Austria

After a crazy week in Budapest, my friend Lauren Kokkonen and I were looking for some much needed R&R. We ended up deciding on a small village in Austria called Hallstatt which is located on Lake Hallstatt’s western shore in the mountains of the Salzkammergut region.

DAY 1:

We ended up booking a 16th century B&B in the town of Obertraun just 5km outside of Hallstatt. The walk into Hallstatt wasn’t too bad either as it was along the lake and very scenic.

The town of Hallstatt itself is full of Alpine houses and alleyways that are home to many cafes and shops. One of Hallstatts biggest attractions is a funicular railway that connects to Salzwelten, an ancient salt mine with a subterranean salt lake, and a Skywalk viewing platform.

Once we were at the top of the funicular we found a restaurant called Rudolfstrum, where we were able to have a glass of wine with the most incredible birdseye view of Hallstatt beneath. I’ve heard their Austrian schnitzel is amazing here as well. This was definitely one of our favorite spots and we ended up sitting up here until we got kicked out because it was about to close.

Below the Rudolfstrum restaurant is the Hallstatt Skywalk which is essentially a ledge built off of the mountainside. This was one of the best views of Hallstatt lake and the mountain region.

DAY 2:

The next day, Lauren and I took a cable car up the the Dachstein Ice Cave which was located just outside of Hallstatt and Obertraun. The tour of the Ice Caves took about 45 minutes and was included in the pass we bought with the cable car. Although, the tour was pretty short we ended up staying up there for a couple of hours checking out the views.

In addition, to the Ice Caves, our pass included access to Five Fingers. Five Fingers is the highest look out point over Hallstatt with a 5-pronged ledge with see-thru glass. In my opinion the Five Fingers was even more spectacular than the Skywalk but would highly recommend doing both if you have enough time.

Also, a big shout out to Lauren Kokkonen and her camera skills for taking all of these photos on her Fuji Film X-T10.