Lake Hallstatt is a stunning lake in Austria, near Salzburg. The beautiful lake is named for Hallstatt – the charming small market town nestled at the base of the salt mines, surrounded by towering Alps, on the lake shore.
Hallstatt is spectacular – one of the world’s prettiest places – the mirror lake surrounded by Austrian alps…its fjord-like with the tall often-white capped peaks and the deep lake as the centerpiece. Lake Hallstatt is 125 meters deep, giving it a mesmerizing blue color. The tiny village of Hallstatt sits picture-perfect with a towering steeple, and delightful wood chalets, narrow stone streets, perched on the shores of the 7-kilometer-long lake.
Don’t have time to read our article, Find Lake Hallstatt’s Best Hotels Here
Be sure to walk to Lake Halstatt’s signature photo spot, its actually called Postcard Point, walk north along the shoreline until you see the perfect view of the lake and church steeple behind you.
Explore Market Square and the Old Town with its colorful alpine chalets hand-built centuries ago by locals. Go inside Hallstatt’s Evangelical Church, the one with the impressive steeple. You’ll see tacky vendors selling tourist things, just keep strolling. The Bone House is a short walk to St Michale’s Chapel from Market Square to see 600 preserved skulls for a small fee.
If you are feeling fit hike up the Müllerstiege stairs for another magnificent vantage point and view. Then find a cozy cafe for an Austrian pastry like apfel streudel and a frothy coffee.
Ride the Funicular to Hallstatt Skywalk for an aa ign 360-panorma of the Lake and town below!
Take a boat ride on the gorgeous Lake or walk to the Hallstatt Waterfalls cascading down the steep hillsides – a short stroll from town!
Visit the Salt Mine… Hallstatt and the Salzburg region are famous for “salt” (salz, statt). In this beautiful mountain region, locals have been mining since prehistoric times. Hallstatt was home to the world’s oldest salt mine and a trade route to transport the vital mineral nicknamed “white gold” (since 1596). You can still visit the Salt Mines today, with a train ride, cave tours and an amusement park vibe. We visited in January, skiing the Salzburg mountains, during Lake Hallstatt’s “quiet season,” and we chose to ski Krippenstien Glacier instead.
Interestingly, a tunnel sends traffic below the town, a marvel of Austrian engineering so that traffic and a busy highway doesn’t disrupt the village…. However, Hallstatt still gets very busy with tourists– particularly in summer.
Lake Hallstatt is a UNESCO World Heritage site, which is a blessing and curse as Asian tourists flock here in bus loads for their selfies by the pristine lake. We visited in January, skiing the Salzburg mountains, during Lake Hallstatt’s “quiet season” or so we thought! We were bummed to see a bustle of bus loads clogging the otherwise picturesque village streets. But they departed on their buses by 6pm leaving us to enjoy the pretty town. Apparently in summer, the little town is clogged with tourists, parking is sold out, and the narrow streets and waterfront are woefully packed.
We stayed in town at Pepi’s Chalet in Hallstatt, in a lovely chalet by the lake for two days, and found that Hallstatt, despite its natural charm now lacks an authentic local feel. Its been over-touristed like so many places, Geithorn in the Netherlands, Venice Italy, Barcelona Spain, Bar Harbor and Kennebunkport Maine, come to mind.
Nearby skiing from Lake Halstatt is at Loser at Altausseee, Krippenstien and the The Dachstein Glacier and Tauplitz and many worthy ski resorts.
You are just an hour to the wonderful musical city of Salzburg, birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and the setting for The Sound of Music.