Wolfgangsee

The Wolfgangsee is about ten kilometres long, straddling the Salzburg and Upper Austria border, with the Schafberg rising above the northern shore. St Wolfgang, on that shore, grew around a pilgrimage church holding the Pacher altarpiece, a carved and painted winged altar finished in 1481 by Michael Pacher and among the most important late Gothic works in Austria; the village is also the setting of the operetta Im weissen Rössl, which brought a different kind of visitor. The Schafbergbahn, a rack railway opened in 1893 and still partly steam-hauled, climbs to 1,783 metres for the view over the lake chain. Lake boats have run since 1873 and the paddle steamer Kaiser Franz Joseph I of that year still operates. St Gilgen at the western end has a Mozart family connection.

What you actually see

• The Pacher altarpiece - the 1481 carved winged altar in the St Wolfgang church.
• The Schafbergbahn - the 1893 rack railway, partly steam-hauled, to 1,783 metres.
• An 1873 paddle steamer - still working the lake services.
• A lake between two provinces - ten kilometres under the Schafberg.

When to go

May to September; the rack railway is seasonal. A day.

Honest expectations

St Wolfgang is heavily touristed and coach parties fill it. The rack railway books out and costs a good deal. The Pacher altar is opened fully only on certain days.

Nearby

Mondsee is north; Bad Ischl is south; Salzburg is west.