On the recommendation of a couple of members from the We love caravanning group, we again visited the Salzkammergut, this time to the town of Bad Mitterndorf (less than 5,000 inhabitants). The city is located in a lowland full of meadows, from which isolated mountains rise. The most prominent of the mountains is the Grimming limestone peak (2351m), which gave the Grimmingsicht campsite its name. The quiet place is a junction of hiking and cycling routes. Countless interesting trips in all directions lead from here. A short distance from the campsite is a nature reserve and a nice educational trail passes through it with more than 20 stops. We describe where we liked the most in this review. Bad Mitterndorf is a picturesque and well-maintained town, which is worth going for a walk.
The nice atmosphere of the camp is created by a married couple originally from Holland. He has owned the camp for 14 years. It was their dream, they love the job and give it their all 7 days a week while maintaining a good mood. Thanks to them, the cosmopolitan spirit reigns here, and although they sometimes put on local costumes, you can tell that they are very happy to start a conversation with you. On the last day of our visit, Kubík was 9 years old, which we didn't tell anyone about. At nine o'clock in the morning after breakfast, the attentive lady owner appeared at the door of the caravan with a gift and a congratulatory card for Kubík, she noticed his date of birth when she was copying his passport. When we left, we said goodbye and the boys got lollipops and candies from Lidl.
A side note on how things work in the world (for God's sake): Three days ago, just before leaving Prague, I bought the boys a full bag of the exact same lollipops and candies during a work visit to Lidl and while waiting for a work meeting with another colleague from Switzerland , who also has recent camping experience, a distraught gentleman approached my car in Smíchov and asked me for some food or the possibility to sleep somewhere. He was in a really desperate situation, he wasn't under the influence of drugs, I didn't have any cash on me and I gave him the whole bag and advised him how to contact social workers for help. On the way to Austria, I told the boys why I didn't bring the promised sweets from Lidl. Although they were looking forward to the snack, Kubík and Kryštůfek understood very well that people in need need to be helped. Finally, two families from Ukraine lived at our cottage for a few months, and we found them an apartment and a job in the city, and the boys and Verunka regularly rearranged pallets and delivered humanitarian aid to affected families for several months. I told the boys that if they were kind to people, it would always come back to them, that the universe would remember that. Well, I didn't expect lollipops and candies to come back to them so soon and so straightforwardly, you really can't make that up. But I'm actually not surprised that when such things happen so often and critical thinking is unable to statistically explain it in any way, it's probably a good idea to take it as a life principle.
How did we like the camp and what is the best thing about it? Watch the video:
About camp
From our point of view, Grimmingsicht is mainly an excellent base for trips by bike, on foot or by car. It's safe, quiet, a clean bathroom with hot water, beautiful grass plots, squirrel feeders and other little things. The friendly owners are friendly, attentive and smiling and speak several languages fluently. They definitely had the best equipped library in multiple languages of the campsites so far, which we would like to point out. They welcome guests almost as if they belong to the family, and the reaction to the order was very kind and professional. They seem to handle everything easily and quickly, and are willing to help with trips.
The mix of visitors is about a third of dwellings, a third of caravans and a third of guests with a tent - but all are united by comfort and tranquility. At ten o'clock in the camp you can only hear the clicking of my keyboard, the rest are resting after a trip or after a thermal bath. We talked to a nice family from Poland with two boys of a similar age, and they came here last year with a rented house and this year they were definitely returning to the same place, which they liked very much for these reasons and because of the surrounding nature.
There is a not very busy road and railway near the campsite. When the intercity train slowly passed here, it was actually a great glory, and the road is not so close that it interferes and, especially at night, the traffic almost stopped.
Camping equipment
All plots are equipped with electricity, and it is also possible to connect gas and waste. The water is always a few meters away from the site. Sockets for electricity are classic as in home wiring, so think about that when packing the cable. 30 meters should be enough for you. You only pay for the kilowatts you actually use, which I think is a big advantage.
The campsite has everything you would expect. Plus, as a nice surprise, there's a library where, in addition to fiction in German, there are also a few titles in English or Dutch if you'd like to brush up. The reception is right at the entrance in the same building as the social facilities.
