By now it was late November and I foolishly assumed that the skiing season had started. So what better idea than to go to the Austrian Alps to go skiing and visit the Hot Springs. After a quick Google search I learned about Bad Gastein and figured it was a great place to visit. But as it turns out I was there during the off-season just before the ski season started. So not only were most of the Hot Springs closed but the ski slopes were not open either. So it’s a good thing and only booked two nights at my bed-and-breakfast.
The first day I decided to go hiking since all of the trails were still open and there was not snow on the ground. This was actually a very cool experience since the trails were mostly empty so I had them mostly to myself. I pretty much spent that whole first day hiking up and down random trails into the mountains hoping not to get lost. But the views that I had were amazing and absolutely breathtaking.
The second day I was there I also went hiking but not as much. The main thermal bath in town was still open since it’s open year-round so most of my day was spent there. What I didn’t realize was that the saunas in Austria are nude saunas so I was in for quite the surprise. But it was such a normal thing to everyone that it turned out not to be an issue for me either. No one was uncomfortable which made it easier for you to just go with it.
I would love to visit the city again either in summer or winter. Summer because I found out that you can go mineral hunting in the mountains which would be awesome. And winter of course because the ski slopes will actually be open. I will say though that because it was the off-season I was actually able to go for very cheap which was great.
