When you’ve gone tired of those overrated tourist spots, don’t you want to visit a dreamy place, maybe a village with 16th-century Alpine houses situated on a mountain that’s beside a lake?  Tucked in the midst of Austria (yes it’s Austria not Australia, as in The Sound of Music) is an amazing and almost surreal destination that’s far away from the hustle and bustle.  Read on to find out the Hallstatt budget travel hacks that we ourselves unraveled along the way..

Hallstatt was the key to my discovery that Central Europe is far beyond amazing (you can easily take trains and before you realize it, you’ve already reached another awesome country – Switzerland, Germany, Hungary, Croatia, Czech, etc).  It’s the sole reason why we came to Austria and we then realised that the country has a lot of hauntingly beautiful places apart from Hallstatt.

How to Get to Hallstatt from Vienna

The big question is how to get to Hallstatt, as it is relatively an off-the-beaten track.  Some tourists would resort to booking a tour to get to this place, but the truth is, you don’t really need to spend so much for that.

Now if your point of entry is Vienna, it’s easy to take a train from  Hauptbahnhof (German for central station) to Hallstatt.  As for us, we alighted at Bad Goisern (which is 10 km before Hallstatt) since we booked our accommodation there.

Train Company	Route	Cost
OBB	Wien HBF to Bad Goisern	€ 24

Travel Tip:  Book your train tickets early to get cheaper rate (even within the same country) — we booked ours two weeks ahead online.

Where to Stay in Hallstatt / Bad Goisern

Accommodations in Hallstatt are quite expensive; an alternative is to stay somewhere nearby that’s also worth exploring, and yes, we made the best decision of staying in Bad Goisern!  I hope I don’t sound exaggerating but I love Bad Goisern so much that I consider it my fave place in this Eurotrip.

Hostel	Gästehaus Mörtlmühle
Number of Nights	2
Room Type	Family Double Room
Price/person for the entire stay	S$ 109.5
Location	Bad Goisern
What’s nearby?	Traun River, 5-min walk to train station

Accommodations run out fast at this area and we were lucky that two months before the trip, we were still able to book at Gästehaus Mörtlmühle thru Agoda.  This is unsponsored, but we highly recommend this hostel and are in deep gratitude as we were well taken care of during our whole stay (to the point that we may be causing a bit of inconvenience already).  Nevertheless, the owner and staff have catered to all our needs.

Travelling to Hallstatt from Bad Goisern

Personally, one whole day spent in Hallstatt is enough.  The challenge on getting around this place is the influx of tourists (unfortunately, we went on a Sunday so there were more visitors then), and sad to say that most of them wander around as if this is a theme park.  In fact, some are even oblivious to the fact that locals actually live in this place.

 

Getting Around Hallstatt

One of the first spots in Hallstatt is the charming and historic market square.  The Holy Trinity statue stands in the middle and while the photo shows a very laidback vibe (this was taken before we left), in reality, there were a lot of tourists when we reached the place in the morning (would have been crazier if it wasn’t raining).

How to Get to the Iconic Hallstatt Spot

The view (above) may look very familiar – this photogenic angle is what you’ll see in almost any Hallstatt photo, only that it changes colors according to its season.  You would have to go uphill to see this – we started our tour from left, bordering the lake then climbing up to the right until we reach the almost end, which is where you’ll see this very picturesque spot.

Where to Eat in Hallstatt

You don’t have spend on overpriced fancy restaurants so as to have a great meal in Hallsttatt. We’ve had our affordable lunch at Maik’s heiße Hütte with amazing Hallstatt views.  The frankfurter and schnitzelsemmel each costs only 3.80 euros.

**Hallstatt is the 3rd leg of our 2017 Eurotrip. Planning your DIY Eurotrip? Get some tips here: DIY Eurotrip.

1st Leg	Zakynthos
2nd Leg	Vienna
3rd Leg	Hallstatt
4th Leg	Munich
5th Leg	Luzerne

There are so many amazing destinations to write about, so many dreamy places to draw inspiration from.. May we never run out of vigor and fondness to discover, marvel, break the monotony and appreciate life’s blessings from the simplest to the most meaningful form, whenever and wherever you may..