Days: 5 days

Time: September

Per capita: 6000 yuan

With whom: with friends

Play: self driving, photography, free travel, humanities, petty bourgeoisie

The author went to these places

Austria

Vienna

Meiquan Palace

Cathedral

St. Stephen's Cathedral

Ring

state opera

Vienna City Hall

Sisi Museum

Salzburg

Salzburg

Salzburg Cathedral

Mozart

Halstadt

Lake

Innsbruck

Tyrol

Golden roof

Wagner

Published on February 20, 2014 at 20:56

Austria is a "small country" in Central Europe, but only in terms of size and population. In terms of history and culture, the Austro Hungarian Empire and the Habsburg dynasty were absolutely one of the hegemonic powers in modern Europe. Now Austria, in my impression, is like a violin in the shape of its territory. I remember that it is a music capital at the foot of the Alps, as well as the beautiful "Princess Sisi", who was once the queen of Austria.

Vienna is a well deserved music capital, but we just came here from a quiet town like CK in the Czech Republic. We are not used to it. All kinds of transportation come and go, all kinds of skin color people gather together, everywhere is the advertisement of musical symphony, a typical international metropolis.

We stayed in Vienna for only two days and one night, so we left most of our time to the old city area in the center of the city and the meiquan palace in the suburbs. Like many big cities in Europe, the most iconic building in the center of the city must be the church, and Vienna is no exception. Stephen's Cathedral in the center of the city is one of the most famous Gothic churches in the world. It has been more than 800 years since its completion. Its 137 meter high spire is the second tallest in the world after Cologne.

Around Stephen's Cathedral is Austria's most prosperous pedestrian street and magnificent ringstreet, also known as the "ring ring road", which is the commercial and cultural center of Vienna.

Hofburg Palace is the palace of the Habsburg dynasty in Austria, also located in the center of the capital Vienna. From 1275 to 1913, after many times of construction and reconstruction, it finally evolved into a maze composed of 18 wings, 19 courtyards and 2500 rooms. We have been looking for this huge palace, but in fact, it has become an open palace complex. We are already in it, but we don't know how sharp it is. It's really "just because we are in this mountain". In the palace area, you can take a carriage and pretend to be a tall man for a tour.

Since Vienna is the capital of music, it is necessary to visit the famous Vienna National Opera House and the golden hall. In fact, the former's position in the professional music industry is much higher than that of the latter. It can be seen from the geographical location that the latter has deviated from the downtown. The gray building below is the National Opera House, while the red building has a golden hall.

Vienna's other buildings are also beautiful, such as the dome of the Roman architecture with two tulazhen pillars - Karl Cathedral, the spire of Vienna City Hall and so on, all let me linger. Beautiful princess Sisi also left her own image here - there is also a princess Sisi Museum in the city center.

Meiquan palace is a baroque art building located in the southwest of Vienna. It was once the palace of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austrian Empire, the Austro Hungarian Empire and the Habsburg family. Meiquan palace and its garden are listed in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage list. In 1744, Maria Tricia, the most famous Queen of Habsburg, transformed the pleasure palace into a summer palace. It was during her reign that the Grand Palace was basically completed. The film "the sound of music" was once shot in the garden here.

After a quick glance at Vienna, we took the train to Salzburg. It is from there that we will start our beautiful self driving journey. Austria's most famous city, in addition to the "music capital" - Vienna, is Salzburg (German name Salzburg) - although this city has only more than 100000 people, it is only the fourth largest city in Austria. From Vienna to the west by train, in less than three hours, we arrived at this small town at the northern foot of the Alps. The Salz River, the most important tributary of the Rhine River, passes through the city, while the old city of Salzburg is quietly on both sides of the river. Soon after leaving Vienna, the sun began to shine. When we arrived at Salzburg, the sky was clear and blue.

At the beginning of the 17th century, the Archbishop built Salzburg and turned it into a baroque city. Now the appearance and style of the old city of Salzburg are left from that time. He ordered the reconstruction of Salzburg cathedral and the building of Mirabel palace. During the Second World War, most of the buildings in the old city were well preserved, so Salzburg was the only city that retained the original baroque style. The old city of Salzburg was listed as a world cultural heritage by UNESCO in 1996.

Salzburg, as an important city in Bavaria, was once famous in history. Later, it was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, a talented musician, who was born and grew up here, that made Salzburg a holy land of music. Every year, music performances are very frequent.

Salzburg is too small to have a proper street. The most prosperous part of the old city is just a small lane, getreidegasse. Mozart was born on the 9th of this alley. The yellow building above is the Mozart Museum. And here's a variety of shop moves, can be said to be one of the characteristics.

The most important building in the old city is the Archbishop's official residence, including the cathedral with its majestic facade and huge dome, which reflects the majestic features of the early baroque style on the alpine side.

The small square in front of the cathedral is full of shops, which are full of life atmosphere, and also bring relaxed and comfortable to tourists.

