National Geographic Traveller UK - 04.2020

Getting there & around

Salzburg is 40 miles north of St Johann

im Pongau (the nearest town to

Alpendorf) and the Hochkönig region.

British Airways, EasyJet and Ryanair

are among the airlines that offer

summer lights to Salzburg from

Gatwick and Stansted. ba.com

easyjet.com ryanair.com

Average light time: 2h.

When to go

In summer, temperatures average in the

low 20Cs, although mountain weather

can be unpredictable. April-May and

September-October are cooler.

Where to stay

Hotel AlpenSchlössl in Alpendorf.

hotel-alpenschloessl.at

Hotel Gasthof Niederreiter in Maria Alm.

niederreiter.com

Places mentioned

Eisriesenwelt. eisriesenwelt.at

Kitzloch Gorge. kitzlochklamm.at

Hohenwerfen Castle. salzburg-burgen.at

Obersteghof.

obersteghof.members.cablelink.at

Grünegg Alm. gruenegg.at

How to do it

ZENITH HOLIDAYS offers a six-day hiking

trip in the Salzburg region on a B&B

basis from £445, excluding lights.

Package itineraries can be booked via

the St Johann im Pongau and Hochkönig

tourist ofices from £220 for between

three and seven nights.

zenithholidays.co.uk josalzburg.com

hochkoenig.at

ESSENTIALS

SALZBURG

Dienten

EISRIESENWELT

GHOSTMOUNTAIN

St Johannim Pongau

Saalfelden Bischofshofen

Alpendorf

HOCHKÖNIG

KITZLOCHGORGE

HOHENWERFENBURG

Maria Alm

Salzach

Zeller See

Salzburg

AUSTRIA

5 Miles

10t tall, lanking a vat topped with a bulbous
cap the shape of a hot-air balloon. Brushed
steel pipes chart courses between the three
copper containers, and there’s an elegant
clutter of dials, taps and tubes.
He seems young to be a distiller — 21 years
old, I learn — but he could pass for even
younger with his side parting and Harry
Potter glasses. He demonstrates where
the fruit goes, how it’s heated and where
the alcohol lows, then dutifully runs me
through volumes and percentages. But, like
the science of the Ice Cave, I know it’s an
explanation for the unbelievers, because
Johannes has a git. His pine liqueur won the
Goldene Stamperl award when he was just 15,
the youngest-ever winner.
“I started distilling when I was eight,” he
reveals, eyes suddenly alight. “But I only
snifed what I made!” he adds hurriedly,
reading my expression, and a picture loats
before me of Harry Potter nursing a butter
beer while all around him grizzled wizards
hit the hard stuf. He points to the beginner’s
still his father gave him, displayed on a ledge.
“It was fun. I caused an explosion once, trying
to make beer in it.”
We move to a low-lit room lined with
hundreds of bottles, their contents radiating
all the colours of autumn, and Johannes
hands me glass ater glass. His father and
grandfather made schnaps from blueberries
or rowanberries — nothing else — but he has
never been scared to experiment. There’s a

raspberry schnaps, a hazelnut liqueur and

a gin laced with lime and local herbs. One

schnaps is made from hay, scythe-cut nearby,

and has something of the barnyard about it.

“This year I’m going to see what I can do with

carrots,” Johannes conides, as he pours a

liqueur that tastes of the woods.

At the same time the following day, I’m

careering feet-irst down a 200t chute. It’s one

of a series of slides buried deep in the forest

on Natrun Prince Mountain that visitors

can use to travel back down to Maria Alm

ater they’ve hiked or biked to the summit.

And it’s another experience to confound my

expectations of the Austrian Alps in summer.

I’d anticipated gentle trails, rolling

pastures and picnic spots dotted with long-

horned cattle, and they’re all here; if you

want the sound of music you can hear it loud

and clear. But you’ll hear too the sounds of

witches and sprites, of potions bubbling (and

sometimes exploding), of eagles lording and

nature rampaging. You’ll hear legends, fables

and stories of derring-do, because this is

a landscape of imagination and adventure

as suited to a questing Indiana Jones or

a boozing Richard Burton as a melodious

Maria von Trapp. And, yes, you’ll hear my

wails as I slide faster and faster, hoping my

stomach will catch up. When the chute levels

out and I slow to a halt, all is suddenly still.

The tourist silenced. I catch my breath and

shake my head: an Alpine summer is a hell

of a ride.

Mountain biking,

Natrun Prince Mountain

ILLUSTRATION: JOHN PLUMER

116 nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel

AUSTRIA