3 Days in Hallstatt

Hello friends! My friend Sophia and I just spent 3 nights in Hallstatt, so here are my recommendations, thoughts and tips.

Getting there

We came to Hallstatt from Vienna and probably should have done a bit more research when it came to the journey — haha. I’ve seen people say this can be a day trip, but honestly, you’d have to leave Vienna so early in the morning to make it worth it in my opinion that I think staying a few nights is definitely the way to go. Even three nights felt too short for me — I feel like we could’ve easily done one or two more.

We took two trains from Vienna and left around 11:30 AM, but didn’t realize that the Hallstatt train station is actually across the lake from the town itself. Where you get off there is a small cafe with drinks and food, but they only take cash. There’s no car access, so you need to take a ferry — and the ferry only takes cash as well, with no ATM in sight. We managed to scrounge up enough change, but that one’s definitely on us for not researching ahead of time.

I believe the last ferry runs around 6 PM, so definitely check the schedule in advance. This also became an issue when we were leaving, because my train from Hallstatt was earlier than the first ferry. I ended up having to taxi to another train station to catch it from there.

Learn from our mistakes. 🤣

Night one

The first night we spent exploring the town and our hotel. We stayed at Pension Sarstein, a little family-run hotel just a 5-minute walk up from the ferry. The woman who worked there was very friendly and gave us great recommendations, and was able to help me book my taxi for my way home. The rooms were cute and quaint, and there was a shared kitchen and fridge if needed. The best part was the garden out back, which was right on the lake!

After exploring our new place for a bit, we headed out to dinner. Be warned, restaurants close quite early in Hallstatt. Even in Vienna, we found restaurants to close much earlier than most other parts of Europe. We ended up at Braugasthof, a restaurant right on the lake. The views were hard to beat. I tried schnitzel for the first time and quite enjoyed it! And of course, some Aperol spritzes.

We also did a quick grocery shop — there’s a shop open till 8 that is self-serve (you tap your card when you get in and then pay by yourself), or there is a more touristy grocery store open till 6:50, I believe.

After dinner, we watched the sunset, had some drinks, and walked back to our hotel for the night.

Day two

Our first full day, we really utilized the garden and the lake. We woke up and had a relaxed morning, made some breakfast with the groceries we had bought, and then headed down to the garden for the morning. We ate our food, read our books, tanned, and swam — it was so peaceful and lovely. Definitely get in the lake while you're visiting; it's quite warm once you're in!

Unfortunately, our afternoon was taken off track a bit by a thunderstorm. Our plan was to go to the Skywalk and get a drink at the restaurant up there, but the storm started around 3:30 and continued until 6, and by then the Skywalk was closed. We cozied in and had a snack at the hotel, and then when we thought it was safe, ventured out to dinner.

It was hard to find somewhere that was open and indoors, but we settled on Seehotel Grüner Baum restaurant for dinner. It was indoors with lovely service and good food. To be honest, none of the meals here were WOWs, but you're not here for the food — you're here for the scenery.

We ran back home in the rain with a bottle of wine and settled in for another cozy night.

Day three

This was definitely my favourite day (until a certain point — we’ll get to that). We did a day trip to hike around Vorderer Gosausee, and it was stunning.

There’s one direct bus a day that leaves Hallstatt at 9:27 AM, but you can also take two connecting buses that run hourly — we chose that option. I believe we caught the 10:37 AM departure from Hallstatt. We grabbed a quick pastry and drink from a café on the way, though honestly, we could’ve just packed something the night before.

The first bus ride was about 10 minutes, and the second was supposed to be 13 — but we accidentally got off too early, so our total travel time was a bit longer (closer to 25 minutes). We ended up getting off at the town of Gosau by mistake, which actually turned out to be a happy accident — the town was lovely and had a much bigger grocery store than Hallstatt, so we stocked up on snacks. Then we waited for the next bus and took it all the way to the lake.

The trail around Vorderer Gosausee is a loop, so it’s perfect whether you just want a light walk or want to venture further. You can hike up to a waterfall (we almost made it), or if you have more time and energy, continue all the way up to Hinterer Gosausee, another breathtaking alpine lake. Even just walking around the main lake offers unreal views of turquoise water and jagged mountain peaks from every angle. It was truly beautiful, and I’d 100% recommend this day trip to anyone staying in Hallstatt.

Unfortunately, things took a turn. We stopped at some boulders on the way up to the waterfall for a snack break, and while I was climbing, my phone slipped out of my pocket and fell between two rocks. Despite spending nearly an hour desperately trying to retrieve it, we had no luck. There were definitely some tears

.

The worst part? The next day was the beginning of my solo travel — and I had a 12-hour travel day ahead of me. So yeah, that kind of put a damper on things.

Moral of the story: as much as I never thought I’d need one, get a safety strap or wrist lanyard for your phone while traveling — especially when hiking. And maybe don’t climb boulders with your phone in your pocket like me.

Despite the unfortunate ending, the hike was still a major highlight of the trip. Even with a bit of rain and clouds, the beauty of Gosausee shone through.

Major shoutout to Sophia for keeping me calm while I figured out my plan for the next day. When we got home, we were planning on just doing a little charcuterie board at home, which Sophia so kindly set up for us while I sorted things out. We packed, watched Love Island, and were sad that our Hallstatt trip had come to an end!

Final thoughts

I absolutely loved Hallstatt and would love to go back one day. Despite it being so small, I feel like there's so much more we could have done—definitely another hike, and the Skywalk and restaurant up there. I feel like just having one full day by the lake is a great day. I always find that I get bored in big cities faster than in small towns for some reason. I hope this helps someone who is planning on visiting, and clearly we had our fair share of hiccups that I hope will help others avoid!

Thanks for reading, friends! Goodbye for now from the Frolicking Fairy 🧚