St Gilgen
An enchanting turquoise blue lake in Austria’s beautiful Salzkammergut region, home to historical villages and lush green mountains.
Lake Wolfgang is one of Austria’s most popular lakes and is located in the heart of the Salzkammergut, Austria’s beautiful Lake District. Lake steamers ply the shallow waters, which are beautifully framed by the Schafberg and Zwölferhorn mountains and the area has a rich cultural heritage.
St. Gilgen is a delightful lakeside village on the north-western shore of Lake Wolfgang. The birthplace of Mozart’s mother, St. Gilgen has a charming centre with baroque and rococo style architecture, frescoed houses, a pretty church and colourful café lined streets. Set amid beautiful scenery, the village offers easy access to the mountains and lovely lakeside bathing areas with a variety of watersports. Across the lake lies bustling St. Wolfgang with its renowned 15th century pilgrimage church and celebrated White Horse Inn.
St Gilgen summer holiday highlights
- The cog-wheel railway to the top of the Schafberg offers great views. There are bathing areas around the lake and pedalos, rowing boats and electric boats for hire.
- The watersports centre at St, Gilgen offers waterskiing, wakeboarding, sailing, windsurfing, tube rides and a banana boat.
- There are also plenty of gentle cycling routes around the lake and through the valley as well as crazy golf, fishing, tennis and bowling.
- There are plenty of walking and hiking opportunities in the area from gentle lakeside strolls around the lake to more strenuous mountain paths including the Pilgrim’s Way between St. Gilgen and St. Wolfgang over the Falkenstein cliff.
- Culture and especially music are very important to the region and there are regular classical, folklore, operatic and brass band concerts and an annual village festival in each village around the lake.
