Bad Ischl is located at 468 above sea level, the center of the village is surrounded by the Traun and the inflowing Ischl.The Rettenbach also flows into the Traun in Bad Ischl.The Katrinalm with its Katrinseilbahn, a cable car and the Siriuskogel offers an impressive view of the former imperial city and far into the Salzkammergut.

The Kaiservilla stands near the current city center of Bad Ischl in the middle of the Kaiserpark.The villa was a wedding gift to Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Elisabeth of Austria- Hungary and served as a summer residence for the Habsburg family.The imperial villa can be visited on a guided tour. A few minutes' walk from the Kaiservilla is the Marmorschlössl, which served the Empress as a tea house, and since 1958 has housed Austria's oldest photo museum and Hans Frank's photo history collection.

The Kongress- und Theaterhaus takes center stage in the old town of Bad Ischl and in the spa gardens. Monarchs already held conferences here.The congress and theater house is home to the well-known Lehár Festival Bad Ischl every summer with its fantastic operetta program.

Bad Ischl is also the ideal starting point for bike tours and excursions to the nearby Traunsee lake and the UNSECO World Heritage town of Hallstatt, to the Schafberg with its historic cog railway or to Salzburg, about 50 kilometers away.

(c) Elisabeth Storer