Hallstatt and the Salzkammergut: Lakes, Salt and the Dachstein

Hardly any region of Austria packs so many postcard views into such a small area as the Salzkammergut: 76 lakes between Salzburg and Styria, the glacier world of the Dachstein, 7,000 years of salt history and an emperor who spent 82 summers here. And then there is Hallstatt, the most famous village in the Alps – so famous that on a summer's day up to 10,000 day visitors descend on 750 residents. The real Salzkammergut, however, begins where the coaches turn around.

This guide shows you both: Hallstatt in a way that is still worthwhile, and its quieter neighbourhood from Obertraun via the Gosausee to Bad Ischl, the Wolfgangsee and the Traunsee. Added to that are a table of the best places to stay, everything about getting there by train, bus and boat, and an honest assessment of seasons and budget. You will find an overview of accommodation in the village on our Hallstatt page.

Hallstatt: Market Square, Charnel House and the Mountain of Salt

The village literally clings to the slope between Lake Hallstatt and the Salzberg: a single lane, a triangular market square with pastel-coloured houses and the Protestant church with the pointed spire that dominates every photograph. Since 1997 the Hallstatt-Dachstein/Salzkammergut cultural landscape has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site – not because of the facades, but because of a salt history that reaches back to the Bronze Age.

Market Square and Charnel House

Start at the market square and climb the steps to the Catholic parish church. In the cemetery behind it stands St Michael's Chapel with the charnel house (Beinhaus): because space on the rocky ledge was scarce, from the eighteenth century onwards graves were opened after about 15 years and the skulls painted with names, dates and floral wreaths. Around 1,200 skulls survive, a good 600 of them painted; admission approx. €2, open daily from about 10 am to 5 pm. The church terrace also gives you the best view over the rooftops to the lake.

Salzwelten, Salzbergbahn and the "Welterbeblick" Skywalk

The Salzbergbahn funicular starts at the southern edge of the village (Lahn) and takes you up to 838 metres in three minutes. At the top, the "Welterbeblick" skywalk juts twelve metres beyond the rock and 360 metres above the lake. A half-hour walk further on lies the entrance to the Salzwelten, the oldest salt mine in the world: with miners' overalls, two wooden slides (the longer one measures 64 metres) and the mine train, the tour takes around 70 minutes; the highlight is the Bronze Age wooden staircase, more than 3,000 years old. The combined ticket costs approx. €40–45, and the season runs from late March to early January. Book your time slot online – in summer the mornings often sell out.

The View from Gosaumühle

The photograph that went around the world is taken at the northern end of the village: from car park P1, walk north along Seestrasse until the lane ends at the road towards Gosaumühle and the view opens up back over the church spire, the row of houses and the lake. It is at its finest in the morning, when the sun lights the village from the east, or on still evenings with reflections. From here the Soleweg trail continues to Bad Goisern in a good two hours.

Avoiding the Crowds

The coaches from Salzburg, Vienna and Munich arrive between 10 am and 4 pm. If you are in the village before 9 am or arrive only after 5 pm, you will experience a completely different Hallstatt – then the market square and lakeside promenade belong once more to the locals, the swans and the few guests who stay overnight. That is the second trick: two nights in a guesthouse in the village or in Obertraun turn a day trip into a real stay. And thirdly: in May, June, October or on a clear winter's day the village is far emptier than in July and August.

Alpengast tip: Arrive by train. Hallstatt station lies on the opposite shore, and the ferry "Stefanie" takes you across to the Hallstatt Markt landing stage in about 15 minutes, timed to every train (approx. €4 each way). Arriving from the water is the most beautiful entrance the village has to offer – and you save yourself the hunt for a parking space.

Obertraun and the Dachstein: 5fingers, Ice Cave, Mammoth Cave

Four kilometres further along the southern shore lies Obertraun, the quiet counterpart to Hallstatt: a handful of inns, a lido and the valley station of the Dachstein Krippenstein cable car. This is where the second big day of the trip begins.

