27 Oct 2016: A day trip to Hallstatt

Hallstatt, a picturesque village on the lake with the same name owes its existence to the rich salt deposit of salt in the mountain of Hallstatt. At 7000 years ago, this village began to take the salt from the salt mine in the salt mountain of Hallstatt. Here, it has the oldest salt mine in the world, and also breathtaking cave world in Obertraun.

How to get to Hallstatt from Salzburg

It is 2 hours 15 minutes by bus or 2 hours 30 minutes by train with a short ferry ride. Many visitors or websites will suggest to take a bus to Hallstatt if coming from Salzburg. They claimed that it will be cheaper and little faster. However, it is not when you have more than 2 travelers. Bus ticket is around 25 Euros per person. However, 24 hour regional bus pass is available with cheaper price. The regional bus pass only can be purchased from the bus station ( in front Salzburg Center station) kiosk machine.

I used Einfach-Raus Ticket. The ticket is 41 Euros for 4 persons. This ticket can directly buy from the kiosk in the train station. I will recommend buy the ticket from the machine instead of from OBB website. The ticket can use for all region train (R, REX, S train). I will suggest to screenshot the train stop station from OBB website to help you to know how to change the train. The information in the station is not as clear as compared to Germany rail station.

How to get to Hallstatt Ice Caves and 5 fingers

According to bigboytravel (http://www.bigboytravel.com/europe/austria/hallstatt/icecaves/) , the best way to reach the Dachstein Mountain Visitor Center from Hallstatt is took local Postbus 543. The bus is available at the main Hallstatt bus station. However, I not using this way. I take the train directly from Bad Ischl Train Station to Obertraun Train Station. From here, it has local bus to Dachstein Mountain Visitor Center but I missed it. So, I called a cab to send us ( 4 of us). The cab number can either get from the Obertraun Visitor Center or the bus stand (in front the train station). It is 5 to 10 minutes walking distance from train station. The taxi was 10 Euros. We took bus from Dachstein visitor center to Hallstatt and the bus fare was 2.1 Euros per person.

Dachstein in Salzkammergut

We only visited Dachstein ice cave. The number of the guided tour can obtain when reached the cable car station section 1 (valley station-schonbergalm). The guided tour is 50 minute. The cave was discovered in 1910. According to the tour guide, the ice is formed from the watr which seeps from the Dachstein plateau down into the cave through small cracks and joins in the cliff. The penetrating water freezes and forms magnificent ice shapes when the outside temperatures lie above freezing and the cave remains very cold air. The ice growth during winter-spring and exceeds the ice loss in the summer-autumn. The cave is quite cold, it is an average temperature of 2-3 degree Celsius.

Besides ice cave, it can find a Mammut cave in Dachstein. According to the website, the visitors gain insight into how the caves developed in the 1 hour guided tour. The pathway to the Mamut cave is at the right and it need 30 to 40 minutes to reach the cave.

The five fingers is the place to enjoy the unique views down over Hallstatt. The weather is very important to ensure you have a nice view. It was a cloudy day and the view was not clear. Therefore, we need not go to the view platform.

The ticket to either ice or Mammut cave with cable car was 30.80 euros per person. Ticket to the Five Fingers was 29.30 euros per person in 2016. All tickets includes cable car ascent and descent.

Hallstatt

Everything in Hallstatt is expensive. I saw a salt lamp sell 3 euros at Kongisee lake and it sells 5 euros at Hallstatt. Honestly, Hallstatt is full with Asian people. Including us!!

Hallstatt is well known with salt mine and it located above downtown Hallstatt. Besides strolling beside the lake, Hallstatt has the Bone House and Cemetery, Hallstatt Salt Mine and Rudolph's Tower and Skywalk. Honestly, I only did two things: visit the market square at the old town Hallstatt and strolling beside the lake. If you planned to do so many activities, I think day trip is not enough to do so.