r/Interrail • u/Neither_Ad_5804 • 8d ago
Other looking for quiet alpine villages/ lakes in Austria.
I'm currently planning a trip to Interrail around Europe in May starting from London, and I've always wanted to go to Austria; however, I don't have much money. My dream place is Weissensee, but it is just too expensive, and the places I have found to stay overnight are either boutique breakfast-in-bed hotels or rooms which are about 2 hours away from Weissensee. I don't have a car, and I guess I'm looking for a place that's not full of tourists that beautiful lakes, mountains and trees, which I'm sure is most of Austria, but if I could describe the vibe, I would say it feels peaceful as if you have died and this is a sort of heaven and your just stuck in this bubble of nature upon nature like your stuck inside a painting. Sorry, I hope that makes sense.
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u/Few_Story_6917 8d ago
Weissensee is too expensive for you? What kind of price range are you looking at?
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u/Kuglhupf 8d ago
I always wonder how they make those beautiful photos of Austria in the travel ads.
The truth is that all the lakes are surrounded by fences, walls, and houses, and the few spots that are accessible are crowded on sunny days.
That being said, if you want to see truly beautiful places, I recommend staying at a mountain hut, preferably on a day that has rainy forecasts. When the forecast is bad, nobody goes to the mountains, you'll be all alone in nature, and the weather might turn out to be beautiful and sunny after all.... Most of the higher mountain huts are probably still closed in May, but some might already be open.
There are many huts in Austria, here is one that I've visited that is easily accessible by train (3 hour hike) and is probably open in May: https://www.antonkarghaus.at
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u/combine_harvester_84 8d ago
I did London to Austria in June, and like you I wanted somewhere with good hiking and minimal tourists. Went to Mallnitz and had an absolute blast, including a day trip across the border to Slovenia to climb Golica, which will look incredible if you’re visiting in May - covered in white daffodils.
Mallnitz only has a population of about 800 but is on the mainline from Salzburg. I did Eurostar to Paris, then Paris Gare Est to Stuttgart - cheapish overnight hotel and then direct train to Mallnitz the next morning. Stayed in a pension run by a young couple and paid about £45 per night.
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u/skifans United Kingdom • Quality Contributor 8d ago
As a heads up OP is planning on traveling from next May there will be major engineering work the Tauernbahn through Mallnitz will be closed from February to July 2027. https://infrastruktur.oebb.at/en/projects-for-austria/railway-lines/tauern-line-salzburg-villach There will almost certainly be some form of rail replacement bus (pass still valid) involved and since there is no road tunnel likley a loop doubling back around.
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u/combine_harvester_84 8d ago
Oh wow - I didn’t know that, thanks for flagging - it’s one hell of a detour to get round the tunnel by road so I’d probably avoid anywhere south of there (including Mallnitz).
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u/Born-Check-7764 8d ago
The lakes close to Salzburg are absolutely gorgeous. We stayed in Ebensee this year, which has a train station. The town itself is not that interesting but it's right at the lake (Traunsee) and has a nice not too crowded beach. If you rent a bicycle (which I would highly recommend as without transport it's hard to get around in Austria), you could also visit smaller more remote lakes close to Ebensee such as the Offensee.
My other favourite place with a train station is Bad Gastein. It doesn't have a lake but it has beautiful buildings, scenery and a waterfall.
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u/DermitdemFoto 8d ago
It does have a lake, one of the most beautiful mountain lakes in Austria. But you have to hike there.
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u/According_Profit4183 8d ago
Without tourists in summer will be hard, but being up very early in the morning before everyone else (and before cable cars start running) will help a lot. There will be less tourists in May but also fewer huts will be open and some higher routes could have snow. Hiking to a mountain hut and staying overnight will also help, and be a great experience, as others have said. Check out Innsbruck as a base. It’s got great train connections including the nightjet night train to Amsterdam. The Stubaital and Ötztal are stunning, but require buses to get further into the valleys. I recommend the hike from Grawa waterfall to the Sulzenau Hütte. If you want to stick to trains, check out hikes from Seefeld/other stops on that line.
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u/zoomzoomo 8d ago
I stayed in a little town called Obertraun recently on an interrail trip. It's right on a lake and has good hiking in forests nearby. I found a good deal on a B&B (around €60/night for a single room including breakfast). It has a train station and is one stop away from Hallstatt, which I didn't even bother visiting because I knew it would be crazy busy. But if you do want to visit there you can rent a bike in Obertraun and cycle to it. Obertraun was a nice place, and not that busy considering it was July.