My European Exposure: Austria's Highline 179

While my sister and brother-in-law were here this summer, one of our overnight stops was in Austria. Driving to our hotel from Italy, we rounded a curve and found ourselves looking up at the Highline 179 Bridge. Opened in 2014, it is the world's longest cable suspension bridge at over 1330 feet. It stretches from the Ehrenberg Castle Ruins to the Ruins of Fort Claudia. As soon as we drove under the bridge, we all immediately agreed that we needed to walk across it the following morning, and that's exactly what we did.

We backtracked to the bridge the following morning an hour before the official opening of the site. We were able to purchase our tickets from a kiosk outside the visitor's center at ground level and then scan them at the entrance to the bridge. The hike to get to the top was steep, y'all! We had the entire place to ourselves since we got there early, so at least there weren't any witnesses to the struggle to get to the top! It was absolutely worth it once we got there though.

Once you get to the top, you find yourself at the base of ruins of Ehrenberg Castle.

The bridge is just a few more steps to the right of the castle ruins.

The views from the bridge are just stunning, and the fact that we were the only people only the bridge made me so happy. There was no fighting for the perfect spot to take pictures.

Looking back at the castle from the bridge was incredible.

You could definitely feel some swaying while walking across the bridge, but it honestly wasn't as much as I expected to feel.

Once we made it across the bridge, we were able to exit and walk around to a viewing platform where you could see the castle, bridge, and the breath taking mountains all at once.

This is definitely one of my favorite memories from the two weeks I got to spend with my sister while she was here.

Having been to multiple countries in Europe now, I can honestly say that Austria is my favorite. The beauty of this place never fails to wow me. I wrote a blog post last summer about Lake Plansee in Austria, one of the most beautiful lakes I've ever laid eyes on. Of course, I had to take my sister and brother-in-law there this summer, and we stumbled across another beautiful Austrian lake, Fernsee. I'll leave you with pictures of these two gorgeous lakes as more proof why Austria is my all time favorite!

This is Lake Fernsee. See those white lawn chairs down there? I literally want to spend an entire summer sitting right there!