Forsterhof Hotel

This is a very beautiful place when the sun shines, but it is dour when wet and misty. There is only one road into St Wolfgang so you have to go all the way round by bus from St Gilgan and Strobl or better still get the boat. There is a fantastic church in the middle and on two evenings a week, there is a brass band that plays in the village centre next to the church. Fantastic views of the lake can be appreciated on a veranda beside the church. The village has a few cafes and shops. In some places, the streets can be steep.
The Hotel Fosterhof was very lovely but it is quite a way from the village. It is about 15 minutes minimum to get to the village up quite a steep street over the cog railway (which goes up to the Shafberg Mt) and over a stream (a noisy torrent after heavy rain) into ANOTHER PROVINCE then you reach the hotel.
The hotel was in fact very good and the staff were ever so friendly and helpful speaking fluent English and enjoying a bit German spoken in return. Afternoon Tea and cakes were a bonus. We were expecting a bigger room though than we got for three people.
The photograph on the brochure did not say that there was a building in front of the hotel nor that you had to go up cardiac hill on a fifteen minute journey into the village from one province to another and over the cog railway track to the village.
Another bone of contention was the little garden belonging to the hotel that was next to the lake down the hill and about three streets away.
But the town as I have already said has a couple of bars and restaurants. There is a big building that has shows and concerts on next to the tunnel.
The Parish Church is situated beside the lake and built over the cell of St Wolfgang and has the famous altar tryptych by Anton Pacher. Once a week, there is a church concert.
The local bus is good but you have to change buses at Strobl for places further a field like Bad Ischl and then a bus from there to other lakes such as Attersee.
Places to visit are Schafberg Mt by Cog railway with magnificent views of the lake district and Dachstein Glacer on a clear day. But care must be taken because there are shear and I MEAN SHEAR, drops from beside the cafe on this mountain. You can take the boat to Strobl and St Gilgan, home of Mozart's mother and the Zwolferhorn Cable Car that soars into the mountains with fantastic walks and views at the top.
Further a field, you can visit the sound of music tour in and around the glorious city of Salzburg where you can also get a train to Oberndorf where the Christmas carol 'Silent Night' was first aired one Christmas eve in the 19th century.
Finally, there are nice walks around St Wolfgang to places like the Calvary chapel, a pleasant waterfall and a bit further a field, near Strobl, the Schwarzee, (black lake).