Hall in Tirol
June 18
Austria is beautiful: green valleys & steep hills, and snow capped peaks giving way to the towering Austrian Alps as we near Innsbruck. The train ride from Salzburg to Hall in Tirol, just 10 km east of Innsbruck, was a beautiful journey. Hall is a UNESCO site as this town, remarkably preserved, dates back to the 13th century. Its importance in history is primarily tied to salt and indeed, the coat of arms shows two lions hugging a cask of salt.
Off the train we are presented with our usual challenge: Where are we? And where are we going? With the benefit of local advice and a hand drawn map of crossroads and arrows, we marched off to Hotel Heiligkreuz, not more than 15 minutes walk through a modest residential area. We have a beautifully bright and cheery upstairs room with an unobstructed view of Mount Bettelwurf through our windows.
It was a drizzly day, but undaunted by weather and characteristically optimistic, we set off to explore old town. Marked by narrow, cobblestone streets and a central square dominated by a church, in my limited experience this seemed like a pretty typical medieval Austrian village. A quick cup of cappuccino to warm us up and we were off exploring and browsing the central market. Increasing rain showers made a decision to have an early dinner quite easy and then back to Heiligkreuz for an evening of sauna.
To be honest, although Hall is very pretty and very quiet: if you're pressed for time on your trip 'round Austria, you can go ahead and skip this sleepy taste of sleepy town-life. A day more in Innsbruck (we spent just under a full half-day) would have been preferrable ... Hall is quite cute, though! And if you have the time, stroll and enjoy!
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