"Griaß`di Irdning!" a Irdning Travel Page by coccinella169

Irdning is a little village of about 2.600 inhabitants. It is about 120 km from Salzburg, 30 km from Bad Aussee, about 60 km from Hallstatt and 35 km from Schladming. It is a gateway to Salzkammergut.

If you like to do outdoor sports, like horse riding, cycling, golf or mountain hiking in summer or skiing in winter, this is a great place to be. There is a a little lake as well, called Putterersee- a bit muddy though :) (it is a moor lake), but nice to go for a boat ride or to take a sun bath. In winter skiing slopes in Donnersbach, Tauplitz or Planneralm are reachable within 10 minutes. There is also a small Christmas market in front of the church, and they offer horse sleigh riding. The next Spa is also 10 minutes away in Bad Mitterndorf.

As there are a lot of scenic roads going through Austrian Salzkammergut, there are a lot of classic cars passing by. It is a very neat, not too touristic area with a lovely landscape!

As for accomodation, you can choose between farms stays and 2 five stars hotels - well known Castle hotel Pichlarn with amenities like a huge spa and golf court- and Villa Falkenhof with about 10 rooms only and one of Styria`s top 3 restaurants!

Like in many places in Austrian countryside, everybody is greeting everybody - so if you go for a walk or a hike, and meet somebody you should say hello :)!

One interesting thing about Irdning is, that many famous football clubs train there in summer. For example, Real Madrid stayed in Irdning for the 4th time this year. For a fee of 2 EUR you can watch their training. They even play games in the local stadium, 2006 against the local team ATV Irdning (Real Madrid won 10:2:)) and against Fulham (0:0- without David Beckham :) who watched the game only from the tribune). A ticket for the match costs 12/15 EUR. As this village is so small, there is a good chance to meet the players, especially if you go to Schloss Pichlarn- the hotel where they are staying at. Usually on one or two evenings their trainer allows them to go out, so they might sit at the table right next to you having a beer :).