Hallstatt – Probably the most beautiful town I visited

An overnight OBB-Nightjet train brought us from Zurich hauptbahnof to Attnang-Pucheim station, a small train station in the very beautiful Salzkammergut region of Austria. It was around 5:20am. A cafe shop opened at 5:30am, where we enjoyed some bakery items and coffee, before waiting for the next train to Hallstatt, scheduled at 6:20am. Train arrived on time and the journey took us through some beautiful scenic landscapes. Lovely streams of water passing by along some green meadows, with mountain terrain in the back. No wonder this region was spoken highly by many travelers – Austria was calling.

The Hallstatt train station has only one platform, a small cabin for staff, if any around. As we alighted, there was a lady who was calling people to board the ferry to Hallstatt main town. The ferry costs 8 euros per person (return journey), and it has to be paid in cash. We had this amazing feeling of being in paradise as the boat cruised in the lake towards our destination. Mesmerizing views of the mountains, the lake, and slowly the views of the town itself was quite a welcome.

Our accommodation, this time for a change, was close enough, just a few meters walk. Arriving at the Gasthof Simony well ahead of check-in time at 9am, we were asked to keep our luggage’s at a corner and told that check-in would be at 1pm. We had some coffee using the sachets and kettle and set out to explore. The salt mine is a popular local attraction, being the oldest salt mine in the world. It would open soon by 9:30am and was less than 30 minutes’ walk, we decided to explore the same.

We arrived at their ticketing office, it was 43€ per adult for the complete package, 19€ for kid accompanying parents, in total came to 95€. This includes the funicular tram, visit to the sky deck and the mine tour. The trip on the tram up was stunning, there is a point where the trams pass each other at a Y intersection, this was interesting. After alighting at the top, we still had to hike up 15 minutes to reach the entrance of the mine. A lady introduced herself as our host and passed on the instructions. We were asked to wear a white overcoat and trousers provided by them; all bags and loose items were to be put in a locker. The tour got interesting as and when it proceeded, we got introduced to the salt mining process, the hardships faced by the miners, the geography and history of the place.

Throughout the tour, the lady was very entertaining, cracking jokes and explaining lot of details. Different presentations, some on the big LCD screens, and some in a light and sound fashion, kept us engaged and entertained throughout. There are also couple of very interesting wooden slides, which gave us all much-needed spurts of excitement as well.

There was a 3100-year-old ladder that was well preserved within the mine and revealed to us towards the end of the mine tour, now that’s quite historic (or pre-historic should I say?)

Finally, one last ride that took us through a long stretch, very cold throughout, but super fun. Overall, I loved this entire tour, and would definitely recommend folks to try this out, with or without kids. We were handed a small box of salt to take back as souvenir, we also bought our family picture at the base of the wooden slide for 10€.

Short hike down, and few steps of walk on the steps and artificial ladders, we reached the sky walk. This place gives a bird’s eye view of the beautiful town of Hallstatt. It was so stunning. We clicked lot of pictures and then walked to the tram station to go down.

After returning to the base, we walked along the Hallstatt Sea, back to Gasthof Simony, for the check-in. We got a great room, with 3 beds, although on second floor. I had to carry the two heavy suitcases up on the wooden stairs, this was rather difficult. We went down to find some Doner Kebab and got it back to room to enjoy the food.

After food we walked around the town, but this time it had got more crowded, thanks to the day-tour tourists coming in big tour buses. We went to a local supermarket to buy some snacks and drinks and sat next to the serene lake. Slowly, one after another, the droves of tourists vacated the area, and finally it was just us (spare couple of other families), able to listen to calming sounds of water, quacks of the beautiful ducks, as the night sky slowly turned darker with the fading daylight. A nice feeling for sure.

Walking back to the guesthouse was again very nice. The guesthouse though is next to the main street, and we kept hearing noises at night and early morning. We still managed to get some good sleep (mostly the lost sleep from the previous night train journey).

I stepped out for a walk in the morning, to enjoy the morning views of the lovely town. It was so serene, quiet from the touristic hustles and bustles.

After a short walk around, I returned back to the hotel to enjoy their complimentary breakfast. The spread was very nice with different types of breads, jams, cheese, butter, meat, juices, also got some good coffee. The dining place is located on a garden overlooking the beautiful sea, it was amazing. Great experience!

Looking back on this short trip, one night was probably good enough to spend here, and we are glad we did this, taking a significant detour. It was truly worth the experience, and I would highly recommend folks to visit Hallstatt and other parts of Austria, this is a mesmerizing landscape. We will be back for more!