We started our Austria self driving tour with a false alarm.
Day 1 (3 Oct)
I was under the impression that our Etihad airways started at 10.55pm. While I was still in clinic finishing up my medical reports at 5pm, I received a call from CY that the flight was actually departing at 8.55pm.
I stopped my desk work, finished my ward round, and rushed home. I had an inpatient that was not so stable, but managed to make arrangement to transfer her to high dependency ward,and hand over the case to my colleague for continual care.
Yes, we managed to catch our flight in time.
Flight transit in Abu Dubai, layover for 3 hours.
 |
| On the plane, flying from Singapore to Abu Dhabi |
 |
| Abu Dhabi airport |
Day 2 (4 Oct)
Reached Vienna International Airport at 7.45am.
By the time we cleared custom and picked up our rental car, it's already slightly over 9am.
Drove to Vienna for sightseeing. Discovered that the right front wheel tyre was flat as we parked our car in Vienna city center.
 |
| Parking in Vienna |
 |
| Flat Tyre |
We took some time to arrange for a mechanic to fix the flat tyre. The rental company provided a replacement car, which finally arrived around 2 pm.
While waiting for the mechanic to arrive, we managed to squeeze in 1 hour for a brief walking tour of Vienna city.
 |
| Karlskirche @ St Charles' Church next to our car park |
 |
| Opera House |
 |
| Stephansdom, Vienna's cathedral @ Stephansplatz |
We resumed the rest of walking tour of Vienna after gotten a replacement car for the trip. The spare tyre provided could only be used for short distance travel. The flat tyre was not covered by our comprehensive insurance - it cost us Euro 300 + 20% VAT.
Visited the palace, passing by parliament house and Sisi Museum, and took lunch at a restaurant, some snacks at the popular cafeteria (Cafe Landtmann).
All the building complexes are clustered together around the same area, the names and locations can be very confusing to random tourists. We just walked around the "neighbourhood", looking around the architectures.
 |
| Mozart monument @ Burggarten |
 |
| Neue Burg |
 |
| Sculpture in front of Sisi Museum |
Left Vienna around 7pm for our Airbnb at Melk.
Checked in around 8.30pm... but it took me another 1 hour before I finally found out where to park our car! 😁 (Locating the apartment was easy, but looking for the designated parking lot was challenging, particularly at night)
Rested and slept well overnight.
Day 3 (5 Oct)
Our Airbnb was located right in the picturesque little town adjacent to Melk Abby, which is just 10 min walk away.
 |
| The street just outside our Airbnb |
 |
| On the way to Melk Abby |
The Abby was indeed magnificent. The ancient library and the Baroque style cathedral were an eye opener. (No photography allowed inside the building)
We spent about 2 hours there, visiting the panorama terrace and adjacent garden.
 |
| Steps towards the Abby |
 |
| Entrance of Melk Abby |
Then we walked around the touristy yet tranquil small town right below the Abby (where our Airbnb was located) - took our lunch there before checking out.
We checked out after having our lunch. Drove 30 min to a high look out point in Wachau valley...has a bird eye's view of the vineyard and Danube river below. Beautiful scenery!
Then we drove another 1.5 hours to Mauthausen Memorial (former concentration camp during WWII). It rained as we were in the concentration camp. The weather added an additional layer of melancholy to the place.
On display in the memorial were the old gas chambers, squatters, crematoria sites, and places where terrible executions of innocent victims were carried out - it was a somber and sad experience!
After that we drove another 2 hours to our next Airbnb in Gosau. Checked in at 8pm. (We stopped over at a supermarket to buy some groceries as supermarkets are closed on Sunday)
Day 4 (6 Oct) Sunday
Breakfast at 9am. Scenes from our Airbnb in the early morning.
 |
| View from our bedroom |
 |
| front door |
First stop : Hallstatt
Drove about 20 minutes to Hallstatt. Managed to park our car (barely squeezed in between 2 cars) at Hallstatt parking P2,which is within 5 minutes walking distance to the major tourist attractions in Hallstatt.
"Top of Hallstatt" scenery:
Took the funicular ride up to " Top of Hallstatt", and hiked up another 15 minutes to reach the salt mine entrance. Waited for about 20 minutes for the guided salt mine tour. ( we pre-book the salt mine tour the night before). The tour lasted 2 hours.
 |
| hiking up to visit the Salt Mine - need prior booking for the guided tour |
Visiting the Salt Mine, a guided tour
 |
| All visitors must change into special suit for the occasion |
 |
| Sliding down the sledge in the mine |
 |
| Leaving the salt mine |
 |
| View from the top of Hallstatt |
After descending down to the town, we walked around the rather tourists and beautiful town. Many tourists were there, considering this was off peak season! Couldn't imagine how crowded the place would be during peak season.
