Heaven on Earth - Travelling to Hallstatt, Austria

Dear Reader,

Let me tell you about one of the most beautiful places on Earth. This place has apparently been inhabited since at least 800 BC. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is nestled in gorgeous Austrian mountainside and right next to a placid lake. This place is called Hallstatt.

If you came here from Pinterest, you may be in the same situation I was just over a year ago. My husband and I were trying to determine what to do/where to go on our trip to Europe. When I saw a picture of Hallstatt on Pinterest I decided right then and there - I MUST go to this beautiful place.

And we did. And it was magical - but it almost, almost, didn't happen. 

So if you, dear reader, decide to go to Hallstatt, Austria on a day trip like we did, I want to give you some pointers so you'll know what to expect and how to save yourself an anxiety attack when you are trying to find where to park.

Hallstatt is a tiny town of less than one thousand inhabitants. The most scenic part, the part of the town on the "Seestrasse" is actually completely closed off to cars. Because of a lack of parking space, they literally only allow the inhabitants of the town to drive into it. There is a turnstile at the entrance to this part of Hallstatt. Do NOT pull up to it expecting to be able to pay the machine, get a ticket and go on through. This will not happen. Residents have been given passes that let them into their community. Everybody that visits must walk.

However, this doesn't mean you can't drive to Hallstatt. This just means you have to park outside of the quaint town and have a short walk/shuttle ride down. There are 3 major parking lots. When driving to Hallstatt you may or may not see (we didn't) the signs pointing to parking lots and indicating how many spaces are left in each one. Keep your eye out for them.

Pictures of these signs are on Hallstatt's website, as well as a map of where the parking lots are. Print this material out if you plan to visit!!
http://www.hallstatt.net/parking-in-hallstatt/cars/

In addition, I want to take this time to remind you that this town is SERIOUSLY small. If you blink you may drive right past it and into the tunnel in the mountain that runs parallel to the town.

When we went to visit we ended up actually driving through this tunnel in the mountain twice because we were so confused as to how to enter the town (since the turnstile wouldn't let us through).

Lesson learned - do PLENTY of research before travelling to a country where you may not have your precious Google on 4G to save you. Hah!

There are no major hotel chains in Hallstatt, they are all locally owned hotels and B&B's. Hallstatt's website again is probably one of the best places to find and book accommodation if you plan on staying there.
http://www.hallstatt.net/accommodation/

If you don't have a lot of time to stay and look around at Hallstatt, that is okay! It is still TOTALLY worth your time to drive out there. My husband and I fit it in while we were driving from Vienna to Munich. We probably only had about 3 or 4 hours there at the most but we felt that we were able to fit in so much and it was one of our very favorite places on the whole trip.

If you are on VERY short time, the things I would recommend doing in Hallstatt while you are there (assuming it is fairly comfortable outside) are:
-Walk through the whole town (this doesn't take long, 10-25 mins depending on pace)
-Stop in a couple of the stores/bakeries
-Look in and around the Catholic and Protestant churches (you can't miss them, and they are free to look around)
-Make sure you stop and look at the catholic cemetery - all of the plots have been made into gardens
-Stop and eat at one of the restaurants (preferably one with outdoor seating overlooking the beautiful lake
-Take a ride on the ferry (note: it runs on a very strict schedule, and isn't the cheapest - we just missed the ferry due to our parking fiasco, so I can't personally comment on it but from pictures I've seen, it looks well worth the money)

If you have more time to spend at Hallstatt, other more involved attractions include:
-Touring the salt mines
-Visiting the bone/skull cemetery
-Hallstatt town tours
-Hiking/biking trails
-Canoeing/paddleboating

We absolutely loved our short time there and hope that if you happen to visit Austria that you will make Hallstatt one of your stops!

Enjoy the rest of the pics from our time there!

Auf Wiedersehen!!