The most interesting shop is decorated with eggshells, which can be hung on the Christmas tree. It's a pity that I dare not buy it for fear of breaking it on the road. It's a pity.

The name Salzburg (German Salzburg means "salt Castle") first appeared in 755. It got its name from the nearby salt mines and castles. At that time, the bishop of Salzburg's main source of income was the monopoly of salt sales. Nowadays, various kinds of salt products are still sold in the local area, and they are also one of the most distinctive souvenirs here. They are used for food, skin care, beauty and decoration. Even the walls of these shops are decorated with large pieces of salt mine stones.

Since it's called Salzburg, there must be a "fort". It turned out that the castle was on the high fortress hill, the residence of successive archbishops. It is said that the castle has never been captured. Now tourists can take a cable car to the castle on the mountain, which is very convenient.

In fact, the interior of the castle is very simple, mainly for historical display, and photography is not allowed, so take a look outside. The white wall spire under the blue sky reminds me of Santorini. At first glance, in this alpine territory, it really has a Mediterranean flavor.

On the castle, you can have a panoramic view of the old city, and not far away from the outskirts of the Alps, the autumn scenery is even more intoxicating.

In the center of Salzburg, there is a palace and garden built by the Archbishop Wolff Dietrich for his lover. At that time, it was named "alteno Palace" after the lover. In order to erase this disgraceful story, Marcus xiticus, the successor of Wolff Dietrich, changed its name to "Mirabelle Palace" - "Mirabelle" is an Italian female name, which means "amazingly beautiful", and the garden is also amazingly beautiful.

Although it is autumn, there are still flowers in full bloom. Unfortunately, the weather is overcast and rainy.

No sunshine, no tourists here, the temperature plummeted, the huge garden some empty.

After a short stay in Salzburg for one night, I got the rental car the next morning (see the tips and self driving route at the end of the travel notes for details), and rushed to halstadt, the most beautiful town in Europe.

Soon after leaving Salzburg, I began to enter the Alps. The further I went, the more winding the mountain road was, but the scenery was excellent. This is the first lake we arrived at, Mondsee. The lake has a large area. If it wasn't for some rain, it would be a beautiful sight. The small town by the lake is also very quiet and humid, and the green everywhere seems to overflow.

Since then, we have entered the so-called Salz Lake area, where the lakes are not small, one after another dotted in the mountains. Around is a quiet village, we drive carefully, for fear of disturbing the quiet here. Autumn is coming, and the red leaves on the mountain are colorful.

In the lake area, all the way is intoxicating autumn, we stop and go, linger. Cloudy and sunny weather, but also let us enjoy the bright autumn in the sun, but also feel the taste of fairyland in the clouds.

The important destination for us to go to the lake area is Hallstatt, known as "the most beautiful town in the world". Don't underestimate Hallstatt. This town is still a world cultural heritage because of its long history of salt mines. Today's tourists can easily take the cable car to visit the salt mine entrance on the mountain. And there are many small shops in the small town selling all kinds of salt products, the packaging is very beautiful.

If you go to Hallstatt by train, you can only stop on the other side of the lake. You have to take a ferry to get to the town. However, sitting on the ferry, watching the fairy tale town gradually appear, accompanied by swans and ducks, is also a very artistic thing.

The town is not big. It can be said that there is only one road along the lakeside, which is a little wider. The houses built on the mountain are just a few rows along the coast. Late autumn is not the peak season for local tourism. It's very quiet. This is the place where the hero and heroine meet in the Korean drama "Spring Waltz", so there are not many Korean tourists.

The romance of Austrian people has been brought into full play here. Everything in the gift shop is strange but full of creativity.

We didn't live in Hallstatt, but chose another town by the lake. Our hotel faces the lake, you can sit on the balcony to enjoy the lake view. Sometimes I see the red and white train across the lake whining out of the tunnel and hiding in the jungle. Everything was so quiet that we all spoke softly. Get up in the morning, the air is fresh and humid, go out for a walk is the best. There were almost no pedestrians in the town. Occasionally, I met the local people on the balcony on the second floor. The old man with white beard was kind enough to greet me. Every family here has a yard, and the food is in good order, small furnishings are very interesting. Time seems to have stopped, mood and forest as colorful, really like this peaceful and beautiful place.

In a lake, a couple of swans swam to the shore leisurely. We went down to the shore to have a close look. Unexpectedly, one of them went ashore for a walk. I could even touch this lovely animal. He looked at us curiously, the guests from the Far East. Did he not meet his friends with black eyes and yellow skin? I don't know if my friends still remember "Niles's journey by goose"? When the Swan gazes at me, I really want to ride the Swan around the lake like Niles... Here, I can't help praising the ecology of Europe. Animals live in harmony with human beings here. They don't worry that human beings will hurt them. There are many kinds and numbers of waterbirds in the lake area. Swans are common animals. No wonder Swarovski, an Austrian brand, will take swans as its emblem.

