Lake Altaussee

The Altausseer See lies in a closed bowl under the Trisselwand and the Loser in the Styrian Salzkammergut, about two square kilometres of very clear cold water with a level path running the whole way round in about two hours. The village has been a salt town since the Middle Ages, and the mine in the mountain above is the reason the place appears in twentieth-century history: from 1943 the Nazis used the worked-out chambers, which hold a stable temperature and humidity, to store art looted across Europe - thousands of works including the Ghent Altarpiece and Michelangelo's Bruges Madonna - and the mine was mined with explosives at the end of the war before local miners and others prevented the demolition. The mine runs tours covering both the salt and that history.

What you actually see

• A clear closed-bowl lake - under the Trisselwand, walkable right round.
• The salt mine tours - the working chambers and their wartime use.
• The art depot story - where looted European works were stored and nearly destroyed.
• A shore path - level, about two hours for the full circuit.

When to go

May to October for the lake; the mine runs most of the year. Half a day.

Honest expectations

The water is very cold even in high summer. Mine tours book out in season and go underground at around eight degrees - bring a layer. Village parking is limited.

Nearby

Bad Aussee, the Grundlsee and Hallstatt are all close.