Camping grounds
The sanitary building is right at the entrance, but since the camp is relatively small, it is close from all angles. One wing is for women and girls, the other for us men and boys. It is pleasantly homely, cozy and most importantly clean and functional. There are plenty of sinks and showers, nothing is missing anywhere. In each lockable shower there is a nice folding stool for things, several hangers and space for changing clothes even with children. There is still plenty of hot water in the showers. It seems to me that the guests try to save nature a lot like us, so they don't waste the "free" water unnecessarily and no token systems make sense. I would prefer to go to the showers in the lego camp pattern in sandals, although they are perfectly clean, it is probably more hygienic. Everything is disinfected and cleaned several times a day since covid.
Next to the showers there is also a room for washing dishes, where there are also two washing machines and a dryer. Anyway, modern, freely available and definitely used by guests.
In the camp, everything is sorted from cans to glass, as is good practice in the usual places.
Activities for children
Smaller children have a modest playground right next to the reception. Our younger son rode his bike around the camp on the gravel roads and loved it here. Both children really liked the trips we went on together, it was simply the highlight of the experience. I think it's also worth mentioning the nice stream that runs around the campsite and you can play by it on hot days.
The most beautiful trips and tips in the area
Taublitzalm Alpenstrasse – a trip around several lakes
Ten minutes by car to the campsite you will arrive at the tollbooth on the Taublitzalm Alpenstrasse. You can reach the Taublitzalm car park via a panoramic path of several kilometers. You can also complete the route by cable car. We went to Grosssee, Taublizsee and to the viewpoint over Steirersee.
You can also manage the asphalt route with a stroller or crutches. We got talking to a young man who was going down the route in a wheelchair and he was doing very well, although he only had standard brakes. The great thing is that depending on the distribution of forces and mood, you can extend the route around the beautiful lakes for several hours or, conversely, shorten it as needed. Along the way, we met a lot of bell cows grazing the grass, crystal clear mountain lakes full of fish and small fish.
I understood the significance of the "eye candy" turn, because in some places there were more than ten types of flowers blooming side by side in any given square meter. I don't know which landscape architect created the Alps here, but he did it.
Educational trail with a hedgehog
An educational trail with more than twenty stops leads from the camp. With a little dexterity, it can be overcome on a bicycle, with a stroller it probably wouldn't be so easy on some sections. You can look forward to gurgling streams, wooden bridges, beautiful green hills, local mountain huts - and all this in a protected landscape area. A large number of visitors go on long trips on e-bikes, which is the norm here.
Culinary tips
According to the reviews, some visitors apparently liked the Gourmet Atelier restaurant, which is about 35 steps from the log cabin campsite. The restaurant has a good rating and the fact that they grill on Green Egg grills, on which you probably can't go wrong with good meat, is quite promising. We haven't been there personally, although the price offer was favorable, but we don't feel like Gourmets, and given that there were people in costumes sitting there and there were two more cheerful and jumping children with us in the bicycle, so we postponed the visit for another time. We'd love it if you try it for us and add a review, the €16.20 burger from the Green Egg grill sounded tempting.
Their website: https://www.gourmet-atelier.at/
On the other hand, this time we (mistakenly) visited other restaurants in the city with a high rating, and unfortunately the local cuisine in these parts again disappointed us a bit. Simply homemade tortillas and vegetable salad in the caravan are much better for the children and for us than the local gastronomy. Maybe it's the seasoning habits, but if we can teleport to the south of Italy or Slovenia, we'll do it for the food. But if you happen to be here and come across a gem where you will really like it and feel good there, please let us know and we will definitely try it and we will be happy to change your mind.
Billa is our No. 1 choice this time - less than 10 minutes' walk from the campsite, on the turnoff from the main road. Only here they honor Sunday, so we have to shop on other days. After all, even cashiers in Czech stores deserve to have Sundays off for their own families.
The bakeries here are of a high standard, we were most satisfied at the Reisinger bakery in the center of Bad Mitterndorf. https://www.facebook.com/B%C3%A4ckerei-Reisinger-310467152698220/
