Sankt Wolfgang im Salzkammergut Favorites

Favorite thing: As we only had limited time and travelled without a car, we decided to take a guided daytrip from Salzburg to the Salzkammergut, visiting Lake Gosau, Hallstatt, St. Wolfgang and St. Gilgen. Yes, I can already hear some people scream out loud - but seriously, I sometimes find a tour a very good option when you travel on public transport and want to see something in a short time in a convenient way.
We booked our trip with Salzburg Sightseeing Tours. They belong to the Grayline Group which I kind of dislike because I rather want to support local operators, but we could not find any other tour going to Hallstatt and that was the most important visit we wanted to do.

The tour was really great: The group only consisted of a very nice Chinese couple and us, and the guide was from England, had lived in Salzburg for some years and spoke both English and German, so she explained everything in both languages. She was very knowledgeable of the area and gave us many hints on what to see and do, where to go for a good view, and so on. She answered all our questions and it was just a very nice trip.
It was also not rushed, we had a lot of time in every place (which also was due to our small group size), and we could wander around on our own in every place which I liked very much. We got the information in the car while on the way, and then could explore the places in our own leisure and pace.

Thus, I can really recommend this tour if you are looking for a guided daytrip to Salzkammergut!

Website: http://www.salzburg-sightseeingtours.at/rundfahrten_detail.php?lang=2&tourid=81

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Favorite thing: This interesting fountain is a new addition to the town, it was not there in 2007 when I first visited Sankt Wolfgang am Wolfgangsee.

The giant stone ball is actually moving on the water and you can change direction with your hand. The trick is how they managed the friction between the heavy stone ball and the one that it rotates onto. Beside the water it must be another thing to keep it from grinding stone on stone.

Check out the second picture for a closer detail of the fountain.

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Favorite thing: While you are at St Wolfgang, you will be able to see swans and many ducks swimming in the beautiful Wolfgangsee lake. These add to the relaxing and laid back atmosphere of the town and surrounding landscape. A visit to St Wolfgang and surrounding is a good getaway from big cities such as Vienna and Salzburg.

Favorite thing: Summer is perhaps the best time to visit St Wolfgang because of the warm weather, greenery and beautiful flowers. The months of July and August will be very crowded because of peak summer season. To avoid too many crowds, the months of May-June and Sep-Oct would be good options.

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Favorite thing: There are many benches along the Wolfgangsee lake at St Wolfgang. When the weather is good and the sky is clear, it is one of the best feeling in the world to sit at these benches and admire the scenery, relax, chit-chat with your friends and loved ones.

My wife and I had a really enjoyable time here during our honeymoon in June 2007, just look at the photos and you know what I mean.

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Favorite thing: There is a very nice and big park with lots of benches located at the western side of St Wolfgang along the main road, just across the Schafberg train station. The views of the Wolfgangsee lake and mountains here are fantastic. This is perhaps the best place to have a good view of St Gilgen town together with the lake and boats (see photos).

Favorite thing: Have a look for some interesting facts of the history of St. Wolfgang, that is written on this lovely sign-post next to the church :
St.Wolfgang was given as a donation from the german king Ludwig to the monastery of Mondsee in the year 976

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Fondest memory: The village of St.Wolfgang soon became an important place for pilgrimage in the 14th-16th century. In 1873 the Schafbergbahn was built and in 1930 the operetta made St.Wolfgang and the "Weisses Roessel" famous all over Europe.

Favorite thing: St. Wolfgang im Salzkammergut
Salzkammergut is the name of the region east of the town Salzburg, and it is partly situated in Bundesland Salzburg, partly in Oberoesterreich.
The typical landscape of Salzkammergut is consisting only of high mountains around several lakes and all of that region is also rich of SALT ( = Salz ).
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Fondest memory: In former times Salt-barons got really rich by selling their salt to places all over Europe. Today many of these salt-mines are not producing salt anymore, but you may go into the mountain by guided tours, and see how these mines once worked. The funniest part of these mines are in my memory the wooden slides, where you can slide down the mines during the guided tours.