jkh,
My S.O. wanted to leave Hungary and visit Hallstatt. After all the negative input on the forum I really didn’t want to do it. But what choice does a guy have. So I thought to add Salzburg to the trip so maybe we would enjoy something.
Turned out the forum was wrong in the concept that Hallstatt is ALWAYS too crowded. Wasn’t crowded as all. Same time of year as the OP's planned visit - September Downright beautiful place too.
I got us a room on the square, top floor with a balcony that you could see the mountains and lake from. Really, really nice. The Salt Mine and the funicular up was sort of corny tourist fun. Enjoyed it. The views from up there, spectacular. The town itself was lovely. Sure, its a Disneyland, but so is Prague Old Town or Vienna inside the loop; so what?
Salzburg was the disappointment of the trip. Pure tourism, crowded, nothing terribly impressive. But very, very "nice" for maybe two full days.
The S.O. wants to return in the Spring. Well isn’t that just great. But a few times a year there is a special train that runs once or twice a year that does a trip to Graz from Budapest .... direct on the UNESCO Semmering line without going to Vienna. If i can find a way from Graz to Hallstatt, then it might be a fun trip.
jkh, yes I love my Budapest. But its not for everyone. And I do still travel. The past 16 months, Australia and Bosnia and Germany and Litchenstein and Slovakia and Romania and Malta. Returnig to Germany for Christmas (my son is stationed there) and have one other country in January (also a Christmas trip). Then here till a spring fishing trip someplace.
jphbucks
Hallstatt is ridiculously expensive,
Austria is ridiculously expensive. So?
one must use cash nearly everywhere,
I think most tourists can deal with that. but the heads up makes that easier.
it's crowded with (primarily) Chinese and American tourists
and your point? You would prefer French tourists? Do you have a problem sharing a town with Asians?
The food is what you'd expect in a place where fleecing the tourists
is the primary competitive sport.
i found the food very good, but you do sort of have to do the research and know where to go.
And getting there is a pain in the (ahem) neck.
Trains I guess are difficult for some. The boat ride was sort of sweet though.
TexasTravelMom.
Vienna is really worth seeing. I could easily spend 3 full days there .... then want out in the worst way. Beautiful though but I have a limit on how much dead stuff under glass I can take. And the cost has gone a bit nutz.