Travel from Salzburg to Hallstatt

i would take the train second class as it only takes about 2:20min. not that expensive.

Hi Nancy. I don't know about a specific bus that goes to Hallstatt but we took the train from Salzburg to Attnang-Puchheim which took about 45 minutes. There was about a 15 minute wait for the train from Attnang-Puchheim to Hallstatt which then took another hour and fifteen. It's not as bad as it sounds. Once you get to the station in Hallstatt (tiny building in the middle of nowhere) you will go down a stairway. When you can see past the trees you will see the lake with the town on the other side. Fabulous view! You will take a boat named "Stephanie" across the lake for 2Euro. Now on our way back to Salzburg we took the train from Hallstatt to Bad Ischl and a bus to St. Gilgen. Did some things there on Wolfgangsee and then another bus from St. Gilgen back to Salzburg. Each leg of the bus was about 6Euro which we paid the driver as we entered the bus. If we would have stayed on the bus in Salzburg it would have taken us to the train station but we got off instead in the center of the city.

It would be bus #150 from Salzburg to Bad Ischl and then the train the rest of the way to Hallstatt. Total travel time ranges from 2h08 to 2h40 minutes. I would think you would get the bus from the bus terminal right in front of the train station (Hauptbahnhof)entrance or possibly from Mirabellplatz by Mirabell Palace. The latter is not necessarily a station but is a bus stop area.

I can't think of any good reason to take the bus. The train is inexpensive, efficient, easy, quick, and fun. There was a local marching band (in full regalia) on the train when we did it. The boat ride across the lake from the little "train station" to Halstatt (on "Stephanie") is very enjoyable, and provides incredibe views of the town. We found the coming and going to/from Halstatt quite memorable.

Thanks for everyone's replies. The only reason I was thinking of taking the bus instead of the train was because Rick Steve's mentioned in his Austria & Germany book in 2007 that the bus trip was quicker and many thought more scenic than the train ride. However, he put that comment in the Hallstatt section not the Salzburg section of the guidebook and the web site he gave to find out more information is not in English.