September 11 (Wednesday)
09:00 Breakfast someplace

Doesn't your hotel provide a breakfast buffet (included in the room rate)?

It does actually. I dont much care for hotel breakfast if i can find something else. Nothing wrong with the food, just want to get out and start being a part of the trip.

I need a nice dinner in Salzburg. Nice means somewhat quiet, tablecloth, decent service, very good food. Any suggestions?

Nice means somewhat quiet, tablecloth, decent service, very good food.

These requirements altogether mean that you are going for the more pricey options.

See here this list (only in German):
https://www.falstaff.com/at/listings/die-besten-restaurants-in-salzburg

thank you wmt1

EDIT: nice list .......... but thinking more red and white checkered tablecloth.

You probably won't find this in Salzburg proper, and probably no tablecloth, but for me a good Gröstel, Kaspressknödelsuppe, Hirtenmakkaroni, Käsespätzle and even a good Schweineschnitzel with a Bier and a Berg Enzian Schnaps with a view is hard to beat. It's more Tyrolean though. Maybe next trip. I think you have hit the other spots. You could head towards Werfen.

Ah, Salzburg….holds a special place in my heart as I got married at the Mirabell Schloss!
To food-
1) Barenwirt. Can’t miss either for lunch or a more casual (red and white checkered) dinner. Has been in operation a very long time. They still offer huge knoedel, but their menu has modernized over time. We never miss going there.

2) Breakfast- Backerei Siegfried Ursprunger at Gstattengasse 4. Oldest bakery in Salzburg-hole in the wall-excellent food as they do more than pastries and bread for breakfast-nothing huge, just excellent. Pastries are wonderful as is the coffee. We were so happy to find this establishment.

3) Zum fidelen Affen- good food, nice service and might fit your red and white checkered tablecloth note.

4) Johanneskeller and Goldener Hirsch- more upscale but offer more than a traditional Austrian meal

Nice plan for Salzburg. Enjoy. (The Augustiner Brau-what a kick! We never miss it, but we do miss the time when you just filled your beer mug from the fountain or the tender slid the beer down the counter! Still good.)

Salzburg:

Visit the cathedral if you have time.

I don’t think it fits your plan, but the Mozart dinner at St. Peter Stiftskulinarium is actually good music and the food is decent. Pretty fancy (and expensive).

If you are still looking, this place is not far from Mirabell Gardens and pretty good. Braurestaurant IMLAUER

Or this place in the center: Zipfer Bierhaus

Buy a giant pretzel from a pretzel stand. We found them just in front of Zipfer Biethaus.

Don’t walk up to the fortress (yes, you can) - take the funicular up and down.

Since i got some good advice from you guys, you might want to help here as well: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/austria/vienna-salzburg-itinerary

It Begins

Train departed Keleti precisely on time. Very nice train. Comfortable, quiet, smooth.

https://1drv.ms/f/s!Ai7Zk-szxfTJi-Aij35QVuIePxAJYg

Do be sure to use the phone app for the ticket, which makes the conductors job faster and easier. But the Mav app doesn't display seat reservations. You don't need the receipt unless there is a dispute, so keep it handy on your phone.

4 SWAT looking cops got on before crossing the border. Walked thru and looked at each passenger. But that's about all.

8 hour trip. You know I would rather be flying.

No "wow!" views out the train windows in Hungary. Mostly sound control walls and vegetation.

Just crossed into Austria. Any wow views have been obliterated by the endless windmill energy farms. Horrible.

The OBB conductor that checked tickets after we crossed the border was excellent. Told each passenger that had a change, where their change was.

Train has free WiFi.

Arrived about 5 late in Linz
Connection is a local commuter train. Open seating. No reservations. Stops every 5 minutes. About a 2.5 hour ride.

Missed the Hallstatt stop. Had to ride the train back a stop. End of the line, so only lost 15 minutes.

Hotel Seewirt - Zauner turned out to be very okay and balcony was worth the few extra Euros.

Its 18:21. Take a walk, eat and sleep early.

This place does close early. Two thirds is shut down by 7:30. But the rain I suspect kept away a lot of day trippers and the town is fairly empty.

Sort of expensive here. But beautiful in a Disney meets mother nature sort of way.

And very little information on signs, etc is in English. More English in Budapest than here. Surprising.

Fish at the hotel restaurant was pretty decent. Ukrainia waitress was exceptional.

Better bring lots of cash to Hallstatt. Few will take cards.

I remember pictures of locals blocking selfie/Instagram views and complaining about tourism. Don't understand why. I can not imagine anyone here making any sort of living that isn't tourist dependent.

Yes, to the “bring cash” - but there is an ATM at the grocery store. I know it’s hard to believe everything closing so early given how many tourists there are - until you experience it!

If you are going to the salt mine today, be sure to check “closed kitchen” time for the restaurant in the afternoon, just to be sure. I expected prices to be higher than down in Hallstatt, because of location but they weren’t. If you get bored this evening, you can walk to this park for different views. https://maps.app.goo.gl/VLnmCnZdtfwH4e21A?g_st=ic

And everything opens late. Took 30 min to find coffee. My room included breakfast but a note in the elevator says you have to book the day before LOL. The restaurant was closed this morning. No one at front desk. Nice place but no service.

Tourists 1/3 American, 1/3 Asian, 1/3 everyone else.

Now I see a sign that says we can get breakfast at a neighboring hotel. Too late.

Locals are nice and polite, but the attitude is sort of, we got you here and we don't really have to try too hard. If you don't like, still plenty more will come.

But is very beautiful.

Connection is a local commuter train. Open seating. No reservations. Stops every 5 minutes. About a 2.5 hour ride.

