Three Days in Austria- Salzburg and Hallstatt

Welcome to Austria - The winter wonderland you've always dreamed of. Small towns surrounded by towering mountain ranges capped with white snow is what Austria has to offer. A quick little detour for me on my Eurotrip were the two small towns of Salzburg and Hallstatt. Both are incredibly charming and different in their own way. If you're in the area and you adore castles, lakes, views and Venetian influenced buildings, you'll love visiting Salzburg and Austria.

Day 1: Salzburg and the Hohensalzburg Fortress

Main Train Station in Salzburg

On the first day, we arrived in Salzburg, Austria via "Flixbus". (If you're interested in cheap buses that will take you around Europe for under 30 Euro, I recommend using https://www.flixbus.com/) Only a 7 hour bus ride away from Prague, the views along the path to this adorable town were filled with gorgeous endless green valleys which quickly changed to white washed mountains the further into Austria you go. We later arrived in Salzburg at the Main train station. the address is :5020 Salzburg, Austria. This station is located very close to the city center. I suggest getting an airbnb or a hotel close to this location so that you can take day trips from this central hub.

City Center and Mozart's Birthplace

Spend your day exploring the city of Salzburg. Weave through the Baroque style buildings in the streets of the city center. Decorated with lights strung across the alley ways, this center is magical and enchanting, You'll feel as though you were in the 18th century. Lined with high end clothing shops to souvenir and chocolate shops, you'll have a blast exploring this maze of alleyways.

Are you a fan of Mozart's symphonies and beautiful classical melodies? Then take a visit to the famous composer's birthplace. Now it is turned into a Mozart Museum which you can visit for 9 Euro. The adress is: Getreidegasse 9, 5020 Salzburg, Austria. It's easy to miss because the sign hangs up high. Just look for the yellow building that everyone is taking pictures in front of and you'll find yourself there. It's pretty awesome to know you've walked where Wolfgang Amadeus once stood.

Salzburg Nockerl

After our long bus ride and walking about town, we decided to stop off for some grub. The city center is bustling with fancy restaurants and cafes. We were ravenous at this point so we ate at a quaint little restaurant called "Mozart's Cafe". Here they have authentic Austrian dishes and desserts. While pondering the menu, we stumbled across a full page dedicated to the 'Sweet as love, soft as a kiss' Salzburg Nockerl.

When Mozart would come into town on business, he would demand that his personal chef make his favorite desert for him. This is the famous Nockerl dessert. Baked fresh, you must wait 20 minutes for this dessert to be made once you order and costs 13 euro. It is made form eggwhites, cranberry sauce, and powered sugar and half a foot tall. This desert is massive. Of course we had to order it. It is very light and fluffy, kinda like whipped cream and the hint of cranberry sauce gave it a pop of flavor.

Hohensalzburg Fortress

Towering over the city is the beautiful Hohensalburg Fortress. This structure in 900 years old and has a 360 degree view over all of Salzburg. It is the largest completely preserved castle in central Europe. Impressive walls enclose a Medieval city with a prison, stately chambers, and courtyards. You can roam the fortress streets and enter the lavished chambers or visit the many terraces that has views for miles over Salzburg. My favorite place here was the lookout tower. 150 stairs to the top of a winding staircase, you'll reach the tallest point of the structure. The view is unbelievable with a 360 degree view. Here's Joe :)

And the view from the staircase

The cost is 10 euro to enter and can be reached by three ways: 1. a hike up the mountain taking half an hour of calf burning exercise. 2. a tram taking 5 minutes which costs a little more. 3. An elevator starting at the Modern Museum and a leisure stroll across the mountain ridge to the fortress. We took option 3 and it was pretty romantic. At the top of the elevator of the "Museum de Moderno" is the best view of the city.

Day 2: Hallstatt Day Trip and the Bone Church

Dreams of sipping tea and bundled in warm clothing while staring out over a marvelous lake encased by towering white capped mountains. Well you can find that right here in Hallstatt, Austria. Hallstatt is a very small town a few hours away from Salzburg with less than 1000 inhabitants. I honestly think there are more tourists here every day than there are actual residents. Exploring the town is quite enchanting. Taking a stroll through these old style cottages stacked upon each other takes about half an hour when you are leisurely strolling and window shopping. But even so, there are plenty of things to do here to fill your day.

How to get here: Getting to Hallstatt from Salzburg is pretty easy. From the main train/ bus station in Salzburg, take the 150 bus towards Bad Ischl for about an hour. From here, you hop off and take the 542 towards Hallstatt with one more connection on the 543. These last two buses usually meet for arrivals and departures at the same time for travelers hopping on and off these connections since the stop is out in the middle of nowhere.

Travelers come here form all over to enjoy this little town. Many people simply come for the pictures. There is a main lookout point at the end of Hallstatt where rows of tourists line up to snag a shot.

