Grundlsee

The Grundlsee is nearly six kilometres long and the largest lake in Styria, lying east to west under the Totes Gebirge in the Ausseerland, and it is the start of what has been sold since the nineteenth century as the Drei-Seen-Tour: a boat the length of the Grundlsee to Gössl, a short walk through the woods to the small Toplitzsee, a rowing boat across that, another walk, and then the tiny Kammersee, which is one of the sources of the Traun. The plattenboot rowing boats on the Toplitzsee are worked by hand and the whole sequence takes half a day. The Grundlsee itself has a shore road along the north side, bathing places, and the Narzissenfest daffodil festival in late spring, when the meadows above it flower and boats are decorated with the blooms.

History

Charcoal from a Palaeolithic hearth in the Salzofen cave in the Totes Gebirge is dated to around 34,000 years ago, and finds of the Bronze and Iron Ages along the Koppental route belong to the world of Hallstatt, only 20 kilometres away; place names ending in -itz, such as Toplitz and Zimitz, record later Slavic settlers, joined by Bavarians from around 800. The name probably comes from the Old Slavic for round lake, reshaped in German as if from grundel, the gudgeon, and is first written as Chrungilse on 2 August 1188, when Duke Ottokar IV sealed three documents at the lake (Wikipedia, Grundlsee).

Highlights

• Styria's largest lake - nearly six kilometres under the Totes Gebirge.
• The Three Lakes Tour - boat, walk, rowing boat, walk, to the Kammersee.
• Hand-rowed plattenboote - the flat boats worked on the Toplitzsee.
• The Narzissenfest - the daffodil festival and decorated boats in late spring.

When to go

May to October; late May for the daffodils. Half a day.

Things to know

The Three Lakes Tour runs to a boat timetable and books out in summer. The water is cold. Weather in the Ausseerland is wet - this is one of the rainiest corners of Austria.

Nearby

Altaussee and Toplitzsee are next door; Hallstatt is over the pass.