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Fifty kilometres west of Zell am See, situated at the head of the Salzachtal in the fertile, cow-strewn Pinzgau , the Krimmler Wasserfalle are justifiably one of the biggest attractions in this part of Austria - receiving 700,000 visitors a year at the last count. The sight of the Krimmler Ache cascading down from the Hohe Tauern, sending up clouds of spray, which hang suspended above the bottle-green pine forests, makes for a memorable experience. Hourly buses set out from Zell am See to the falls, but a more picturesque way to travel up the valley from Zell is to take one of the six daily trains along the Pinzgaubahn , an archetypal rural rail line that winds lazily across barn-dotted meadows. The Salzachtal harbours a succession of pretty towns and villages, any number of which provide access to scenic alpine side-trips for those who have their own transport. Sixteen kilometres out of Zell, Uttendorf stands at the northern end of an attractive route up the tranquil Stubachtal , at the head of which a two-stage cable car ascends at Enzinger Boden to the Weiss See , a high-altitude beauty spot sheltering under the shadow of the 3086-metre Granatspitze . Ten kilometres further along the Salzachtal, Mittersill , the main tourist centre of the Pinzgau, provides access to the Thurn Pass , a panoramic road that heads north over the mountains to Kitzbuhel. Roughly halfway between Mittersill and Krimml, the small ski resort of Neukirchen offers a gondola trip (mid-June to Sept) up the slopes of the Wildkogel on the northern side of the valley, and several hiking routes run up the deep, ravine-like side-valleys, such as the Untersulzbach and Obersulzbach, which lead south towards the foot of the 3674-metre Grossvenediger , the Hohe Tauern's second highest peak. Buses (and private cars) arrive at a car park a short distance away from the falls' ticket booth . Trains from Zell terminate at Krimml train station 4km short of the falls, entailing a well-signposted fifty-minute walk through woodland. From the ticket booth, a four-kilometre-long trail (April-Oct oS15/?1.10, Nov-March free) winds its way uphill passing three main sections of waterfall (which, starting with the lowest one, drop a distance of 65m, 35m and 60m respectively). The coach parties tend to thin out the further up you go, and it's worth persevering with the ascent until you reach the Krimmlertal , the starkly beautiful alpine valley from which the waters originate. The path is steep in places, and the full ascent should take about an hour and a half. Even if time is short, you should at least venture partway up the trail for a close-up look at the lower levels of the falls. There are numerous Gasthofe offering food and refreshment near the car park at the base of the falls, and a small tourist office (Mon-Sat 11am-4pm; tel 06564/7239, www.salzburg.com/krimml-tourismus ), which has details of rooms in local farmhouses, although most visitors come here on a day-trip from Zell am See. West of Krimml, the main road begins to climb towards the Gerlos Pass (a toll road: oS90/?6.57 per car, oS50/?3.65 per motorbike), before descending into the Tyrol and the Zillertal.
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