You had chosen the slowest connection available.
I had suggested to start very early in Budapest to catch the direct train from Vienna to Hallstatt. The early bird catches the worm. :-)

I know it’s hard to believe everything closing so early given how many tourists there are -

Hallstatt is swamped by day tourists - up to 10000 a day - who leave in the afternoon.

The "faster" train departs at 05:40. Sorry, but that's a lousy start to a holiday. My trip took 45 minutes longer.

The locals know they have a captive audience, and no matter what they charge and how minimal the service, they will always have more tourists than they can deal with. Things close early because they can cause the tourists know there are no choices.

All that having been said, Hallstatt truly is beautiful and if you can be here when it's not stupid crowded, it is worth a night or two. Would be worth 3 or 4 nights if the locals wanted longer visits.

Had a nice dinner last night at one of the better and one of the few open places in town after 19:30. Served the wrong plate. I pointed it out. Server said not his problem, take it up with the waiter. Eventually got what I ordered. Was charged 5.80 euro for silverware rental.

Paid for breakfast in the room but will not get it as requires pre-booking and going to another hotel. No one at hotel desk all night and all day to pre book with.

Tried to get tge breakfast anyway. The waiter had our room number as prepaid, place was mostly empty, but demanded 26 euro. I left.

In a few hours the DayTrip driver comes to get us the heck out of here and on to Salzburg.

One thing I have to say is that I have rarely encountered more polite or nicer people than the Austrians we have met on this trip.

Stopped in some Bad town for brunch. 12" Hot Dogs, 2 with gulyás sauce, 2 with horseraddush in a lovely old Hapsburg setting.

A few hours to Salzburg.

Was charged 5.80 euro for silverware rental.

Omg

Sort of took me off guard too.

Hallstatt is a good trip off season when not too crowded. I think about 12 hours between 10am (when everything is open) and 6pm would be a pretty ideal visit. It is stunningly beautiful.

Oh, the Salt Mine? Yes. It's a good 45 minute adventure that through endless repetition they have extended to 90 minutes so to be able to charge more. Still, I think sort of fun and woth the time.

Was charged 5.80 euro for silverware rental.

Where was that, and what were the names of the hotels?

Seewirt - Zauner was my hotel. Great location and physically a very nice facility. The restaurant, open in the evening, was better than average. The Ukrainian waitress that took care of us was very good.

The second night was the Seehotel Grüner Baum. Another hotel restaurant, but there isn't much else to choose from. I made the reservation a month in advance.

Both nights, the restaurants were full. There's nothing bad about the food, but nothing special either. Both were expensive for the quality.

The receipt at Seehotel Grüner Baum dinner showed a 5.80 euro charge, which using Google Translate was for "place setting" (rental on the silverware LOL).

The 26 euro breakfast that I walked away from was at the Heritage Hotel. There might have been something else open in town for breakfast before 10 am, but it wasn't obvious.

For 10 euro coffee and a croissant, there is Cafe Bäckerei Konditorei Maislinger at the southern end of the town .... only a 10 min walk from the main square.

But, all the nonsense aside. Happy I went. It is stunningly beautiful.

Sorry, but I am laughing a lot. (People probably think I am being mean.) It sounds a tiny bit like an episode of The Three Stooges…..

I wouldn’t pay €26 for a breakfast I had already paid for either…. I might not rent my silverware either.

You can let these things ruin a trip or blow them off and enjoy the day ...... and maybe write a review or two after some deep consideration. I only reviewed the hotel because it really was incorrect at a high level. The rest is just Hallstatt.

And now they are apparently grounding the trains due to bad weather. Huh?

Oh my !

Yesterday in Hallstatt the weather was near perfect. Today in Salzburg, not so sweet. But tomorrow brings new opportunities.

Light, but never ending rain. 9c so cool. But we follow the plan, walk the walk and enjoy.

Finished the fortress. "Interesting". Especially military museum from Medieval throigh WWI.... and WWII? Now Augustiner Beaustubl Mulln. Okay beer, okay menu.

I head home in the morning.

Salzburg was very okay.

A few things of note compared to my current home city.

Salzburg and Hallstatt tourism is close to twice the cost of that in Budapest (accommodations, food, drink, entry tickets, toilets, silverware rental, etc)

Hallstatt is hard to beat for the beauty. Everyone should spend 8 hours there on a clear off season day.

Salzburg seems a bit contrived for tourism. The architecture is good, but not astonishing. But still a facinating place. Beautiful in the large view, but less so in detail. Still, well worth the time.

A tourist in Budapest is more often approached in English than in Salzburg or Hallstatt. More signage and menus in English in Budapest, too.

Bring lots of cash, you will need it. When they do take credit cards tapping never worked. Had to insert the card in the chip reader. I use my card 3 times a day in Budapest and haven't had to use the chip reader in years.

Next trip in about 5 weeks: Tara River Canyon, Montenegro. (Fly Fishing). My budget is about half the cost of Austria / day. Another Euro country (but not in the Eurozone LOL)

Some places it’s good to have gone, even if you figure they aren’t going to be your favorite. Barcelona is one of those for me. Hope the trains take you home tomorrow!

You need to put one of the Baltics on your list for a long weekend.

Don't get me wrong, enjoyed the trip.

I will look for Wizz or Ryan for the Baltics at Christmas.

I'm glad I went to Hallstatt. Even more glad I didn't stay overnight there.

I get that. I think it is a very solid day tourist town, if you do the Salt Mine. Not wanting to wake at 3am for the direct morning train it meant mid-afternoon arrival so a night was mandatory. I could have taken a late train out on day two but I opted for a morning train .... hence two nights. Not at all crowded and pretty good weather, so it worked.