I'll be visiting Hallstatt, Austria next month and am wondering, once you arrive at the train station is it simple to get to the town from there? We're hoping to arrive around 10-11 am and I know it's on the lake...not sure if I'm going to need another form of transportation from the train station (bus, boat...) to get to the town center.
Thanks!
Once you arrive at the little Hallstatt station, you will be ushered into a ferry that takes you on a scenic five-minute trip across Hallstatt See to the town, it costs about 5 euro as I recall and you can buy it on the ferry. They run the ferry to meet literally every train, so you don't have to worry timing it to make a connection.
Hallstatt is tiny, confined to a small Alluvial fan at the base of a water fall into the lake. Lahn, on the other hand, a ½ km down the lake via a pedestrian road, has many places to stay and is at the base of the funicular to the salt mine. There is a bus around the south end of the lake from Obertraun Bhf, which is one stop from the Hallstatt Bhf, to the bus stop in Lahn. Depending on where you are staying, Hallstatt or Lahn, you might be better off to stay on the train to Obertraun and take the bus to Lahn.
hilary,
As the first reply indicated, it's a very easy trip from the small rail station across to the town. From the station platform, walk down the path to the dock and buy a ticket on the boat. In a few minutes, you'll arrive in Hallstatt.
Are you just planning on going there for a day trip?
No, we're spending 2 nights there :)
hillary,
Thanks for the clarification. Two nights will give you some time to look around, and visit the Salt Mines. If the weather is decent, stop at Rudolfsturm which is the castle at the top of the Funicular. You can have a "cool one" on the patio and enjoy the fantastic views.
Where are you staying? The evenings are quiet but watch for cars. I witnessed a young traveller get "thumped" by a car one night, right in front of Seehotel Grünerbaum.