Since we wouldn't have time for ice cave tour, we decided to visit Gosausee Lake instead.
The scenery at the lake was truly amazing...the snow-capped mountain with autumn leaves ...it reminded me of scenery from Canadian Rocky Mountain.
We spent nearly 1.5 hours there, taking a slow walk along the lakeside, savouring the view of mountain on the opposite side of the lake.
We returned to our Airbnb before 6pm.
Day 5 (7 Oct)
Today would be our day trip to Salzburg (1 hour drive from our Airbnb stay).
Parked our car in a Wifi building, then walked for about 5 min to Mirabelle Garden (a shooting site for Sound of Music). Also visited the concert hall within the garden.
 |
| walked out from Wifi office |
 |
| cooking dinner in our Airbnb |
Day 6 (8 Oct)
 |
| Selfie before leaving our Airbnb in the morning |
Highlight today is to visit Dachstein krippenstein near Hallstatt (30 min drive away).
We spent more than half a day, touring Ice Cave, Mammoth Cave, taking all 3 cable car rides (1st cable car brought us to the entrance for the two caves , which are located 15 minutes hike away; 2nd cable car brought us to 5 fingers viewing platform,30 minutes hiking distance; and tfe 3rd cable car took us to a station for hikings). Each cave tour has dedicated time for guided tour, and each cable car has dedicated time of departure.. we managed to get a place for ice cave tour at 10.30am, Mammoth cave tour at 2.30 pm. By the time we finished our ice cave tour (11.30am), we decided to go for the 5 fingers platform,abd ride in 3rd cable car.
Ice Cave
 |
| 15 minutes walk from cable car station to Ice cave |
 |
| Ice cave right in front |
 |
| entering the ice cave |
The ice cave was a let down. It was literally cave with ice, and not truly the spectacular ice caves we visited in Iceland.
A half-an-hour walk to 5 Fingers Viewing Platform (at 2nd cable car station): The view along the way was amazing!
The 3rd cable car ride led us to a very old station - we were the only visitors there. The place mainly caters for hikers who want to explore the several hiking trails nearby.
It can be omitted - to save cost and time!
The mammoth cave was a surprise winner. No, there was no mammoth there. But the caves were huge and impressive, hence its' name: "mammoth" cave.
 |
waiting for the tour to start
|
As we hiked up from cable car station #2 to Mammoth Cave...
After completing our Dachstein krippenstein near, we drove to our next destination, Zell am See. Checked into our Airbnb around 7pm (after stopping over at 2 grocery stalls).
 |
| Our Airbnb for the night |
Day 7 (9 Oct)
Our Airbnb was just 3 minutes drive away from Schmittenhohen...cable car ride up to the mountain.
Very impressive scenery, both on the peak, and the 30min hike to a cable car station nearby, sonkagel station.
After this ,we drove to visit Kaprun Reservoirs...parked our car at the multi-storey car park, walked to ticket counter, bought tickets for bus-cable car -bus ride to the top of the mountain where the reservoirs were located.
 |
| Word of advice - park your car at the highest floor to save you from climbing up the stairs...the ticketing counter is about 2 min walk from the top floor |
The inclined cable car, which looked like a chair lift that can accommodate many visitors at one go, was truly amazing.
The dam and it's reservoirs, surrounded by snow capped mountains and glaciers, were very charming. The wind was rather strong, making it a very chilling experience overall!
 |
| Different kind of cable car |
 |
| on the way to the top of reservoir, via bus |
 |
| going downhill via inclined cable car |
We spend over 3 hours there, Too late for Sigmund Thun Gorge tour. Instead, we went for the amazing Grossglockner Alpine Road drive. The scenery was excellent, but the entrance fees of Euro 43 per car was a rip off!
Drove back to Zell am See
(brief photo stop at Esplanade), took our dinner neat the old town, rushed to Billa plus just before it closed at 8 pm, then returned to our Airbnb.
 |
| Grand Hotel in old town of Zell am See |
Retired for the night.....
Day 8 (10 Oct)
It rained the whole day, starting from 8am.
We drove to round Zell am See lake. Took some photos at north point of the lake ( where people can swim in summer). Kevin initially wanted to swim in the lake. But with the rain and cold weather, he aborted the plan.
 |
| Zell am See lake |
We drove back to our Airbnb, packed our stuff, then checked out from it.
Went to tour Sigmund Thun Gorge in the rain. It is a small gorge. But it's nevertheless a good place to visit for those who haven't seen a gorge before.
 |
| Walking to the ticket counter in the rain |
 |
| The gorge |
 |
| Walking back to car park |
It rained heavily when we reached Krimmler waterfall. This is the tallest waterfall in Europe, and is truly spectacular. We parked at Perkins 4 (the nearest to the falls and apparently was also the most expensive; we paid 8 euro for 3hours parking). Entrance to the falls costs euro 8 per person. My wife and I didn't hike up to the top, but Kevin and CY did.
