Eagle's Nest area / Salzkammergut lakes

The Salzkammergut, a region of glacial lakes and alpine peaks east of Salzburg, was long the private preserve of the Habsburgs, its salt monopoly so precious that commoners once needed permits to enter. Emperor Franz Joseph summered for decades at Bad Ischl, where in 1853 he became engaged to the young Elisabeth—Sisi—and in 1914 signed the declaration of war on Serbia that ignited the First World War. The region's dramatic scenery of Wolfgangsee and Mondsee later provided the sweeping opening shots and the wedding church of the 1965 film The Sound of Music.