What makes this place even more magical are all the swans swimming up and down the lake. In order to lure in tourism and establish this fairytale vibe, swans were imported here as an attraction. Even though they are not native, I'm not complaining. They swim right up to you expecting crumbs and bread.

The famous clock tower: Located in the middle of the town, this pointed spire is one of the most photographed structures in town. With a white mountain backdrop and stacked houses, this picturesque building puts Hallstatt on the map for many.

Hike up to the lookout point: Want some amazing views? Take a hike up to the lookout point over Hallsttat. It's a bit of an incline up to the top and will take you about an hour but it is well worth it. There are signs that will lead you to the top so don't worry about finding the way. The hiking road itself is very beautiful. Everything is covered in snow at this altitude and you get to hike through a winter wonderland. You will pass a waterfall and even a few old abandoned mining shafts where they would extract salt from the mountains.

Once we got to the top, we turned towards the valley between the mountains to see a beautiful little cottage with a snow covered pathway towards it. I think it is a hotel, but we did not venture towards it. It was just a great picture.

Once you reach the lookout point, the view is incredible! There is a sky walk for the adventure seekers without fear of heights or being struck by lightning. You can walk out over this ledge to get a wide view of Hallstatt and the surrounding towns, lakes, and mountains. If you get vertigo easily, this may not be for you.

The Bone Church: Back down in the town, there is a little cemetery/ church nestled between houses. Beautifully adorned graves and tombstones sit in the cemetery grounds. They are quite enchanting to walk through and pay your respects. There is a bone church here as well which I have heard has colorfully painted sculls. unfortunately this was closed the day we arrive, which bummed me out, but the cemetery was still a sight to see.

Souvenirs: The town is bustling with life as locals set up shop for all the tourists. With many home made goods, bags, sculptures, and jewelry, you should definitely grab a souvenir here for a keep sake.

Austria is known for their salt mines. Some of the oldest still functioning salt mines are located here. Hallstatt is known for being one of these salt mine big hitters. In every shop here you can find salt related products made with salt mined from the surrounding mountains. Food, salt rocks, salt shakers, salt.. salt... salt. I ended up buying a small salt shaker with real Hallstatt mined salt grains.

Day 3: Mirabell Gardens and Salzburg Salt Mines

Mirabell Gardens: Spend your third day in Salzburg leisurely strolling about a lush green garden in the backyard of the Venetian Mirabell Mannor. A stone gate with masterfully carved statues perched at each pillar encases the gardens. The Mirabell Gardens is truly a time machine back to the Venetian era where men in women in fluffy gowns and white powdered wigs spent their afternoon strolls. Unfortunately you are not able to walk inside of the pathways and there are designated routes along the sides. But that did not take away from the beauty one bit.

There are references to unicorns everywhere in this garden for all those fairytale lovers out there.

And plenty of fountains.

The best part about the Mirabell Gardens is that it is free. We were here in Winter and it still was an enchanting green Eden which makes me believe that this place would be even more lovely in Summertime.

Salzburg Salt mines: Head to the largest still active Salt Mine in Austria today and go miles underground to see how they get the salt from below to the surface.

Getting there: The Salzburg salt mines are about 45 minutes out of town so you have to take public transportation to get there. They are actually located in a small town just outside of Salzburg called Berchtesgarden. From the main train station, you take the 804 bus straight to the salt mines.

As a tourist, this is definitely something that is interesting to see. However, I must warn you that it is meant for kids. But this doesn't mean you can't go see it as an adult. Among all of the families who have come to show their children the salt mines, there were a few adults enjoying it as well. The tour lasts about an hour and the tickets cost about 16 Euro to enter and you get to wear this neat little jumpsuit to keep all your clothes clean.

The start of the tour takes you on a semi fast ride down into the mine by straddling a long seat attached to the rails. If you're tall you should duck because the walls are not wide and spacious. (Not recommended for the claustrophobics). Once you get to the bottom, you find yourself in a massive room where salt has been harvested. This is your first stop and your tour guide will give you a brief summary of this location. Here's the fun part.... the salt mine slide. A small wooden slide takes you about 200 ft down into a black abyss lower into the mine. Hands up!

The rest of the tour takes you to various areas of the mine and your tour guide will give you information about how everything works. It's interesting to see areas of the mine that have been cultivated by modern technology vs. mining in the 18th Century. The highlight of the tour is Mirror Lake. A large lake in the middle of the salt mines reflects the image of the ceiling onto the water. It's pretty beautiful. You then hop onto a tug boat that takes you across the lake with a light show shortly following. They have installed LED lights around the cave and it reflects onto the surface of the water for a visually stimulating experience.

End your tour with the classic 'hazardous explosion' on the ride back to the surface. Let the little kid out and scream along with the rest :)

Explore the streets where Mozart once roamed, visit Hallstatt, and get down with some Salt mines. If mountains, small towns, lakes, and fortresses peak your interest, take a trip to Austria. I hope you've enjoyed my blog and have an amazing journey.