My husband and I are taking the 15 Day Central Europe tour that ends on May 11th in Bled Slovenia. From there we currently have plans to visit Hallstatt (2 days), Salzburg (4 days), Innsbruck (1 day) Fussen (2 days) then Munich (3 days) flying home on May 23rd.
One of my questions is about traveling to Hallstatt from Lake Bled. We are planning to travel by trains and bus. It seems like it is rather complicated to go directly to Hallstatt from Bled. Should we plan to go to Salzburg, stay the night then go to Hallstatt the next day?
My second question: Is it worth traveling via Innsbruck for the scenery then on to Fussen (wanting to see the castles) then up to Munich or is it better to go from Salzburg to Munich, then do a day trip to Fussen, skipping Innsbruck?
I appreciate in advance any advice on how to approach these plans.
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Because of several train track repairs your planned route departing from Bled is rather tricky. The train line for acessing Hallstatt from the south side and, more importantly, the Tauern-Tunnel which is one of the most important north-south connections across the alps is closed due to refurbishment after being in service for about 120 years.
Therefore my recommendation is to go from Bled to Salzburg, and the doing Hallstatt as a day trip from there. The fastest trip to Salzburg is about 4:30 hours, starting in Lesce-Bled (NOT Bled Jezero), going to Villach. Because of the said tunnel closure the ride to Salzburg is interrupted by a rail replacement service on a bus. So you will go from Villach to Spittal/Drau, change to the bus, go to Bischofshofen, change back to the train to Salzburg. This is a total of 3 changes.
Alternatively, and for sure cheaper, is the bus connection (Flixbus) from Bled to Salzburg (3:15 hours). The bus stop in Salzburg is in the south of the city.