Getting from Salzburg to Hallstatt

You can take a bus or train. Unfortunately, Hallstatt is a day tripper's destination. Depending on what time of year you go, it will be crowded all day from about 10:00 am until 6:00pm. IMO, Hallstatt is best seen early in the morning and enjoyable after dinner in the summer.

If you take the train, you have to take a boat to the Village. It will be waiting for you when the train arrives. Likewise, the boats land at the station with enough time to board on your return. I would not say there are must dos. It is a very picturesque village along the lake with mountains surrounding. You can take a funicular up the mountain where you can get a great view of the lake and there is a salt mine you can visit.

I would recommend reservations for restaurants. I enjoyed the Seehotel Gruner Baum. Right on the lake and the food was very good.

My advice is to Google Hallstatt for images and you will get a flavor of the village and area.

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 try/buy the unique "Zauner-Stollen".

The ferry from Hallstatt train station to Hallstatt town runs according to the arrival/departure times of all trains.

If you go with option 1 in one direction and with option 2 in the opposite then you have made most out of your day trip.

Thank you, both, Threadwear and wmt1 !

I appreciate your time for giving me such great details!

I was just there yesterday on a tour from Vienna. It was amazing and lived up to the hype for me. We took the boat over and back from where we parked. Nobody even attempted going up to the skywalk because we didn't get tickets beforehand and it was a huge line so I would definitely buy those in advance. They do have small boats and paddle boats for rent but the ride across was enough as were on a time limit. Most of the town is touristy shops and expensive of course. They tell you the fish served there is from the lake, it was trout a very small one for 28 I think it was. Wish I would have got the Schnitzel. The lake itself really is just beautiful. I did discover the 5 fingers viewing point on our way out. That's a view I wish I could have seen, look it up if you have a car I think it's like 20 min away. It was busy but not like ridiculously crowded. Lots of cash only places. Those boat guys are making some cash for sure on this gold(salt) mine. If had all day there I would definitely get one of those little electric boats and see the rest of the lake.

Ouman,
Thanks so much for the information! Very helpful!