The view of the waterfall cascading down from the top of mountain with it's thunderous roar was amazing!
 |
| Hiking up the slope towards the waterfall |
 |
| Lower falls |
The lower falls was equally if not more enchanting.
 |
| The lower falls |
After this ,we drove to our Airbnb near Innsbruck (specifically in Hart im Zillertal). The Airbnb is located in high mountainous region. The view of the valley from our Airbnb was simply gorgeous.
But the drive up meandering narrow road was certainly not for the faint hearted. The host provided us with free eggs (10 eggs), 1 liter of milk and a jar of honey, in addition to coffee powder, but alas there was no sugar! Had to drink kopi-O-kao🤐.
Day 9 (11 Oct)
Weather forecast stated there would be rain from 10am till 3pm. Decided to spend the day lazing around and exploring the surrounding areas of our Airbnb. Saw 3 alpacas in the nearby compound. Hiked one kilometer away, saw some goats and cows along the way, and enjoyed scenic view of the valley below.
 |
| Alpaca |
One of the reasons for not driving down to Innsbruck old town was the challenge of driving down narrow meandering road.....as mentioned earlier, it's not for the faint hearted.
Nevertheless, the view from our Airbnb was certainly amazing, and totally rewarding!
 |
| The Airbnb that we stayed in |
Day 10 (12 Oct)
Drove to Innsbruck old town for a short walk, before venturing into Dolomites Italy
Innsbruck Old Town walk around - Spent about 1.5 hours in the old town. Many tourists were there.
Drove to Dolomites, Italy after that...the supposedly 2 hours+ drive ended up more than 3 hours because of traffic jam along the highway (road construction).
By the time we reached dolomites, it's already over 3 pm...too rush for Seceda cable car ride.
Stopped over at a supermarket for groceries before checking into our Airbnb. Along the way, made a few stops for photoshoot. The Alps @ Dolomites are indeed awesome! The sight of the rocky mountains and cliffs left an indelible impression on one's mind at one glance.
 |
| View from outside the supermarket |
Day 11 (13 Oct)
Dolomites @ Italy covers a wide expanse of areas, with multiple mountain passes, hiking trails and cable car rides (for the less adventurous). The cable car rides are not cheap. One has to be selective particularly if there's time limitation.
For our day trip today, we opted for
1. The iconic Seceda mountain ( cable car return trip costs 45 Euro per pax)
2. Lago di Braies
3. Lago di Labrum (for view of Tre Cima)
Seceda mountain/cable car ride-
The view of the mountain was truly magnificent,and worth all the penny spent.
Took two cable car rides to reach the top. Hiked to view the iconic mountain ridge. Spent slightly over 2 hours there.
Drove for one hour 15 min to reach Lago di Braies.
A beautiful lake with turquoise water. No wonder it's a favorite among the tourists. Parked our car at parking 4, which charged a flat rate of 10 Euro ( instead of 35 euro at parking 4).
 |
| Parking 4 |
Then drove another 25 minutes to Lago di Landro.... Nothing special about the lake. Didn't walk further north for view of Tre Cima.
 |
| There is some mountain peaks in the background - could not be sure if these are the iconic Tre Cima? |
Drove back to our Airbnb after that. Driving pass Cortina and some mountain passes. A scenic drive indeed.
Day 12 ( 14 Oct)
Made a last minute impromptu trip to Bologna per Kevin's recommendation.
Checked out from our Airbnb around 8 am. But on the way out from our Airbnb, the narrow road (which happened to be the only exit to the main road) was blocked by a truck unloading a heavy load of chopped woods to local residents living there. Waited for over 10 min for the road to be clear. Drove for over 3.5 hours to reach a car park outside the ZTL zone for cars in Bologna. (ZTL refers to places near historic city center that only allowed certain vehicles to enter; those who enter without permit will be fined).
Spent 6 hours there exploring the historic town.
Ate local burgers, cappuccino, gelatos and had our early dinner there.
The historic town was quite interesting (with leaning tower, central plaza with surrounding cathedral, fountain), and certainly worth the hassle of long haul drive.
 |
| walking towards the old town centre |
 |
| Leaning tower on the left |
 |
| buying burger for brunch |
 |
| An old library |
 |
| A new library |
 |
| buying gelato |
 |
| taking cappucino |
 |
| queuing for dinner |
 |
| buying gelato, again |
After Bologna, we drove another 1 hour and 45 minutes to check into our next Airbnb @ Rivare (about half an hour's drive from Venice).
All ready for our Venice trip tomorrow!
Day 13 ( 15 Oct)
Day trip to Venice.
