The Hallstatt one-day winter itinerary you will love

Last Updated on February 23, 2022 by

It was the far 1994 when I was gifted a Ravensburger puzzle with a picture of Hallstatt, Austria for my birthday. What a strange gift for a 10-years-old kid, I thought. I couldn’t certainly expect that a few years later, on the exact day I received that bizarre gift, I was THERE, walking one of those Hallstatt’s picture-perfect winding streets. Incredibly, I was looking at the exact photogenic viewpoint lingering in one of my room’s walls for more than 20 years. Hallstatt is a famous destination for spring/summer breaks. Nevertheless, I prefer it in winter! In fact, winter in Hallstatt is magical! The city looks out of a fairytale and you can have all the streets for yourself! This Hallstatt one-day winter itinerary will help you to plan a great trip! Here you will find tips, directions and all the best attractions in Hallstatt.

Why Winter in Hallstatt is a great escape.

Hallstatt is one of the best places to visit in Austria. If you are wondering whether visiting Hallstatt in winter is a good idea. I got you covered! In fact, there are many reasons why you should choose this little village in the Salzkammergut region but I provided below with my top ones!

1. Beat the crowd

A few years ago I saw by chance a picture of the most famous Hallstatt viewpoint during summer. It freaked me out. Hordes of people dangerously pushing themselves over the railing to get the iconic landscape shot of the town. It was estimated that pre-pandemic more than 10,000 people visited Hallstatt every day. Locals complained of overtourism and disrespectful behaviour from visitors (you can read more about this here and here).
I remember I told Alessio “no way I will visit this place over summer”. I always hated to travel during the high season and the perspective of visiting Hallstatt during summer was terrifying. So, when I was planning my visit to the Vienna’s Christmas Markets I thought there wasn’t a better period to include Hallstatt in my itinerary. And I was right.

Visiting Hallstatt during the winter gives you the opportunity to beat the crowd and have the town all for yourself. In fact, the lovely cobblestone streets usually filled with tourist are empty. The charming cafes usually fully booked, have a lot of space and how about having all the most famous Hallstatt viewpoints at your disposal? I wouldn’t exchange that for any visit during summer time.

2. Christmas vibes

If you are travelling to Hallstatt between the end of November and December you will certainly be pleased by the town’s Christmas decorations. However, don’t expect to find any Christmas market. Quite deluded from this discovery, I learnt that the Advent celebrations in Hallstatt are a little different than the rest of Austria. In fact, Hallstatt Christmas Markets called “the Romantic Market” is live only on the 8th of December. During this day, the market square of Hallstatt become very festive. In fact, you can listen to traditional music, have mulled wine, shop handmade crafts and visit the 3D wooden nativity displayed on the square. The rest of the month you can just feel the Christmas vibes all over the town.

3. Winter sports

While visiting Hallstatt during winter, you can take the opportunity to experience the skiing season in the Dachstein Salzkammergut-region. In fact, the region is proud of more than More than 60 km of skiing slopes where you can practise snowboarding and skiing. Among the most famous ski setting to choose: the Obertraun/Gjaidalm trail, Obertraun valley and the Gosau trails. Many resorts in Hallstatt offer a free shuttle pick-up that will bring you directly to the snowy slopes. You should check the Hallstatt winter sport website for more information.

The most adventurous people can also book a session of under ice diving in the Salzkammergut.

4. Hot chocolate

I don’t know about you but I am a hot chocolate person. One of the reasons why I love winter is to have a hot chocolate in a cosy cafe while outside is very cold! It’s a romantic vision of winter I know but in Hallstatt this comes true. Winter in Austria can be particularly cold. Moreover, afternoon are shorts so what a better way to relax if not having a hot chocolate in one of the lovely Hallstatt cafes? For our cosy afternoon we chose to have a drink at Die Gemischtwarenhandlung. This is quite central in Hallstatt. The place has some quite bad reviews from TripAdvisor, particularly about the “rude” staff. However, I honestly don’t remember it was so bad. On the contrary, we spent there almost one hour while waiting for our return ferry and we had a very nice time. Of course bad experiences can happen to anyone.

It’s a great day trip from Salzburg

Hallstatt is located at just two hours (train ride) from the lovely Salzburg. This make it the perfect place for a day trip. Especially if you are in Austria for the winter season. You can visit it either with a Salzburg to Hallstatt tour o independently. If you want to get on a tour, there are plenty of these in Viator or Get your Guide. These generally costs between £50-100 per person and may be worthy if you don’t drive and don’t like to plan a train visit.

If you want to visit independently, the best option is taking the train from Salzburg. This is quite cheap (generally £20 for an A/R ticket) and will give you plenty of time for a day-trip exploration.

