Hallstatt & Dachstein: Discovering Austria’s Hidden Gems
Hallstatt & Dachstein
We initially had plans to go to Croatia for a little over a week but sadly due to Covid19 we decided it was best to stay within Austria. We made the most of the time for sure! Our first stop was the picture perfect Hallstatt. It truly is a fairytale like village.
What to Eat in Hallstatt:
Seecafé Obertraun:
We stopped here for a drink while we waited for the ferry to take us across the lake to the old village. It’s a cute little area with lots of green space, swimming areas and volleyball courts. We sat on the deck and it’s quite nice views. We ended up going back for dinner that night. I got the tomato mozzarella and a side of fries. Both were tasty.
Seehotel Grüner Baum:
We decided to splurge for a really nice lunch on the water front. I had the wild pork and rosemary potatoes and I must say it was delicious! Expect to pay higher prices here, but in my opinion it was worth it.
China restaurant Asia Haus
This was our second dinner and it did not disappoint. The pikant soup was decent but the main courses of chicken fried rice and chicken with noodles were excellent. The place is situated near a small stream and the people were very friendly! They are cash only, keep that in mind.
SIGHTS:
Hallstatt is all about the views. The gorgeous lake surrounded by mountains, the hillsides covered in old Austrian chalets, it’s basically straight out of a fairytale. I would recommend spending half a day to a day walking through the village (it’s very small) and then spend another day hiking the nearby areas.
Tip: take the ferry tour and get a better view of the surrounding cities on the lake
ACCOMMODATION:
We decided to stay a bit outside of the old town village. We found a cute chalet called Hideaway Obertraun. Our room had a balcony with amazing views of the surrounding mountains. They also have a pool if you visit in the summer time. The prices were reasonable for the convenience.
You can search for the best accommodation for your needs here:
ACTIVITIES:
Hiking Dachstein:
We decided to spend our second day hiking. The views are truly amazing. You can take a cable car up and just wonder around (€33) but if you want to see all the attractions, which I recommend doing, then you can choose from a few packages. We choose the all inclusive because we wanted to check it all out and it cost €50 per person. What we saw:
Five fingers
Once you reach the top with the cable car you can walk about 25 minutes to the five finger viewing area. It gives an amazing view of the lakes below, and we actually took some great pictures off to the left on the natural rock cliffs.
Mammoth cave
This is found on the middle stop of the cable car ride. It takes about 15 minutes to hike to the entrance and about 50 minutes to complete the tour, inside is a lovely 2 degrees so if you’re like us (wet from the rain) be prepared to be cold.
Ice cave
Also located on the middle stop of the cable car ride. This one is a bit steeper of a hike to the enterance. Inside is a whopping -0.05 degrees so again, dress warmly! Once inside you see 3 sections of the beautiful ice cave, art work displays and a light show to end it off. There’s also a bridge you can cross and is more fun than the walk around.
Dachstein shark:
There’s a metal shark structure that you can hike down to see. On the way you’ll see where travelers all stack the stones into small towers. We had fun adding ours. The shark is an art installation that you can climb inside and see the mountain out of its mouth. We didn’t manage to get a photo here because as soon as we got there a fog rain storm came in at rapid speed and we decided to head back to the top.
Thermal spa:
We decided after the rain we wanted to soak in the warm thermal baths at Aldiana Club. It only cost €13 for a 3 hour pass in the evening.
PARKING:
Parking in Hallstatt is almost impossible if you aren’t a local or a very early riser. We had free parking at our accommodation and it was perfect for us. We took the ferry tour (€8 a person) into the village and then a boat (€3 per person) and train back one stop to our car. There is also a bus.
Happy Travels xx
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