The Kaiser-Wilhelm-Promenade above the Ache

The spa built its walks the way it built its hotels — carefully, and with a view. The Kaiser-Wilhelm-Promenade contours the eastern slope above Bad Gastein, almost flat for its whole length, and it was named for Kaiser Wilhelm I, who took the cure here twenty times; the monument put up in 1889 to mark those visits still stands beside the path and is a listed building.

What makes it worth an hour is the angle. From the town you can only look up at the great houses; from the promenade you look down on them, so the roofs, the gorge and the falls line up in one frame with the Graukogel behind. Benches and openings in the trees give a series of them along the way, and the path is wide enough to work on without blocking anyone.

It is a walking place rather than a viewpoint, which suits a couple session: fifteen or twenty minutes of path gives four or five different backgrounds, from beech and larch shade to open balconies over the valley. The best light is late afternoon, when the sun comes across the valley onto the town below and the path itself is in soft shade.

The promenade continues towards the Kötschachtal and is walkable most of the year. In winter it is usually cleared or trodden, but icy patches and short closures after snowfall or windthrow happen — check locally, and take grips if there has been a freeze. It starts a few minutes' walk uphill from the centre, so no car is needed.