My house in Erlaufboden, Lower Austria, is priviledged by its romantic setting next to the river Erlauf and the hiking trails of the Oetscher-Tormaeuer Nature Park, one of the less known jewels of the Alps with its 'Lower Austrian Grand Canyon' or Oetschergraeben. Erlaufboden is only 90min drive from Vienna, Linz or Graz, only 20min from Mariazell (one of Europe's major destinations of pilgrimage) or the Gaming Charterhouse, now hosting the European campus of a university from Ohio.
I bought the house for myself and my kids when I still lived in Vienna. Now I live in Montreal, Canada, and my parents take care of it and we host friends and tourists there. The house is fully equipped for self-catering. The special feature are our organic mattresses and untreated wooden beds and furniture from Austrian manufacturer GEA Waldviertler and the interior with contemporary paintings from various befriended artists. We have a lot of toys and books and CDs for kids and adults in the house for your use. No TV, as we want you to relax and connect with nature at this ideal place for the soul. We have an internet connection though as this is has proven to be very practical... and a fixed line phone... most cell phones do work too. So you can roam the breathtaking trails of the nature park for many days or weeks and enjoy nature's treasures in terms of crystal clear water, water falls, rare flowers and animal species, etc.. You can also go sightseeing for medevial sites and monasteries of the region (Melk, Lilienfeld, Gaming, Mariazell, etc.), enjoy the local cuisine (we have some advice on that end), go fly-fishing right in front of the house or even deer-hunting (both only with license, please! - but we can help you arrange that) or just stay inside and enjoy the fireplace, or outside in the idyllic garden. We help you plan your stay - and we know the region really well (I grew up there, my parents have lived there for 60+ years).