Bad Gastein

Bad Gastein: one vacation, all possibilities

Bad Gastein offers vacations for all the senses, all year round.

With peaks that exceed the three-thousand-meter mark and reach into the glacier zone of the Hohe Tauern in Sportgastein, Bad Gastein is not only the Monte Carlo of the Alps, but also a paradise for sports enthusiasts. But the charming Belle Époque town also has a lot to offer besides the many sporting opportunities.

Surrounded by the magnificent mountain landscape of the Gastein Valley, you can not only enjoy cycling, hiking, skiing or cross-country skiing, but also relax and simply enjoy the beauty all around you. Bad Gastein has many faces, from the deep valley to the high peaks. And one is more beautiful than the other. See for yourself and book your individual time out in Bad Gastein.

The investments in various new projects mark the beginning of a new era in Bad Gastein. The revitalization of the historical legacy is to further express the uniqueness of the place - renaissance of a legend.

Culture and sights

Bad Gastein offers a variety of natural-historical and architectural sights. Outstanding are the waterfalls in the center of the village and in Böckstein, the glacier mills, the hotel complexes of the Belle Époque. The architectural image of Bad Gastein was mainly shaped by the architects and master builders Wolfgang Hagenauer, Josef Wessicken, Valentin Ceconi and Jacob Ceconi, Angelo Comini and Franz Franzmair.

Gastein Waterfall: The waterfall in the middle of the town is considered a landmark, which has been the motif of many painters and poets. The height of the fall of the Gasteiner Ache in three stages is 341 m in total. The air, negatively ionized by atomization, is an important cure of the place.

Grand Hotel de l'Europe: The hotel was built as a late historicist building according to the plans of the cathedral architect Matthäus Schlager from 1906 to 1909. The building houses the Gastein Museum and condominiums.

The Hotel Weismayr in the center of the village (formerly Provenchère) was rebuilt in 1886-1888 by Angelo Comini according to the plans of architect Josef Wessicken. It is still run as a hotel today.

The Hotel Straubinger is located directly at the Gastein waterfall. 

The Hotel Badeschloss, located on the waterfall opposite the Hotel Straubinger, was built from 1791 to 1794 by order of the Salzburg Prince-Archbishop Hieronymus von Colloredo (Archbishop). The German Emperor Wilhelm I stayed here for the first time in 1863 and then until 1887 every year - except 1866 - when he stayed in Bad Gastein for a cure. 

Haus Austria in the center housed the municipal office, a public reading room, the Gastein Museum and business premises. The building was commissioned by the Straubinger family and opened in 1898 as "Hotel Austria". Until it was sold in 1939, it was attached to the parent hotel "Hotel Straubinger". In 2008 the municipal office moved, since then the building has been empty.

The Kongresshaus Bad Gastein is an imposing concrete building from the 1970s in the center of town. Gerhard Garstenauer received the Architecture Prize of the Province of Salzburg for this building in 1975. Operations for congresses and events were discontinued as of January 2007, and the leases of several business premises were terminated.

Felsentherme Bad Gastein with Austrian Building Award 1968

The station of the Tauernbahn, typical for the k.u.k. period, is located near the valley station of the Stubnerkogelbahn. At the opening of the Tauernbahn in September 1905, the mayor at the time, Carl Straubinger, received Emperor Franz Joseph, who had arrived in a saloon car.

Böckstein Castle
Glacier mills
Gastein Museum, with its extensive collection and information about the history of the town, was reopened in November 2011 in the Hotel de l'Europe.

On the Stubnerkogel, there is a 140-meter suspension bridge that can be walked on all year round at an altitude of almost 2300 m above sea level, the Glocknerblick viewing platform and a rock path.

The Gasteiner Heilstollen is used for the therapy of rheumatic diseases and for chronic symptoms of complaints of the respiratory tract and skin.

In Bad Gastein's thermal spring park, thermal water gushes out of the rock impressively and completely naturally.

The Zirbenzauber at the Graukogel with its particularly beautiful and ancient Zirbenbestand known, some trees are almost 400 years old.

The Montanmuseum Altböckstein consists of an old Salzstadl and a Säumerstadl, it can be followed on a functional ore processing plant the way from gold ore to gold.