Krippenstein and the 5fingers Viewing Platform

The cable car runs in three sections: to the Schönbergalm (1,350 m), on to the Krippenstein (2,100 m) and down to the Gjaidalm. From the summit station it is a 20-minute walk to the 5fingers platform, whose five steel fingers hover 400 metres above the void – one with a glass floor, one with a picture frame. Far below lies Lake Hallstatt, to the south the glacier of the Hoher Dachstein (2,995 m). The return trip costs approx. €40, and the season lasts from mid-May to the end of October; in winter the cable car runs for freeriders.

Ice Cave and Mammoth Cave

From the Schönbergalm middle station, footpaths lead in 15 to 20 minutes to two show caves. The Dachstein Giant Ice Cave is the more spectacular: ice formations up to eight metres thick are lit in colour during the 50-minute tour; inside it is a constant zero degrees, so a jacket is essential. The neighbouring Mammoth Cave is ice-free but a system more than 70 kilometres long, of which a one-hour circuit is shown. The caves open from early May to the end of October; the combined ticket for cable car and both caves costs approx. €55–60. The energetic manage the caves and the Krippenstein in one day; two half-days are more relaxed.

Gosausee, Bad Ischl and the Great Lakes

Vorderer Gosausee

From the Gosau valley, 25 minutes by car or a bus ride (routes 542/543) from Hallstatt, comes the most classic of all Dachstein views: on windless mornings the Vorderer Gosausee mirrors the glacier with the Gosaukamm ridge to the right. The level circuit takes a good hour; if you want to go further, walk 90 minutes to the Hinterer Gosausee or take the Gosaukammbahn cable car up to the Zwieselalm. The water is crystal clear and even in high summer barely warmer than 15 degrees.

Bad Ischl: Kaiservilla, Zauner and Capital of Culture

Twenty kilometres to the north lies Bad Ischl, the heart of the region and summer residence of Emperor Franz Joseph. The Kaiservilla, with the desk at which the declaration of war was signed in 1914, can be visited daily from April to October (approx. €20 including the park). A stop at the Konditorei Zauner is obligatory: since 1832 they have been baking Zaunerstollen and Ischler Törtchen here. In 2024 Bad Ischl, together with 22 municipalities, was European Capital of Culture – the renovated Lehár Theatre and the brewhouse of the old saltworks have remained as cultural venues. With its thermal spa and rail hub, Bad Ischl is also the most practical base for travellers without a car.

Wolfgangsee: St. Wolfgang, Schafberg, St. Gilgen

The Wolfgangsee is the most touristy of the Salzburg lakes, and with good reason. St. Wolfgang, with Michael Pacher's winged altarpiece (1481), is the starting point of the Schafbergbahn: the steam-powered rack railway climbs almost 1,200 metres in 35 minutes to 1,732 metres, from where on clear days you can count 14 lakes (approx. €50 return, reservation strongly recommended, operating May to October). On the western shore lies St. Gilgen, home town of Mozart's mother, with the Zwölferhorn cable car; boats shuttle between the villages.

Traunsee, Attersee, Mondsee and Almtal

Gmunden at the northern end of the Traunsee is a small town with a ceramics manufactory, an esplanade, the lake castle of Ort on an island and a tram that runs from the station straight to the shore. Above it all towers the Traunstein (1,691 m), the "guardian of the Salzkammergut" – a steep but rewarding day tour for experienced hikers. At 20 kilometres long, the Attersee is Austria's largest inland lake and the warmest for bathing; Gustav Klimt painted his lake pictures here. The Mondsee tempts with the Basilica of St Michael, whose facade is familiar from "The Sound of Music". In the far east opens the Almtal with Grünau, the Almsee in front of the Totes Gebirge and the Cumberland Wildlife Park with Konrad Lorenz's greylag geese – the quietest corner of the region in high season.

Eating and Drinking in the Salzkammergut

The cuisine is shaped by lakes, alpine pastures and coffee houses. The Reinanke, a fish of the whitefish family, is served in almost every lakeside inn – fried in butter or smoked as a Jause snack with horseradish and a bread roll (approx. €22–30 as a main course). In Bad Ischl the Ischler Törtchen is part of the ritual, two shortcrust discs with apricot jam and chocolate glaze, served in the coffee house with a Melange. In the mountain huts around the Krippenstein and Schafberg, Kaiserschmarrn with stewed plums is the standard refuelling stop (approx. €12–15); the name, how could it be otherwise, goes back to Franz Joseph. To drink there is beer from Zipf and, in autumn, Most cider from the farm.

