gates. At the bottom of the lift and the path are parkings suitable for caravans (46.999575, 15.937727). At the castle you can visit the incredible represantative rooms and a museum on witch persecution and weapons.
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| Walk up to the castle through 3 gates |
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| Veste Riegersburg - one of the representative rooms |
The wine which grows on this mountain in the castle grounds are from Weingut Bernhart and that was our next stop: they run a type of restaurant called Buschenschank you should not miss. The wine and food is excellent, beside of special ham and other meat products they also offer nice dishes for vegetarians and vegans. It is a family run business and they offered us to stay over night as they also love to travel with their caravan. The parking is not very eaven, but we found a spot with perfect view (46.998647, 15.945975).
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| Overnight stop with view over Riegersburg next to Weingut Bernhart |
An other option would be to stay at one of the parkings of the castle or next to the small lake between the castle and Weingut Bernhart.
The next morning we drove to another place in Riegersburg you shouldn't miss - the choclate manufacturer Zotter (46.991677, 15.907705). You can go on a tour, where you first see an introductional video and then walk along the production line with a lot to learn, to see and to taste! You can even manufacture your own chocolate which will be ready and packed when you reach the exit. Off course the tour ends at the shop with the impressive variety of choclates they produce. All their chocolates are organic and fair trade and the production starts with the beans they buy in various countries.
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| Chocolate ! |
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| Chocolate in many different flavours and styles |
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| Graveyard for the choclate ideas which died |
Afterwards a visit to the vinegar and spirit producer Gölles, also in Riegersburg might make a nice contrast, but we drive on to another wine area in the south of Styria.
The center is Gamlitz, a nice litttle town which has a lake next to the center, where caravans can stay for 20 Euros per day (46.720573, 15.566487). The tourist information has good information on hiking routes in the area. On your walk you will pass many little inns where you can try their wines. We drive on until Oberhaag where the Altenbachklamm would be a nice hike in summer. We aim for a more sunny one, so we drive up until Panoramaschenke Tertinek (46.655664, 15.328517). We are happy to have a strong engine as the road is very steep at the end. Unfortunately the inn is closed but we can park there and go for a walk along the mountain crest which forms the border between Austria and Slovenia.
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| Left: Slovenia - Right: Austria |
Afterwards we manage to drive down again without destroying our brakes and head further west over the Soboth pass - 1.347m high, which is well known with bikers and has a lake on top which makes a nice point for a rest or night. The lake is quite empty - it is a dam, so we drive on down into the next federal state of Carinthia.
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| Snow at the Soboth Pass in April ! |
We finally reach Bleiburg, where we find a quiet parking to stay over night. It is close to the centre and we immedeately reach the main square with the Pestsäule and find a traditional brewery and restaurant called Alter Brauhof. (46.591047, 14.798432)
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| Bleiburg |
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| Wildensteiner waterfall - 54m free fall |
After a quiet night we drive on, aiming for the Wildensteiner Waterfall near Gallizien (46.538962, 14.508977). We see vast areas of forest destroyed by a big storm last december. Everywhere the fallen trees are being cut.
The waterfall is impressiv. The water falls free from 54m hight.
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| Wildensteiner waterfall |
If you are very ambitous you can walk up the mountain behind the waterfall called Obris, in 5 hours you should reach the peak.
We have breakfast instead and then drive on to Ferlach, where we use the facilities of an official caravan parking to empty our tanks and fill up water. (46.524341, 14.297040)
Our next stop is a mountain called Pyramidenkogel south of the famous Wörthersee (46.609796, 14.145487). You drive up and park near the top, where a newly built tower with 100m hight gives you a great view over the lake and the surrounding mountains.
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| View over lake Wörthersee from Pyramidenkogel |
The lookout point on top is higher than the statue of liberty in NY. There is a lift to go up, but when we are there it is out of order and we pay slightly less to walk up over 411 steps. The view is truly great. The mountains are still covered in snow.
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| Pyramidenkogel |
To go down you can take the slide through a tube. Nothing for us claustrophobs ;-)
At the bottom we enjoy a Leberkässemmel, a classic austrian snack.
We are on the way to Italy now but passing Villach we stop at the big camping store Falle (46.603997, 13.874196). Beside a missing part for our gas connection a new rain jacket lands in our basket.
Italy comes next ->