Saalfelden to Lofer by way of Weissbach Driving Tour

1km/0.75mi beyond Weissbach on the Lofer road, on the left, is the Lamprechtsofenloch, an interesting cavern with an underground stream (conducted tour, half an hour).

To the northwest of Lofer (road via Faistau or chairlift) lies the Loferer Alpe (1,425m/4,675ft), with splendid views, good walking in summer and skiing in winter.

15km/9mi north of Saalfelden on the road to Lofer we come to Weissbach (666m/2,185ft). To the northeast of the village stretches the grand Seisenbergklamm (gorge); the walk through the gorge from the parking lot takes about an hour there and back. 2.5 hours' climb to the southeast of Weissbach brings you to the Diessbach reservoir (1,390m/4,561ft).

Lofer (625m/2,050ft; pop. 1,700), set in a wider part of the River Saalbach valley, is an old market town which is now a summer and winter sports resort (heated swimming pool, Kneipp treatment baths, folklore performances). It also has a Peasant Theater (Bauerntheater). Note the parish church, originally Gothic, decorated with frescos (15th C.), and the old Plague Column, erected to commemorate the town's escape from the plague. The town manufactures decorating materials, carpets and rural furniture. A chairlift runs up to Sonnegg-Loderbühel (1,002m/3,288ft) and the Loferer Alm (upper station 1,400m/4,600ft).

The town of Lofer offers numerous scenic hiking routes and nature trails.

To the south of Lofer rear the rugged limestone walls of the Loferer Steinberge; like the Leoganger Steinberge, they are an isolated massif of the Salzburg limestone Alps, on the border between Salzburg and Tirol. The highest peak in the Loferer Steinberge is the Grosse Ochsenhorn (2,513m/8,248ft). A pleasant footpath (four hours) ascends the Loferer Hochtal to the Schmidt- Zabierow-Hütte (1,966m/6,450ft; inn in summer), from which the Hinterhorn (2,504m/8,216ft) can be climbed in two hours.

Before reaching Lofer the road from Saalfelden comes to the little summer resort of St Martin (635m/2,083ft), above which (1.5km/1mi to the west on a toll road) stands the pilgrimage church of Maria Kirchental (by J. B. Fischer von Erlach, 1693-1701) with a pilgrimage museum.

Weissbach bei Lofer Lamprechtsofen. There is a guided tour.