After MARATHON MÜNCHEN by Brooks: Salzburg, the Salzkammergut and Innsbruck
The Route: München Hauptbahnhof → Salzburg → Bad Ischl/Hallstatt → Innsbruck → München Hauptbahnhof → Munich Airport Logistics: Rail throughout. Direct to Salzburg, regional connections into the Salzkammergut, then a longer cross-country rail link on to Innsbruck before returning to Munich to fly home. Marathon Month: October Duration: 3 nights (extendable to 4 with a second night in the Salzkammergut)
München Hbf ──(1h30, direct rail)──> Salzburg ──(1h30-2h, regional rail/bus)──> Bad Ischl/Hallstatt ──(3-4h, regional rail via Attnang-Puchheim or Zell am See)──> Innsbruck
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München Hbf ◄──(1h50-2h, direct rail via Kufstein)──┘
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Munich Airport (MUC) ◄──(40 min, S1/S8)──┘
MARATHON MÜNCHEN by Brooks finishes at Willi-Daume-Platz beside the Olympiasee on 11 October, and a runner with three or four spare days before flying home has enough time to string together three genuinely different parts of Austria without a hire car at any point. October is shoulder season across all three stops on this route: the Salzburg Festival and the Salzkammergut's main lake-swimming season are both long over, and while the region is markedly quieter and cheaper than midsummer, some boat services on the lakes and a handful of cable cars run reduced autumn timetables or stop for the season entirely. Check current schedules for any single attraction before building a day's plan around it rather than assuming a summer timetable still applies. The whole route runs on rail: Railjet or EC trains from München Hauptbahnhof to Salzburg run roughly hourly, direct, around 1 hour 30 minutes, and everything from Salzburg onward connects by regional and cross-country services rather than requiring a car at any stage.
Night One: Salzburg
Salzburg's old town, backed by the limestone cliff of the Mönchsberg and wrapped around a tight bend in the Salzach river, was rebuilt largely in Italian baroque stone by the prince-archbishops who ran the city as their own small state through the 1600s, funded by centuries of salt trade down the river. Paved promenades run flat along both banks of the Salzach, with benches at regular intervals and views across to the fortress and cathedral domes, and a loop between the Mozartsteg and Makartsteg footbridges covers two to three easy kilometres without a single incline. Hohensalzburg Fortress, the medieval stronghold above the old town, is reached by the Festungsbahn funicular rather than any climb, a combined ride-and-entry ticket running to approximately €15 (£13).
Where to stay: Hotel Stein, on the river at Giselakai with a rooftop bar looking across to the fortress, suits a first night meant to feel like a proper arrival rather than a stopover. Hotel Elefant, in a narrow lane in the heart of the old town and trading since the 1600s, offers a more traditional, fully central alternative.
Where to eat: Bärenwirt, in the Mülln district across the river, claims to be Salzburg's oldest continuously running inn and serves straightforward Austrian dishes in a genuinely old dining room rather than a recreated one.
Nights Two (and Three): The Salzkammergut
East of Salzburg, the Salzkammergut is a district of lakes carved by glaciers and named for its centuries of salt mining, the industry that funded Salzburg itself. Bad Ischl, a historic spa town on the Traun river and once the summer residence of Emperor Franz Joseph, makes the more practical overnight base of the two main options, with a wider spread of hotels and restaurants than the smaller lake villages nearby. The Esplanade, a paved promenade along the Traun through the centre of town, is flat for its full length and lined with benches, a straightforward recovery walk regardless of what the weather is doing. The Kaiservilla, Franz Joseph's former summer residence, sits in flat parkland a short walk from the centre and costs approximately €14 (£12) to enter.
Hallstatt, the lake village that gives its name to the wider Hallstatt-Dachstein UNESCO region, is reachable from Bad Ischl by regional bus or train in around 30 to 40 minutes and makes a natural day trip rather than a second overnight stay for most itineraries, though splitting the second night between Bad Ischl and Hallstatt itself is a reasonable way to use a fourth night if the trip runs to four. The village's lakeside promenade is short and flat, and the Salzbergbahn funicular carries visitors up to the Salzwelten salt mine without any climbing required; the funicular and mine tours generally continue running into October, though exact autumn operating hours should be checked before travelling, since they do shorten as the season winds down. Boat services across the Hallstättersee itself are the piece most likely to run a reduced October schedule; treat any specific sailing time as provisional rather than fixed.
Where to stay: Hotel Goldenes Kreuz, on Bad Ischl's main square, is a long-established, central option within flat walking distance of the Esplanade. Hotel Post Bad Ischl, a few minutes further along the same promenade, offers a comparable alternative with river views from most rooms.
Where to eat: Zauner, Bad Ischl's historic konditorei and café on the Esplanade, is worth a stop for its pastries alone and also serves a full Austrian menu for a proper sit-down meal, a genuine institution in the town rather than a tourist-facing add-on.
Night Three (or Four): Innsbruck
Getting from the Salzkammergut to Innsbruck is the one leg of this route that needs planning rather than turning up at the station: there is no fast direct line, and the practical options are a return via Attnang-Puchheim and Salzburg followed by the Salzburg-Innsbruck line, or a longer cross-country route via Schwarzach-St. Veit and Zell am See to Wörgl, both running to somewhere in the region of three to four hours with at least one change. Check the current ÖBB timetable and book seats on the longer legs, since capacity on some regional services in this direction is limited.
Innsbruck sits directly beneath the Nordkette range, close enough that the Hungerburgbahn funicular, a Zaha Hadid-designed line running from the city centre, connects straight to a cable car climbing to Hafelekar at 2,256 metres, the whole ascent from valley floor to viewpoint managed entirely by machine. As with the Zugspitze on the Bavarian side of the border, October weather at that altitude is unreliable, cloud and an early dusting of snow are both realistic, and the ride is worth checking against current conditions on the morning of travel rather than assuming a clear day. Lower down, the Inn river has a flat, paved promenade running through the city on both banks, a dependable option regardless of what the mountain is doing, and the old town's Goldenes Dachl, a gilded balcony roof built for Emperor Maximilian I around 1500, anchors a compact, largely flat historic centre.
Where to stay: Hotel Grauer Bär, a short walk from the old town and trading since the 1500s, is Innsbruck's most established central option. Adlers Hotel, with a rooftop restaurant looking toward the Nordkette, offers a more modern alternative at a similar central position.
Where to eat: Ottoburg, in a medieval tower on Innrain overlooking the river, serves Tyrolean dishes in one of the oldest surviving buildings in the old town. Stiftskeller, in a vaulted cellar near the cathedral, is the more informal alternative for a final evening.
Getting Home
From Innsbruck, direct Railjet and EC services run to München Hauptbahnhof via Kufstein and Rosenheim in around 1 hour 50 minutes to 2 hours, with departures roughly every one to two hours through the day. From München Hauptbahnhof, the S1 and S8 S-Bahn lines reach Munich Airport (MUC) in around 40 minutes. Innsbruck Airport (INN) does operate its own limited seasonal route network, and flying directly from there is worth checking if the onward journey suits it better than routing back through Munich, though its schedule is considerably thinner than Munich's and should not be assumed to cover every destination.