Hallstatt, Austria – A Hidden Gem

I visited Hallstatt this summer (Summer 2019) and it has been one of my favorite places. It looks like it could be straight out of a storybook. Hallstatt is a fantastic place to visit at the end of a long vacation. Because it is a small town, it is relaxing, quiet, and absolutely BEAUTIFUL.

Hallstatt is located on Hallstätter See about an hour outside of Salzburg, Austria.

Things to do in Hallstatt

• Walk around and take in the sights. There are plenty of alley ways and stairs to climb and explore. The higher you climb, the more beautiful the picture you get!

• Take some time to shop! There are many souvenir places in Hallstatt with many different gifts. My personal favorite to collect is shot glasses, every place I got I buy one!

• For some traditional Austrian dishes, go to Uferwirt Seeraunzn which is slightly outside of Hallstatt. It is a quiet place to have lunch or dinner with a beautiful view!

• Take an electric boat out on the lake! This is a great way to get some beautiful pictures and a good look of Hallstatt. You can rent them hourly and they are fairly inexpensive.

If you go during the summer months, look on top of the mountains! I bet you’ll see people paragliding from on top of the mountains.

Around Hallstatt

As beautiful and breath-taking as Hallstatt is, I don’t think it’s possible to spend more than one day here. Because Hallstatt is located in the mountains, there is plenty other picturesque places to travel that are of close proximity.

• Visit the Five Fingers (on top of Obertraun). I HIGHLY recommend you do this if you’re going to Hallstatt or anywhere near Hallstatt. The “Finger Fingers” is a lookout point that looks over Hallstatt and Hallstätter See. Two funiculars bring you up to the top of the base of the mountain and it is about a 20-30 minute walk to the Five Fingers platform from there.

My favorite part of the walk is there are MOUNTAIN SHEEP!! They are the friendliest mountain sheep ever.

…I mean look how cute they are!! The view from the top is just as beautiful. We were so high up, there was still snow on the ground so BRING A SWEATSHIRT! Even in 70 degree Fahrenheit weather, it was very cold at the top.

Here’s a pictures of the paragliders jumping off the mountain. All along the walk to the Five Fingers there are ENDLESS picture opportunities.

• Above Obertraun, there are Ice Caves inside the mountain. There are beautiful frozen waterfalls and ice formations

Suggestions

• I would suggest having Hallstatt be a day trip. Staying in Hallstatt can be hard because of limited places to stay in Hallstatt and the cost. When I stayed, I stayed in Bad Goisern which is about fifteen minutes from Hallstatt.
• At some point during your trip, make sure you get Pfannkuchen. Pfannkuchen is a German dessert that consists of a thin pancake wrapped in ice cream and drizzled with chocolate syrup. Different restaurants add their own spin by adding things like whipped cream, fruit, etc.

• Try to get to Hallstatt earlier in the day. It has recently become a huge tour destination so it can get busy by later afternoon to dinner time.

• If you rented a car, I would suggest taking a ride around Hallstätter See and around the area. There are many different lakes and small towns around the area to explore. One place I explored was St. Wolfgang which looks over Wolfgangsee.