[Vecais Sakarnis]

Alps, besides Norwegian fjords, seems to be one of two clichees where to find the perfect nature sceneries in Europe. I dreamt about the trip to Alps long time ago and this July realized it - by traveling with a car from Riga in overall around 4500 km. However, this time I am a bit frustrated after - I didn't manage to see even half of places I planned. 10 days for a car trip from Latvia to Alps when including also visit of Vienna is way too less and my first rendezvous with Austrian Alps barely touched the "surface" of them. It means just one thing - I will have to return there. Alps are like a narcotic, and I guess I have become an addict.

Here the map overview of my trip:

I will post photos in chronological order, but for Vienna photos there will be separate thread.

1. First encounter with a "mountain" we had already in Lithuania. I have always wondered what exactly is this artificial hill in Paņevežys-Kaunas roadside.

2. This is second day, in Czech Republic. Got a bit lost in Olomouc surroundings, but it gave an option to enjoy this corn field with hills in background. Czech Republic has quite impressive and scenic hills here and there too.

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5. View from Austria-Czech border back to Czech Republic. This wonderful town is called Mikulov - definitely it looks like worth a visit, but we couldn't afford to do that if we wanted to see something from Alps at all.

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7. So, with skipping Vienna, here one of the first small towns in Alps region. Unfortunately I can't remember it's name, but remember there were a nasty operator of gas station who almost started to scream to not allow us to park a car for a moment (although there were other cars parked).

8. The town itself was nice and very quiet. We tend to think that Latvian small towns are dead and silent, but Austrian ones aren't any more lively. I'm OK with that, as I usually prefer calmness.

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10. A few km further another spontaneous stopping, to enjoy a nice meadow with a lake, surrounded by Alps. Here we got scared by one "Commissar Rex" who fastly approached us from the nearby small road - fortunately it had a muzzle.

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12. Those tiny beings up there are horses.

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[christos-greece]

Great, very nice photo tour from Alps :cheers:

 

[Insider92]

Those two photos of Mikulov are impressive.

 

[StoneRose]

Thank you!! Looking forward to more photos! These were fantastic.

 

[MilbertDavid]

quite nice photos and I love those panoramic views.

 

[Vecais Sakarnis]

17. We decided to sleep in a car at the first night. By looking for appropriate place, we stumbled upon a pair of hippies, they looked like stepped out right from 60ies. I took a small talk with 30-year-old 70-year-old-lookalike (due to his long beard and hairs). It turned out, he is a grandson of an Estonian grandmother who emigrated to Austria in WW2 and didn't went further to America as many others. This was a hippies mini bus.

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19. However, we found a nicer place to sleep - it was on 1000 m elevation, with quite a nice views around, some 30 km from Mariazell town.

20. In the morning, there was a huge fog which disapperad very fast (in a minutes).

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23. Some non-touristic lake away from main roads.

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26. On the way to Mariazell

27. Mariazell is small town in central Austria, located in Salza river valley. Here is a nice viewpoint to nearby hills.

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33. I didn't saw any larger herds in Austria than a such a bunch of cows. I guess, those views with cow flocks on the Alps background are from Switzerland?

34. Scary skiing slope

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37. Overall panorama of Mariazell surroundings

38. Remote controlled airplane models are very popular in this area. Don't know why exactly here.

 

[Vecais Sakarnis]

39. Some another village on the road.

40. Impressive cliffs some km further

41. There were a river flowing by

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45. Motorcyclists (as well as bicyclists) are very frequent on Alpine roads

46. Alps are quite different place by place - they don't stop surprise

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48. This is how the mountain roads are - rapid curves, sometimes steep ups and downs

 

[KingNick]

Stunning quality of your pictures! :applause:

 

[Vecais Sakarnis]

49.

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52. Hallstatt

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54. We took a swim in this lake next to Hallstatt - the rather cold water gave a good refresh after driving several hours in car without air conditioning

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59. Wanted to visit the town itself but happened to not turn of highway timely and drove into a tunnel which leads around town. Decided not to turn back but there was a viewing platform built right into the tunnel where one can park a car and take a look to Hallstatt and the lake:

60.

 

[Tiaren]

Beautiful images! Do I see this right on the map...you also visited Füssen/Neuschwanstein?

 

[Vecais Sakarnis]

^^ Yep, I was at Neuschwanstein too.

 

[Munichpictures1970]

Very nice shots! Thx for sharing.

 

[danmartin1985]

impressive photos and splendid scenery....what a blessed places.

 

[Vecais Sakarnis]

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65. View from guest house in Oberpinzgau valley

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70. This guy managed to build his web on the balcony overnight

 

[mlm]

I love the Alps! And your photos are great too

Can we expected some from Grossglockner and/or Neuschwanstein too? I visited the later again myself again this summer, it was spectacular as always.

After visiting the Alps I always feel like I had to leave too soon, there's just too many amazing things to see and do, and too little time.

 

[Bristol Mike]

Beautiful beautiful photos, you must have a great camera, combined with a brilliant eye for photos.

 

[cauct0691]

Great, very nice photo tour from Alps

 

[Vecais Sakarnis]

I see there is some interest about this thread - so I will continue with some more photos soon.

@mlm - Sadly Grosglockner was one of those places I didn't managed to visit, but there will be photos from Neuschwanstein.

 

[karlvan]

wow! splendid photo collection and frankly, I salute you for your passion and energy
to travel by land with that long period of time.:applause:

 

[Vecais Sakarnis]

71. Krimmler waterfall was another great place

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77. Countless small water drops there, it literally takes your breath away, when you stand up there on the cliff