If you have a rental car, you can decide to take the very short drive. In fact Salzburg is just at a 1 h and 15 minutes from Hallstatt and the road trip is probably worth just for the stunning view of the mountains!

Places to visit in Hallstatt during winter

Are you wandering what to do on a day-trip to Hallstatt during the winter season? I’ve got you covered. In fact, despite the cold, there are lot of things to do in Hallstatt, even in winter!Read below to discover it!

Have a lunch with a view at the Heritage Hotel Restaurant “Im Kainz”

The restaurant Im Kainz inside the Heritage Hotel is one of the most famous in Hallstatt. Known for its breathtaking view over the lake and delicious cuisine, is surely one of the places to put on your Hallstatt bucket list. We stopped there for lunch and I was happy to see they had plenty of space without need of reservation (I don’t think it would be the same in summer!). We enjoyed a delicious traditional Austrian Schnitzel with potato salad and I have to say it was one of my favourite I tasted in Austria!

Visit the iconic Evangelische Pfarrkirche

The Evangelische Pfarrkirche is probably the most iconic landmarks of Hallstatt. With its tall bell tower this Evangelical church is visible from almost every viewpoint of the town. Indeed, it is probably the superstar of every Hallstatt picture you will see around. Built in 1785, the Neo-Gothic building didn’t have the current aspect. In fact, the bell tower was added only in 1864. The church is free to enter and still preserve its original Neo-Gothic architecture.

Tip: if you are planning to enter inside the church, it’s better to visit in the morning. In fact, it becomes very dark in the afternoon and it’s impossible to take pictures or appreciate the beautiful wooden works.

Photograph the cute houses of Marktplatz

The picturesque Market Square in Hallstatt attracts visitors since the 14th century. Encircled by the most colourful houses of the town, this little historical square is bustling with life. In fact, it’s the main location of several restaurants, shops and small hotels. In the past, it was used often for the local market and now it’s the main spot for the city’s most important events like the Corpus Christi or the Christmas Market.

While during summer is often busy with hundreds of tourists, in winter you can enjoy moments of quiet. I loved to photograph all the colourful houses without the need of waiting for people to move away! Moreover, during the Christmas period the square hosts a lovely wooden nativity that replace temporarily the Holy Trinity statue erected in the 18th century.

Hit all the best Hallstatt viewpoints

Well, I would tell you a lie if I don’t admit that I wanted that damn postcard picture of Hallstatt too! I was admiring this view from my room for many years, so it was one of my objectives to get to see it in person! However, the famous Hallstatt viewpoint is just one of the many panoramic spots you can find around the town. In fact, there are many beautiful viewpoints where you can see the town from a different perspective and all of them are unique and amazing!

How to find the Hallstatt postcard viewpoint

If you want to get this famous postcard shot (and I bet you do), you should go a little out of the city centre. Indeed, the far you can get, the best you will capture the Hallstatt skyline. However, there is a specific viewpoint called “postcard viewpoint” and to find it you can search for the exact words on Google or put these coordinates on your Google maps 47.56459, 13.64997. This is located just in front of a place called “Haus Cian”. Even in winter, you may find a few people taking shots but nothing disturbing like in summer.

The best viewpoints in Hallstatt

As I said before, the postcard viewpoint is not the only place you can get stunning pictures of Hallstatt. Indeed, one of my favourite was the view of the town from the lake when I was arriving by boat! Hallstatt is a relatively small town. However, it’s full of little staircases and secret passages that will lead you to the most unexpected panoramic views. Below, you can find a small list of best viewpoints I loved to take my pictures of Hallstatt. The map below will help you to find the locations directly from your phone!

1. The first, is the classical “postcard viewpoint” I talked about in the previous paragraph
2. The second viewpoint is located on the opposite side of the town at the Seecafé. This little place has one of the best views in Hallstatt and you can also enjoy a lovely meal.
3. My third favourite viewpoint is located on the Short Term car park. I know that it sound strange but this car park has a lovely terrace with one of the best views of Hallstatt. Just to give you an idea the fourth picture above is shot from the car park! To reach this place you should climb a series of small staircases that start behind the Market Square.
4. A fourth favourite viewpoint is the one close to the hotel Haus Höplinger. This view is similar to the one you get at the car park but with a little close-up on the Hallstatt architecture
5. The fifth and last favourite view point is quite easy to find. In fact, is the one in front of the Heritage Hotel. This will be probably the first point you’ll find when arriving by boat.

