Hallstatt must be the most beautiful village in Europe with its breathtaking view! They say some places can’t be explained, they have to be experienced. You know, you come face to face with a view and you can’t believe it’s real. Hallstatt is exactly such a geography for me. No matter which way I turned my face, the view I encountered in this tiny town blew me away.
Located in the Salzkammergut Lakes Region of Austria, the UNESCO Listed Hallstatt stands at the foot of the Alps, just as it did a hundred years ago, with its elegance and fairy-tale atmosphere. I went to Hallstatt by car from Salzburg, an Austrian city named after Mozart. My goal is to discover Hallstatt, which I came across in many places and fell in love with before even seeing it.
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In 2014, I had the opportunity to go to Salzburg, a city that I was curious about but could not go to. This charming city of Austria turned out to be beyond my expectations. Well, I generally don’t have any expectations or prejudices about cities, but I was excited to find out more about the city than what I had in mind beforehand.
The exquisite streets of Salzburg Old Town, magnificent cathedrals, Mirabell Gardens, being among the walls of the Hohensalzburg Castle with its beautiful view, and seeing the traces Mozart left in the city are some of the things that come to my mind. Passing through extraordinary road views, going to the village of Hallstatt, which is considered one of the 10 most beautiful villages in Europe, and this was one of the most beautiful journeys of my life.
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CONTENTS GUIDE ▽ hide Hallstatt Travel Guide 🇦🇹 Places to Visit in Hallstatt 📌 1. Lake Hallstatt 2. Hallstatt Market Square 3. Evangelical Church of Hallstatt 4. Hallstatt Salt Mine – Skywalk 5. Dachstein Mountain – Dachstein Caves 6. Hallstatt World Heritage Museum 7. Hallstatt Bone House
Hallstatt is one of the oldest settlements in Europe. It takes its name from the salt mine dating back to prehistoric times. Salt has been the most valuable asset of this place for years, it is called ‘White Gold’ here. It is one of the oldest villages in Europe, with a history of up to 7,000 years. The charming town, which has breathtaking views, has managed to preserve its rich historical past and architectural structure until today.
Its population is less than 1000 people. It doesn’t even take half an hour to walk from one end of the town to the other, but the streets are very crowded. The city’s fame has spread to the other end of the world. Most of the crowd consists of Far Easterners. The Chinese loved the town so much that they built a replica of Hallstatt Town in Huizhou, China, for 960 million dollars.
The official language of Austria is German, spoken in Hallstatt. Since the quality of education in the country is very high, almost everyone can speak English. Austrian currency is Euro. Hallstatt is 1 hour behind Turkey. The population of the city is 779.
WHERE IS HALLSTATT?
📍 Hallstatt is a village located in the Salzkammergut in the Upper Austrian region of Austria, located on the shores of Lake Hallstätter. You can go from Austria’s 4th largest city, Salzburg, or the capital, Vienna. This Austrian village, which is frequently mentioned in the list of the most beautiful villages in Europe, is approximately 80 km away from Salzburg and 290 km away from Vienna.
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WHAT IS NEEDED TO GO TO HALLSTATT
ⓘ To go to Hallstatt, you need to have either a Green Passport or a Schengen visa. If you have not had any visa experience yet, my blog posts How to Get a Visa and How Much Are the Visa Fees will guide you. If you do not have a passport, read my articles on Passport Types and How to Apply for a Passport. When going abroad, you have to pay an international exit fee.
ⓘ I shared more detailed information about places to visit in my Vienna Travel Guide and Salzburg Travel Guide blog posts. To help you have a more convenient and productive Hallstatt holiday, check out the blog posts on how to find a suitable hotel, visa/passport, and life-saving smartphone applications in the Travel Guide category.
HOW TO GET TO HALLSTATT
✈️ Turkish Airlines operates flights to Salzburg every day of the week with scheduled direct flights lasting 2.5 hours from Istanbul Airport. So I caught the plane at the last minute and flew with Turkish Airlines. Salzburg W. A. Mozart Airport (SZG) is located 12 km outside the city center. Bus number 2 departs from the airport and takes you to Salzburg Hauptbahnhof in 20 minutes (€2.30). Taxi costs around 25-30 € on average.
I went to Hallstatt by traveling around the lakes region by private vehicle from Salzburg. On your way from Salzburg to Hallstatt, a magnificent view of the Alps, beautiful lakes, forests and villages awaits you.
Lakes Fuschlsee and Wolfgangsee and St. The towns of Gilgen and Fushl are so beautiful that they deserve to be visited on their own. I loved this geography. It took us hours to travel 73 km, which should have taken approximately 1 hour. If possible, I recommend you rent a car and travel this road slowly and stay in Hallstatt for 1 night.
🚌 If you want to go from Salzburg to Hallstatt by bus, take bus number 150 departing from Südtiroler Platz next to Salzburg Central Train Station / Salzburg Hauptbahnhof (round trip €20.80). Tickets valid for 24 hours on regional buses (Tageskarte) cost 25€ for 2 people. If you are going for a day trip, I recommend going first in the morning. Don’t be surprised if you see gazelles grazing in the meadow while looking at the magnificent views during the journey, which takes approximately 90 minutes.
From the last stop, the town of Bad Ischle, take bus number 542/543 (€4.60) to Hallstatt Gosaumühle. You may need to wait 20 minutes for this. Apart from the information here, be sure to ask people and the bus driver that you want to go to Hallstatt before getting on. Try to sit on the right side of the bus. When you choose this route, you do not have the chance to enter Hallstatt by ferry.
Salzburg > Bad Ischl > Hallstatt Gosaumühle > Hallstatt
🚆 It is also possible to go from Salzburg to Hallstatt by train, but you will need to transfer for 2.5 hours on the way. With trains running between 7 in the morning and 18:30 in the evening, you can make this trip just to watch the magnificent nature, rest assured.
Salzburg → Attnang-Puchheim → Bad Ischl → Hallstatt Bahnhof
Take the train towards Vienna from Salzburg Hauptbahnhof and get off at the Attnang-Puchheim stop. It takes 90 minutes by train from Salzburg to Attnang-Puchheim. Take the train towards Bad Ischl and Obertraun. You reach the edge of Lake Hallstatt after a 1.5-hour journey. When you arrive here, you go to the village center with the boat that meets every incoming train. Keep your cameras ready for the magnificent view.
Decide how long you will stay in the village by paying attention to the train times written on the boat. In my opinion, this should not be less than 2 hours and if possible, stay for 1 night. You can return to Salzburg with a similar route, but try to be quick with transfers. The last ferry from Hallstatt is at 18.15.
Bus > Train > Ferry: Bus 150 from Salzburg center