There is a mountain railway in St Wolfgang, up the Schafberg mountain. It takes 45 minutes to reach the summit and gives a view over 7 of the lakes. The walk down takes 3-4 hours, and the last trip up is around 4pm, so remember not to get too sidetracked in St Wolfgang on the way! Open May to October depending on the weather.

At the beginning of January Gosau hosts the Snow Spectacular Week with many hot air balloons competing in the Dachstein Alpentrophy. There are opportunities to book a hot air balloon flight and at the finale there is a spectacular firework show.

On the road from St Wolfgang to Bad Ischl there is a hot air ballooning and airship company, open Mon-Thursday 1000-1200. 06138 3027, office@freiheit.at, www.freiheit.at .

There are sleigh rides in Gosau www.schlittenfahrten.at

Canoeing is possible on any of the lakes, and on certain of the rivers. You can canoe on the river Traun, and it is even possible to canoe the river Traun from Obertraun to the Black Sea!

Canoeing can be organised through Sportgeschäft Zopf, the sports shop in the centre of Bad Goisern. Tel 06135 82 54, sport@zopf.co.at, www.zopf.co.at.

Canoeing can also be arranged with Outdoor Leadership (tel: ). www.outdoor-leadership.com

Canyoning can be organised through Sportgeschäft Zopf. Tel 06135 82 54, sport@zopf.co.at, www.zopf.co.at

Rock climbing from the Gosausee and Stausee is run by the local Rock Climbing school.

There is a diving school in Hallstatt just as you come into the village on the right hand side. Visibility is excellent. They do dive experiences too, and are open all year. Tel: 06134 8286, 0676 644 9989,scuba@ping.at There is diving available in most of the lakes.

The most popular local fish are forelle, reinanke and saibling. To go fishing you need to get a licence, available from tourist information or from the petrol station in Hallstatt. Fishing without a licence is taken very seriously and offenders run the risk of going to jail. The lakes are full of fish. There is a fishing pool just before you get to Gosau. There are fishing shops in Hallstatt and Bad Aussee.

There are superb courses not far away, just north of Bad Ischl www.salzkammergut-golf.at, and just outside Bad Aussee www.golfclub-ausseerland.at you can also Play Golf at the 18 hole SalzKammergut Golf Club just 40 mins drive away at Wirling.

Horseyard Reiter Vordertal
4824 Gosau
+43 699 19008074

kontakt@pferdehof-reiter.at
www.pferdehof-reiter.at

The best is the Eishalle at Gmunden open Monday to Sunday 1400-1645, Monday 1830-2100, Saturday 1715-2100, tel 07612 794384, www.gmunden.at. You can do ice skating, ice discos, ice hockey, ice dancing and curling.

Obertraun is one of the best places for paragliding in Austria. The main launch site is on the Krippenstein mountain, a short walk from the second station of the Dachsteinseilbahn cable car. You get a fantastic view as you float gently down to one of two landing sites in Obertraun. If you have not tried paragliding before, you can try a tandem flight. There is also a paragliding and hang gliding school in Altaussee. See FlugZeit, www.flugzeit.at or SkyClub Austria www.skyclub-austria.at.

For courses, try Flugschule Salzkammergut open Easter to October Mon-Fri 0830-1600, 07612 73033, 0664 111 6099,flugschule@paragleiten.net www.paragleiten.net, They do trial lessons (4 hrs with short flights), basic courses (4 days), high altitude flying courses (1-2 days)(you need to do the basic course first!), flying days from different mountains in the Salzkammergut and tandem flights from the Zwolferhorn in St Gilgen or Loser mountain near Altaussee.

White water rafting can be organised through Sport Zopf in Bad Goisern (Tel 06135 8254)

There are some fantastic rowing conditions on many of the lakes, including the Hallstattersee, but most of the professional rowing is done on the Wolfgangsee. Rowing boats can be hired on a number of lakes.

The best sailing conditions are at the Traunsee or Wolfgangsee , the Attersee or Mondsee, or on the Chiemsee, just over the border in Germany, on the way to Munich, about an hour and a quarter away.

The Koller Yachting School is at Nussdorf am Attersee 0676 330 5253, www.yachtschule-koller.com. Covers sailing, surfing, boat hire, water skiing, wake boarding, kayak and surf bike hire. There is another sailing school at Mondsee doing sailing and windsurfing courses, and has over 50 sailing boats and 100 windsurfers for hire, 06232 354 8200, www.segelschule-mondsee.at

There are a number of skiing and snowboarding possibilities locally:

Dachstein West www.dachstein.net
Krippenstein www.krippenstein.at, www.krippenstein.com
Loser www.loser.at, A great family resort with lots of variety.
Katrin-Alm, Bad Ischl www.katrinseilbahn.com
A smaller area, but has some easy off piste for those wanting to try it for the first time
Postalm Arena Good for beginners and low intermediates
Tauplitz www.dietauplitz.com, www.salzkammergut.at Another great family resort with lots of variety.
Ebensee www.feuerkogel.net. Another great family resort with lots of variety and a couple of new lifts this year.
Kasberg - Grunau im Almtal, www.kasberg.at, has a ski school.
Gaissau Hintersee, www.gaissauhintersee.at

Try snow tubing in Faistenau by day or night in the 170m long snow canals. www.snowtubing.at

Try the ski jump Kulm in Tauplitz/Bad Mittendorf. www.tauplitz.at

You can swim in any of the lakes, and most have beach areas with barbecue grill sites, restaurants and other facilities. The water is generally drinking water quality.

Gosau Hallenbad - on the main road going out of Gosau towards Abtenau, on the left. Has a waterfall and massage jets in the sports pool. Fantastic views of the Gosaukamm. Sauna, steam and solarium. Open 1300-2030, closed Monday 06136 882119 www.gosau.ooe.gv.at

Bad Aussee 06132 23 324-11 - health pool, sauna, solarium, steam, infrared, and various treatments, as well as nude swimming and romantic swimming nights by candlelight! Open 0800-2200, sauna area from 1300-2200 www.vital.at

Bad Ischl - www.eurothermen.at excellent new pool, sauna area, massage treatments, restaurant 06132 2040 open 0900-2400. Minimum 4 hour ticket!

White water rafting is possible on the river Traun, and it is even possible to raft the river Traun from Obertraun to the Black Sea