Badgastein Things to Do

1 more image

After admiring the waterfall from the bridge in the centre of town, it is worthwhile to have a look at it from other vantage points. In Straubinger Platz you will see steps going up, they are part of the path that winds uphill by the side of the brook, ending at the level of the upper bridge. The view of the upper segments of the waterfall is really spectacular.

2 more images

Nice walks in Bad Gastein have been named after famous patrons, and it seems fair that the most beautiful walk of all has been named after a king and emperor who spent many holidays here.
The narrow road, where cars are not allowed, starts within the village, in the Bismarckstrasse, and goes into the Kotchach valley, ending at the Grüner Baum. Its length is 8 km (about 5 miles).
During this walk you will have on one side the green slopes of the Badberg and on the other side a panoramic view of the valley. Then the road gets into the wood, a beautiful wood of pines and firs.
It is an easy walk for everybody, and there are benches where you can have a rest if you wish. At the end, if you don't feel like walking all the way back you can take a bus from the Grüner Baum, back to the centre of Bad Gastein.

This is a suggestion for an out-of-town trip. Sportgastein has a name, but it is not a village or even a hamlet. There are just two or three houses there. The reason for going there in winter is skiing, and in summer the wonderful view and hiking paths.
Sportgastein lies in a valley, but its altitude is 1589 metres above sea level. The view of the mountains all around is great, especially that of the Sonnblickgruppe, which is over 3000 metres high, so it is frequently white with snow also in summer.
There is a toll of 4 euros per person to pay to use the road that goes there. This is rather common in the Austrain mountains, with roads that exist just for leisure trips.

1 more image

Bad Gastein has been a thermal resort for many years, because of its waters that spring from the earth at a temperature between 44 and 47 degrees Celsius. There are today 17 of these springs, in the Badberg, and they provide water for the spas. However, not all the thermal water is used for this business. Some of it is free and flows from two fountains, not far from each other.
Fountains with warm water may be welcome when you need to wash you hands. However, warm water is not ideal if you are thirsty on a hot summer day. Don't worry, there are also other fountains around, with cold mountain water.

Behind the little church of St Nicholas there is a graveyard, where the graves are actually only commemorative, because the bodies of these deads are not buried here. These men lost their lives in the II World War, most of them in Russia.
The folly of blood-thirsty tyrants sent these men to their deaths, and caused the deaths of many many others. Many words agaist wars have been written, but we tend to forget the equation war=innumerable graves.

This statue represents a man with a cloak that makes him invisible, so we can see only his head and hands. The man is Paracelsus, and I don't think he ever had, or even tried to obtain, an invisible cloak.
Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, this was his real name, was born in Switzerland in 1493 and died in Salzburg in 1541. He was an alchemist and a physician and adopted the name Paracelsus, which means "beyond Celsus", because he carried on medical studies from the point where the roman physician Aulus Cornelius Celsus had left them.
Paracelsus travelled all over Europe and in the Middle East, studying, among other things, the minerals in drinking water and their effects. Studying the effects of minerals on the human body he became interested also in the health of mine workers, so he was the first to describe silicosis. These facts explain why he came to Bad Gastein, a town with mines and thermal waters.
Far from being a magician, Paracelsus was a scientist who improved pharmaceutical science in his time.

3 more images

Picturesque and small in size, this sample of late-gothic architecture, built in the 15th century, is the oldest church in Bad Gastein. Inside there are well-preserved frescoes and a beautiful stone pulpit that is the oldest in Salzburgerland.
Cardinal Ratzinger visited here, before becoming Pope. I learned this because photographs of his visit were displayed together with postcards of the church.

The Gastein valley is surrounded by beautiful mountains that are higher than 2000 m above the sea level. There are very good paths to go there, but also if you are not hikers some places are easy to reach, thanks to the gondolas or the chairlifts. There are several, from Bad Gastein and also from the other villages of Badhof Gastein and Dorfgastein.