Hello,
We are thinking of making a day trip from Salzburg to Hallstatt.
If we travel by bus, which many people say is scenic, is there an option to get down at Hallstatt Lahn, explore the town a little bit and them hop on to Bus 543 to reach the 5 fingers viewing platform? or is there a better way to do these two?
Also, is the return trip to Salzburg possible by train from Hallstatt?
Thanks!
There are two routes from Salzburg to Hallstatt:
1: Salzburg to Attnang-Puchheim (express train), Attnang-Puchheim to Hallstatt (local train).
2: Salzburg to Bad Ischl (bus #150), Bad Ischl to Hallstatt (local train).
The travel time is about the same for both options. Option 2 is more scenic than option 1. If you choose option 2 and have enough time, I recommend a short visit of Bad Ischl. Walk to the famous "Zauner" café and pastry store and buy the unique "Zauner-Stollen".
The ferry from Hallstatt train station to Hallstatt town runs according to the arrival/departure times of all trains.
Going by bus only is a bit tricky. You need to take bus #541 from Bad Ischl to Hallstatt Nord (north). From there it's a walk of about .7 miles to the center of Hallstatt. If you don't want to walk that long, you may continue using bus #543 to Hallstatt Lahn, from where you have to walk .5 miles to the town's center.
From Hallstatt Lahn you take bus #543 to the cable car station for riding up to the Five Fingers. After that you go by bus #544 to Obertraun Bf (train station) and take the next train to Attnang-Puchheim and further to Salzburg (see item 1: above).
This is my standard recommend for bus/train/boat info on Hallstatt.
https://www.bigboytravel.com/europe/austria/hallstatt/gettingtohallstatt/
One caveat, do NOT use the bus schedule links since this is an older article. You can google those up yourself.
Also consider going to the Wolfgangsee instead, do some research on that. Such as my excellent daytrip writeup :)
This is my standard recommend for bus/train/boat info on Hallstatt.
You should not recommend this anymore. The information is from 2018 and completely outdated, especially regarding the bus routes which have changed their numbering.
My description above is correct.