After much contemplation, finally decided to park our car at Tronchetto, which is near Venice. We took People Mover ie monorail to Venice (2 stops away, reach in 5 minutes, Euro 1.5 per person)
 |
| taking People Mover aka monorail to Venice |
 |
| view from the monorail |
Walking around Venice, cutting through various alleys and walked across many pontos (bridges).
Venice is an interesting town to visit, particularly for first timers - the old buildings (some haggard looking, others decorated with yellow/orange hues), rivers with tiny tributaries cutting the island, old gondolas and new water taxis plying through the water passages and not mention the many tourists who roamed purposely or aimlessly in the town.
Took our breakfast, lunch and gelato there.
We spent over 6 hours there. Took People Mover back to our car park (paid another Euro 1.5 per person for the return journey).
Parking cost us Euro 27. ( Not cheap but convenient, I guess).
Took our dinner at a restaurant near our Airbnb.
Day 14 (16 Oct)
Left Italy for Austria, driving pass the Dolomites again. This route we took was different from the previous route from Innsbruck (no toll driving into Austria) (we had to pay some toll driving pass the highway from Innsbruck to Ortisei, which was unfortunately jammed for one hour or so because of road work - so much for leisure drive😭.
We stopped over at a small cave / gorge nearby (Parco Grotte del Caglieron). It was a rather small non-descript place, catering mainly to local travelers. But it has its own charm...I thought it was much than Sigmund Thun Gorge in Kaprun.
Dolomites was of course truly mesmerizing. We managed to see Tre Cima from a distance this time round.
Stopped by in a small town for late lunch. Stopped by a small waterfall along the way .
Finally checked into our Airbnb around 5pm +.
Went out for a short walk in neighborhood before retiring for the night.
Day 15 (17 Oct)
Checked out around 9.20am. Drove to a waterfall/gorge nearby....but alas it was closed because of bad weather the previous days that rendered the walk unsafe for tourists.
Drove slightly more than 3 hours to Admont Abby to visit the largest monastery library in Europe.
The drive was rather scenic, with autumn leaves dotting the alps on both sides of the road. Occasionally, the green field was decorated with cows and horses.
The library was astounding, with ceiling decorated with various fresco. Some of the Gothic artefacts on display in the museum (housed within the monastery complex) were also fascinating.
Some of the drawings on display in the museum
In the vicinity of the Abby...
Too late for a waterfall hike - deferred to the next day.
Took some pastry in a cafe nearby. Also bought Pizza and Kebab for late lunch cum dinner.
Drove to our Airbnb by 5pm.
Day 16 (18 Oct)
Went for a moderately difficult hike at Wasserlochklamm Waterfall in the morning. Spent almost 3 hours there.
 |
| Rewarded with ice cream at the end of the hike |
The hike up the waterfall was quite challenging - rated as "moderate" intensity by visitors! Both my wife and I stopped short at 2nd waterfall.
Then went to visit Grundlsee (a green lake).
 |
| leaving the lake.. . walking to our car |
Had to cancel trip to Thal (Arnold Swarznewager's hometown), and Graz (2nd largest city in Austria) because of time constraint.
Stopped for a late lunch at nearly 4pm in a small town after visiting the "green" lake.
Drove to Semmeringbanh - GPS led us to the train station, and not the picturesque train viaduct (it was a further 7 min's drive away) - by the time we reached the viaduct, it was already 7pm (the sky was already dark).
 |
| Semmeringbanh train station |
 |
| Iconic train viaduct after sunset |
Checked into our Airbnb in Vienna - it was a rather 'spartan' accommodation' - no coffee provided, no central heating, and the unit was quite small as well. The only good point is its proximity to Airport (only 20 mins away).
Day 17 (19 Oct)
Checked out from our last AirBnb for the trip by 7.30am. Reached airport before 8am (after topping up petroleum to full). Waited for 55 min for the Etihad Airways counter to open.
Transit in Abu Dhabi, waited for nearly 3 hours for our next flight to Singapore
Day 18 (20 Oct)
Landed at Changi Airport at 10.10am.
What I have learnt from the trip:
1. Austria is not a cheap place to visit - the cable car rides are quite costly
2. A lot of attractions need prior booking - e.g Salt Mine in Hallstatt, Ice cave and Mammoth Cave in Dachstein
3. If wanted to drive cross border with rental car - needed to ask for approval when doing booking of car; and needs to pay cross border fees (varied from 99 Euro - 150 Euro, depending on companies)
4. A lot of walking and hiking is needed when visiting Austria
5. Needs to pay tourist tax (in addition to Airbnb charges when staying in Austria (some landlord probably absorb the tax - we did not pay additional tourist tax in Zell am See, Gambir and Vienna).
6. Dolomites in Italy is simply spectacular - should be visited if possible.
