What to Do in Austria Besides Skiing

catappr | Jul 7, 2010 |

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Austria is a place that lures a great number of travelers from all corners of the world throughout the year, because it is just such a great place to be in! Of course, the grand majority of travelers are people who are passionate about snowboarding, skiing or other winter activities. Indeed, Austria is a regular Nirvana for skiers, because of the innumerable resorts placed in the impressive Austrian Alps. Thousands of kilometers of ski runs await their users annually. But, since this land has an interesting history and gave the world such a great variety of esteemed artists, touring Austria is also an opportunity to see attractions like the house Mozart was born, the great Opera House in Vienna and numerous other star cultural points of interest.

But there aren't many tourists have knowledge about other, more discrete locations that are most interesting to visit, like the old Castle Ambras in Innsbruck and the incredible Werfen Ice Caves, a stone's throw away from the same city. And it's a bit of a shame too, as there are other attractions that only locals seem to know of, like the Golden Roof or the Hellbrunn Castle.

The Ambras Castle is located above the city of Innsbruck, high up on a hill nearby. It was constructed by Archduke Ferdinand II, and it was this man's residence for nearly thirty years, from 1563 to 1595. Therefore, the name of Ferdinand II always appears along with the name of Ambras Castle in almost all discussions about this structure. There are about three important halls in the castle that you can't miss, and the most interesting is the wide Chamber of Arts and Curiosities, a big hall full of old contraptions , statues, paintings, furniture and other things. The coral crucifix, rock crystals, bronze animals and the portrait of the legendary Dracula are just a few of the things that will surely impress you when you'll see them first hand. Then, the Spanish Hall is quite long and tall, being an excellent setting for nowadays' classical music concerts that are frequently held in Innsbruck over the whole year. The Armories and the Upper Castle section are also sections you shouldn't miss.

The other tourist attraction I wanted to talk about is the biggest cave complex on the planet, the Werfen Ice Caves! Nearly forty kilometers of caves are interconnected under the Alps close to Innsbruck, transforming these relatively small grottoes into a huge labyrinth that was an important landmark for geologists for about a century and a half. The portion that is open for public touring is only one kilometer long though, but who would choose to go forty kilometers on foot anyway, right? The grottoes are full of incredible ice formations. This doesn't resemble anything you saw until now, trust me.

As I said, there are many other nice things to see in Austria besides the Werfen caves and the Scholss Ambras, you just need to look around. Here's what you can do: when you travel to Austria, don't put all your trust into your tourist flyer. Instead, you should ask some locals to show you the whereabouts of the most interesting places. You will be pleasantly surprised to find some great, less known attractions in almost every town you'll visit.