Gmunden: Traunsee an Alpine Mountain Lake Gem in Austria
Gmunden, Austria
We spent two days at Gmunden visiting Traunsee and Traunkirchen after visiting Hallstatt. I wanted to spend more time on the alpine lakes and this seemed like a nice one to hang around at! There’s plenty of things we were interested in seeing or doing but we were also trying to rest and not push the limited time we had. I think there’s plenty more to do than what I have written about and I hope to make another trip to add to my review in the future. For now here are some of the highlights for us.
What to Eat in Gmunden:
Restaurant und Gästehaus Schweizerhof am See:
We stopped here for lunch our first day. The view is what drew me here, you have a lovely terrace with views of the lakes surrounded by mountains. The service was a bit slow for us, they focus more on locals it seems. Don’t be in a rush if you come here. However if you want to sit and enjoy the view then it’s worth it for sure. It is a cash only place, keep that in mind. I ordered the chicken cordon bleu and it comes with potatoes and a 5 type side salad which was excellent. My partner ordered the chicken salad with chili sauce and it was also very tasty. Prices are decent for the quality and the view.
SITES:
Johannesbergkapelle :
We went to “the lake view” to walk around and make the small walk up the hill to see the church. This is the perfect little swim and sun bathing area on such a sunny warm day!
Schloß Ort :
This cute little palace on a Island that you can walk to across a bridge. It has a cute heart lock where lovers all add a lock, and a 360 degree view around the lake. It’s a great place to sit and enjoy the views and put your feet in the water
ACTIVITIES:
Cumberland wildlife park
This nature park is not a far drive from the lake. It’s about €10 for non student adults but we used our IDs and got two tickets and two bags of animal pellets for €20. The park is quite large, there are multiple paths you can take, some offer shortcuts and can cut the time down substantially, however we wanted to walk the whole thing and it took us around 3 hours or so. We had fun feeding a lot of the animals , I highly recommend getting the food bags at the entrance. I was able to get quite a few animals to come right up to me from the opposite side of the enclosure because they were interested in the food.
Traunsee
The lake itself is very pretty. The lake is an alleine lake so expect it to be a bit chilly unless you are used to mountain lakes. However , once you are in it’s not as bad as you’d think. We spent the afternoon laying in the sun and swimming at one of the free spots a bit further down from the Sonnenbad and Strandbad where you have to pay entrance.
ACCOMMODATION:
We stayed at Frühstuckspension Haus Ahamer. It’s located at the bottom of Traunsee and has parking on site. We stayed two nights in a double deluxe room which was quite large! They have a restaurant below for lunch and dinner if you want, but also have kitchen on site to make your own. We had breakfast included in our price (€170) and it was buffet style with many tasty options and definitely helped us get through the day after having a big breakfast
Trip: July 2020
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