I Lived Like Royalty at This Medieval Castle Hotel in Austria-With Lakefront Views and 7 Miles of Trails

"At 5 a.m., a heavy mist hung over Austria's Lake Fuschl. My husband and I huddled inside an antique zille flat-bottomed boat at the Rosewood Schloss Fuschl boathouse, passing a flask of coffee as our captain, Norbert, untied us from the dock. Shivering-and a little worse for wear after one too many glasses of grüner veltliner the night before-we pulled our jackets tighter."

""Not used to an early start?" Norbert teased. I rarely rise before dawn on vacation, but the promise of a private sunrise boat ride across Austria's most storied lake-so pristine you can drink straight from its surface-was reason enough. "You've never known early morning stillness like this," a well-heeled Viennese couple had told us the night before at the hotel's glamorous, dimly lit Schloss Bar."

"As we slipped into open water, I understood what they meant. The mist swirled and lifted around the bow, revealing a mirrored expanse of emerald green. Sunlight pierced the clouds, gilding the forested shoreline and Alpine pastures in honeyed light. In the distance, cows grazed on rolling meadows. I half expected "The Sound of Music" theme song to start ringing through the hills."

Rosewood Schloss Fuschl sits on Lake Fuschl in Austria's Salzkammergut, about 30 minutes from Salzburg. The property occupies a medieval schloss that once served as the Prince-Archbishops' fishing lodge and later became a filming location for the 1950s Sissi trilogy. The lake is described as pristine and emerald-green, and the hotel offers private sunrise boat rides from an antique zille at the boathouse. The castle-style accommodations feature a glamorous dimly lit Schloss Bar. The hotel has a history of royal and celebrity guests, including King Charles and Prince Rainier III of Monaco.

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