All of Austria
Hallstatt
Austria / Salzburg & the Salzkammergut / Hallstatt

Hallstatt

The Lakeside Village on Every Postcard

Plan this trip
1 dayIdeal stay₹10,650From / night₹3,410Food / day₹2,340Entry

A tiny UNESCO-listed village of wooden houses squeezed between a mountain and the Hallstätter See, with the world's oldest salt mine above it, the bone house, and the Skywalk viewpoint reached by funicular. A few hundred people live here and many thousands visit on a summer day, so the village limits tour-bus arrivals with booked time slots: come early, stay a night (Hallstatt itself or cheaper Obertraun and Bad Goisern), and be quiet near homes. The train stops across the lake, where a small ferry meets the trains. Across the lake at Obertraun, cableways climb the Dachstein to the ice caves and the Five Fingers platform (May – October).

Highlights

  • The postcard view of the village and church across the lake
  • Salt mine with the miners' slides and the Skywalk viewpoint
  • Painted skulls in the bone house
  • Early-morning lakeside walk before the crowds
  • Dachstein ice caves and the Five Fingers platform (May – October)
  • Corpus Christi procession on the lake

Things to do

  • Early lakeside walk and the postcard viewpointMorning · 1h 30m
  • Funicular to the Skywalk and the salt mine tourMorning · 3h
  • Bone house and the parish churchAfternoon · 1h
  • Dachstein ice caves and Five Fingers from ObertraunMay–OctAfternoon · 4h
  • Rowing or electric boat on the Hallstätter SeeAfternoon · 1h 30m

Tours & tickets

Tours & tickets in Hallstattvia GetYourGuideTours & tickets in Hallstattvia Klook

Tourisma may earn a small commission if you book — it never changes your price.

When to go

Best time: May – June, September – October (calmer than July – August)

Heads up

Dachstein Lifts and Ice Caves Closed

The Dachstein cableway from Obertraun to the ice caves and the Five Fingers platform runs from about May to late October. Hallstatt itself, the salt mine (with shorter winter hours) and the lakeside are open all year.

Worth knowing

Hallstatt Day-Tripper Crowds

From late morning to late afternoon the one lane through Hallstatt is packed with coach groups (now limited to booked arrival slots) and parking fills early. Arrive by the first train or bus, or stay the night, and see the postcard view before 9:00.

  • Corpus Christi procession on the lake — On Corpus Christi Hallstatt holds its procession on the lake in decorated boats, one of the oldest in Austria. A public holiday: the village is full, and shops and offices close across Austria.
  • Christmas markets — From mid or late November to 23-26 December: Vienna's on the Rathausplatz, at Schönbrunn and the Belvedere, Salzburg's on the Domplatz, Innsbruck's under the Golden Roof, and the Wolfgangsee's on Advent weekends. Mulled wine (Glühwein, or alcohol-free Kinderpunsch), roasted chestnuts and crafts; rooms in Vienna and Salzburg fill on Advent weekends.