Austria - Postcard from Bad Hofgastein in Nov. and Dec. 2025

 Autumn becomes Winter in Austria

We normally go to Austria in December but this year we broke with tradition and headed out on November 17th. There was a significant milestone to celebrate as it was 20 years to the day since we bought our little place in Austria. We arrived too late for an anniversary dinner but we made up for that by having a nice lunch the following day at the Annen Cafe. A great walk up and an even better walk down with a friendly welcome and good meal in between. Blutwurst Gröstl with Sauerkraut is my favourite and TW has a liking for their Bauernsalat.

TW heading for lunch

A walkers lunch - Blutwurst Gröstl with Sauerkraut

Journeys end - the Annen Cafe

Every walk including the walk down should have a goal and we scored at Cafe Zeit where we indulged in a Nussschnecke. It literally translates as Nut snail. It is a snail shaped cinnamon bun and we shared one with our coffee. It's a really delicious treat but very large best to split it.

Nussschnecke

 

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Fulseck 

Christmas at the stable

Down by the riverside

Coffee at Das Goldberg

With the lift not opening until the 28th November there was plenty of time for walking in the Gastein valley. We were blessed by good weather and, fortunately, none of the days where fog hangs around all day. Many of the Cafes and Restaurants do not open until skiing gets well under way so our choices were limited. However the establishments that were open made us welcome. Cafe Zeit was our regular coffee stop and the walk up to Annen Cafe became our routine exercise.

With the opening of the ski lifts on the 28th November we are able to buy our lift tickets and take a ride up the hill and check out a new restaurant, Hirsch und Maus, that was being fitted out ready for it's 19th December opening.

Skiing operation commenced on the 29th and I was able to enjoy some good runs on H3 and H4 without any crowds.

First sighting of the new restaurant - Hirsch und Maus

Hirsch und Maus taking shape