Snapshot: Experience the Untersberg Mountain near Salzburg

The hills are indeed alive in Salzburg. I felt it the moment I went up the Untersberg Mountain in the Austrian city. The scenery, the lush greenery and the surrounding vast mountain-scape all call out to me. Incidentally, The Sound of Music’s closing scene where the Von Trapp family was scaling the lopsided peak of a mountain was filmed at Untersberg.

The Untersberg Mountain itself is massive, stretching to far beyond your eyes can see, into Germany. It’s near the Salzburg city centre, and transport is convenient, both to and up the mountain. I stayed at the foot of the mountain, at a quaint little place called Hotel Sallerhof in Grodig, where you can admire the dwarfing mountain-scape just outside your room window. You don’t have to climb up, although you can choose to do so.

I picked the easy way out.

There’s a cable car system in the District of St. Leonhard, called the Untersbergbahn, which can get you right up. It takes only eight and a half minutes to ascend from the foot to over 4,330 feet (1,320 m) to the Geiereck peak. In that short time, you get to see the neatly clustered houses shrink to tiny colored dots that give way to widening green fields and rolling mountains in your cable car.

At the peak, you can spend a few hours wandering the area, admiring the stunning view of the Salzburg valley and the city and marvelling at the peaks of the mountains enveloping you. Take some time to appreciate the flowers and the greens that flourish on the mountains as well.

Lots of flora and fauna at the Untersberg Mountain

There are a few trails that you can take to explore the mountains a little, and if you get famished but forgot to bring food, don’t worry. There is a café here!

 

I thought I’d only spend an hour on the mountains but was too absorbed at snapping away at every few steps I took that time got away from me. Hunger pangs hit and the cafe was just perfect. You get to sit outside and soak in the views while feasting on Austrian fare and couple of beers. It really could not get better than this.

Tip: If you’re planning for an outing to Untersberg, pick a clear day. On Cloudy days, the cable car system is known to stop operations for the safety of visitors. And bring along a jacket, it could get chilly from all the crazy winds here.

If there’s one thing you should include on your list of to-do list in Salzburg, it should be to get up a mountain, and Untersberg is good choice. If you’re in Salzburg, find out what you can do in this beautiful city.