Hike to the Hallstatt Waterfalls

The mountainous area of Hallstatt is full of waterfalls. Nevertheless, only two of them are reachable on foot during a day trip. The first, and closest one, is the Mühlbach Wasserfall. This is visible from the main streets of Hallstatt and it’s actually formed by a series of little waterfalls falling from the river Mühlbach. This is quite a nice and easy hike as it takes around 10-15 minutes to arrive to the highest visitable point. Nevertheless, this is not impressive as the view you have from the city or from the car park (yes it’s visible also from there).

A second, and more impressive waterfall, is Waldbachstrub Wasserfall. This is located in the Echerntal region and you can reach it by hiking for 1h-1h and a half from the centre of Hallstatt. If you have a car, is probably better to undertake the short 15 mins drive to save time on your day. Be aware that in winter this waterfall may be a little frozen and the hiking conditions more challenging than summer. If you want to hike, get prepared for possible snowy/iced terrains.

Visit the unique Michaelskapelle and the Parish of St Mary Assumption

No visit to Hallstatt can be considered complete without a stop in the peculiar Pfarrkirche Mariä Himmelfahrt. This is the Catholic church of the town and it’s famous not only for its historical value but also for its unique ‘Bone House’ attracting visitors from all over the world. Indeed, the original church dates back to 1150 and still preserve the foundations of it’s tower. The present building in Romanesque style dates back to the 14th century but it had several renovations including a last one in 2002. The church still preserves its 1500 frescoes that you can see in the portal and in the interior choir.

The Bone House in the St. Michael’s Chapel

The most famous part of the Parish is its Beinhaus or Charnel House in the St. Michael’s Chapel. this peculiar chapel dates back to the 12th century and displays a collection of over 600 painted skulls. To note that most skulls have been painted between the 18th-20th centuries and this practice was not used before. Indeed, skull-painting was a cultural practice of the eastern Alpine region that was imported into Hallstatt.

According to the tradition, when a burial needed to be reused, the skull or bones of the person in the burial were transferred into the Bone House. Here, a second funeral was held for the deceased and the family members painted the skull with decorative ornaments to preserve the identity of the dead person. Ornaments were usually floral motifs and initial letters of the person’s name.

Getting to Hallstatt from Vienna

Travelling to Hallstatt by Car

Getting to Hallstatt from Vienna is very easy. If you decide to go by car, this is a relatively short drive (288 km) and it will take around 3 h and 26 mins.

Travelling to Hallstatt by train

If you decide to go by train (a we did) you should book your tickets online via the ÖBB website. Depending on your departure time and type of ticket, you can get a fare as low as €19.9 for a one-way train ticket to Hallstatt from Vienna. Tickets from Salzburg are slightly cheaper (19€ for an A/R ticket) and the journey is shorter.

I frankly find the ÖBB website and app a little user-unfriendly. In fact, it’s still a mystery how to book an A/R ticket. However, if I have to choose between the two, the app is a little better. Moreover, when selecting the tickets for your trip, choose simply “Hallstatt” this will direct you to the Hallstatt Bahnhof that is the correct station. Ignore all the other stations that will pop up when you write Hallstatt (I told you the website is a little unfriendly).

IMPORTANT NOTE: The Hallstatt train station is located on the opposite side of the lake. Ergo, to reach the town from the station you have to take a small ferry. Read below for more info!

Taking the Stefanie ferry boat in Hallstatt

The Hallstatt train station is just at two-minutes walk from the pier where you can take the ferry. This departs every 15 minutes and will leave you in front of the Heritage Hotel. The Stefanie ferry (Yes it has a name and it’s famous for that) operates all-year-round even in winter. Unfortunately, you can’t book your ferry tickets in advance but you should purchase them aboard.

For this reason, is better to have the exact change as they don’t accept card payments.

How much does it cost taking the ferry to Hallstatt?

The fee for the basic ferry connection is € 3,5 for a one-way ticket and € 6 for an A/R ticket. These come in form of a flying piece of paper so if you buy an A/R ticket is better to pay attention and not loose it.

If you want to check the ticket prices or the timetable, you can see them on their website here.

What are the pros of taking the ferry?

I have to say I am not a great fan of ferries because years ago I discovered I suffer from sea-sickness especially when aboard of small and slow-moving boats. So, I was not particularly excited to jump on the Stefanie. However, the journey (which is very short and last around 10 mins) was very smooth and I didn’t have any problem.

One of the advantages of travelling by train and then take the ferry is the experience. You will pass through the most beautiful landscapes of Austria and then you’ll get the opportunity to photograph Hallstatt from the lake. This last thing in particular is very special because during winter there are no small cruises departing from the town. Ergo, the ferry is your only chance to see Hallstatt from the lake.

Enjoy your travels!

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