Climb every mountain

Not only is Salzburg home to the Sounds of Music and Mozart (and boy, does the souvenier trade do well out of those), it's right on the edge of the Alps. One of the few things London lacks - along with beaches and the sea - is proper hills, let alone mountains, so we were determined to get amongst the peaks. And what better opportunity than visiting the world's biggest ice cave?

The Alps didn't disappoint. They were really dramatic, very steep and rugged.

The cave is high up an Alp so the views were superb. Nearby is a very cool castle that Alastair Maclean fans will be interested to know was the setting for the movie Where Eagles Dare.


Despite it being crowded and rather claustrophobic inside, it was a literally very cool experience. You can't take photos inside, but you can see some here.

One of the weirdest experiences was coming out of the cave. It was a gorgeous and warm day outside, while inside it's close to freezing. So when you walk out the door, you get shoved by this gale-force gust of cold air rushing into the open, which pushes you along for a metre or so.