Reluctantly, she left the lake area of Austria and headed for Innsbruck, the last stop in Austria. The city was once the capital of the Habsburg dynasty, so it left many royal relics. Now it is the capital of the Austrian state of Tyrol, and has held two Winter Olympics. I have seen many famous historical cities in Europe, so relatively speaking, there is nothing special about this small city. The main reason for staying here is the convenient transportation. It's very convenient to go to Germany, Switzerland and Italy. We also have to drive from here to Swan Castle in Germany. When you're free, just take a stroll in the city. Marchimilian I's "golden roof" has a long reputation, but it seems to be exaggerating. Compared with the roof built by Emperor Qianlong in Chengde, this gilded roof is too simple and much smaller in scale.

Innsbruck, now known as capital of Alps, is located in the valley of the Alps. Surrounded by mountains, the air is clean and the sky is blue.

If the Austrian Lake area is quiet and serene, the next road from Innsbruck to Swan Castle shows the magnificent beauty of the Alps. Sunshine on the road, the mood is very comfortable, even the roadside chapel is also very cute.

On the way through a valley, the fog is dispersing, and the village below looks like a fairyland.

The ultimate destination of our self driving tour is Swan Castle. Swan Castle is located in feisen Fussen, Bavaria in the south of Germany, so we have entered Germany at this time. This dream castle is surrounded by Alps and surrounded by mountain lakes. Everyone is fascinated by it. In fact, swan castle can be divided into Schloss Hohenschwangau (also known as old Swan Castle) and Schloss Neuschwanstein (German). Disney castle, as well as the animation "Saint fighter star arrow" in the prototype of Hades castle, is the new castle. Ludwig II, king of Bavaria, is the founder of this dream castle. Unfortunately, like other emperors of artists, the king was also a poor and talented man. Before he could see the completion of the new castle, he was deposed at the age of 41 and died mysteriously soon. The emperor's cousin is Princess Sisi. It is said that after her cousin married to Austria, his love life became a blank. It was also said that the king was suspected of "broken back" and had an affair with the famous musical writer Wagner. Strangely, the road to Swan Castle is sunny, but when you enter the valley where Swan Castle is located, the clouds begin to wind around, and the colorful mountains and forests in the distance become indistinct, which is a pity.

The yellow wall is the Old Swan Castle, where Ludwig II was born and grew up.

The image of swan can be seen everywhere in the castle, and sculptures and murals are quite common. In German legend, the swan is the incarnation of the prince.

Around the mountains and woods, you can see the yellow old castle in the distance, and swans are swimming in the lake nearby. We drove back to Innsbruck in a gloomy day, and the self driving tour in Austria (Germany) ended perfectly（ In fact, I learned later that I had a ticket for speeding

Travel tips:

1. For the route of this self driving tour, see the Google map reference below. Please note that 522km is the whole distance. The self driving tour lasts for 3 nights and 4 days. The scenery along the way is beautiful and the road condition is good. There are some expressways, and there is no speed limit for German expressways!

Please speed limit according to the signs when passing through the village, school and other roads. After we return home, the car rental company sends an email saying that there is a speeding ticket, with a total of 80 euros of fine and handling charge! We compared the time. It's very likely that we were speeding on some roads in Austria.

2. Simple introduction to self driving in Europe (car rental, driving license, driving habits, etc.)

1) Driver's license: the domestic driver's license needs to be notarized at the notary office of each district and county. Generally, the English version is enough, unless the car rental company has specific requirements for the language. This notarial certificate is the same as the valid period of the driver's license, so don't throw it away with one use.

2) Choose a car rental company: choose a large chain car rental company, such as Hertz, Avis, Europcar, etc. the price may not be the lowest, but there are more online stores and cars to choose. Log in to the official website of the car rental company and select the model, the city and network where you pick up and return the car, and the time when you pick up and return the car. Generally, the rent of car return in other places will be a little more expensive. International credit card is required to guarantee the booking.

3) Choose cars and insurance: most of the cars in European car rental companies are in manual transmission. There are few cars in automatic transmission, and the price is more expensive than manual transmission. Please make sure to book in advance. Generally, the cost of car rental includes basic insurance, and additional insurance can be purchased if necessary. For example, renting the lowest level vehicles, such as Mercedes Benz a series, may be upgraded. For example, we chose Benz a series cars this time, and the car rental company gave us a brand new grand Picasso C4 station wagon. The cost of an ordinary vehicle with automatic transmission is about 40-60 euro / day, unlimited mileage.

4) Driving regulations and habits: all countries in the European continent (except the United Kingdom, which is an island country) are the same as China, with vehicles driving on the right. Most of the traffic regulations are not different from China, and there are few toll roads. Please keep good driving habits and give way as you should, especially when pedestrians have absolute right of way. Most countries also have to turn on daytime running lights or low beams when driving during the day. Please be sure to comply with the local traffic regulations. The punishment is usually heavy (my 80 Euro...)

Navigation: you can rent a GPS navigator from a car rental company, or use the mobile phone's own navigation software or google map.