Has anyone visited the Dachstein Caves while at Halstatt?

I haven't visited but may on my trip there in three weeks. I will only have a partial day in Hallstatt and I've been there once before, so it's a matter of prioritizing. It looks like there is bus service from Hallstatt to Obertraun and it only takes a few minutes to get to the lift that takes you to the caves. Busses stop running pretty early in the evening.

Haven't visited the caves, but I have been to Hallstatt, Lahn, and Obertraun.

The bus to Obertraun doesn't leave from Hallstatt; it leaves from Lahn, which is a half km walk along the pedestrian road (Seestraße) that goes along the lake south to the funicular that goes up to the salt mine. The bus from Lahn (Seelände) goes first to the Obertraun Bahnhof, then to the cable car (Dachstein Seilbahn) that goes up to the ice caves. No need to walk 2.6 km. Instead of walking to Seelände, you can take the boat across to the lake to the Hallstatt Bahnhof and take the train to Obertraun (and walk or take the bus from there).

The OeBB website shows the bus fare at 2,30€, one way.

Thanks Lee!

I just came from there and now I am in Brno. It is about 7 kilometres plus minus from Hallstatt to the cable car station. Bus leaves from the little bus station very close to the Tourist Information Center. Taxi costs 16 euro. Cable car has 4 stations. The first one is about 600 metres above sea level, the second one 1350, the third one 2060, the fourth one 1750. I went to the ice caves. You get off at the second station (1350 m) then walk up zig zag paved trail for about 15 minutes plus minus depending on your condition. Temperature inside the cave is slightly above freezing. You will walk 500 steps up and down but more up. If the visit to the caves is worthwhile depends on the individual. For me it was.

Ilja:

Thanks for your description of the caves. Did you go on up to the next stop where the Seven Fingers viewpoint is located?

I'm curious as to whether you can do the caves and viewpoint in an afternoon.

I visited the ice cave yesterday, but not the mammoth cave.

To add to what Ilja said... after you get off the gondola, you will be given a tour group and time. We had about 40 minutes before our tour so we visited the museum before walking up the steep path to the entrance. The tour takes about an hour. The ice in the caves looks cool (pun intended) and I'm glad we went, but the tour itself was disappointing. The tour group was far too large (40-50 people) and some of them kept talking while the tour guide was giving her information.

We didn't go up to the five fingers because the clouds were low and it was raining. I would guess that you could do one cave tour and the five fingers lookout in an afternoon but not with both tours.

I am not sure but I think it is Five Fingers. From the cable car station it is relatively a long walk down and then of course up to get back to the station. Ice caves and Fingers are doable in one afternoon.