Where to Stay? The Villages Compared

Your choice of base decides whether you stand among the coaches or are alone by the lake in the early morning. Six options at a glance:

Hallstatt itself has only a few hundred guest beds in guesthouses, private rooms and three or four hotels – for summer you should book six months ahead. If you stay flexible, choose a Gasthof in Obertraun or Bad Goisern and take the bus or boat into the village. Wellness hotels are found above all in Bad Ischl, on the Wolfgangsee and in Gosau, mountain huts with half board on the Dachstein plateau.

Getting There and Getting Around

By Train: The Salzkammergut Railway

The backbone of the region is the Salzkammergutbahn between Attnang-Puchheim (on the Vienna–Salzburg western main line) and Stainach-Irdning in the Enns valley. It stops in Gmunden, Ebensee, Bad Ischl, Bad Goisern, Hallstatt and Obertraun; ÖBB regional trains run hourly during the day. From Salzburg you reach Hallstatt in about 2 hours 20 minutes with a change at Attnang-Puchheim, from Linz in around 2 hours, from Vienna in a good 3 hours 30 minutes. The Klimaticket Österreich is valid on all trains and buses in the region.

By Bus and Boat

The fastest connection from Salzburg is Postbus 150 from the main station via Fuschl, St. Gilgen and Strobl to Bad Ischl (approx. 1 hour 40 minutes, hourly); from there you continue by train or bus 542/543 to Hallstatt and Obertraun. On Lake Hallstatt the scheduled boats operate from late April to October between Hallstatt Markt, Hallstatt station, Obertraun and Steeg; the train ferry runs all year round to meet arriving trains.

By Car: Parking in Hallstatt

The village centre is closed to visitors' cars; vehicles are left in car parks P1 (to the south, near the Salzbergbahn) and P2 (further out) for approx. €10–15 per day; hotel guests receive permits through their accommodation. On summer weekends the car parks are full by late morning and the access road is closed – another reason for the train or an early start. From Salzburg you drive via the B158 in about 1 hour 20 minutes, from Vienna via the A1 in a good 3 hours.

Alpengast tip: Ask at your accommodation for the Salzkammergut Card. It costs approx. €5, is valid from May to October for the length of your stay and gives discounts of up to 30 per cent with over 100 partners – from the salt mine and the Dachstein cable car to the Schafbergbahn. It pays for itself on a single day of excursions.

Best Time to Visit and Budget

The Seasons

Summer from June to September is bathing season: the Attersee, Wolfgangsee and Mondsee reach 22 to 24 degrees, while deep Lake Hallstatt stays at a cool 18 to 20. It is high season with busy roads, but also with every cable car and boat in operation. Autumn until the end of October is for many the most beautiful time: clear views from the Krippenstein, colourful forests, the cattle drive in Gosau and half-empty lanes in Hallstatt. In Advent Hallstatt remains surprisingly calm; the small Christmas market on the market square usually takes place on one weekend at the beginning of December. Winter belongs to the family-friendly Dachstein West ski area (Gosau–Russbach–Annaberg, around 50 kilometres of pistes) and to the Krippenstein, which with its unsecured freeride arena is an insider tip among powder skiers. In November and April the region almost comes to a standstill.

What Does a Week Cost?

The Salzkammergut is not cheap, but it is cheaper than Tyrol's hotspots. Reckon on approx. €110–160 per person per day in a guesthouse with breakfast, one hot meal in a Gasthof, one cable car or boat ride and public transport. In a wellness hotel with half board the cost rises to approx. €200–300. The big items are the mountain lifts: the salt mine, Krippenstein with the caves and the Schafbergbahn together quickly add up to €150 per person – factor in the Salzkammergut Card and spread the excursions over several days. The cheapest way to travel is to come in May or October, sleep in Bad Goisern or Obertraun and get around by train.

Whether two nights in Hallstatt, a week on the Wolfgangsee or a round trip with the Klimaticket: you will find all bookable accommodation in the Salzkammergut and throughout Austria in our hotel overview. The Alpengast editorial team updates prices and opening times continuously – small deviations on the ground are nevertheless possible.