So, picking up where I left us off (thank you for reading along!) On Sunday, we headed to Hallstatt. This is a small village which our guidebook said was a must-see. It turned out we had to take…four trains and a boat to get there. Part of that was probably due to relying on my phone for directions instead of having the hotel concierge book tickets for us (Lesson learned! Use the hotel concierge for navigation help!).
Our train connections were mostly five minutes or less so you can imagine my cortisol was up to there until we reached the Hallstatt stop. If I had let myself breathe I might have enjoyed the train views, which were very pretty! A short distance from Vienna we started to see majestic mountains and cute little towns. When we at last arrived at the Hallstatt train stop it was about 5 PM. When we boarded the boat to cross the lake, I breathed a huge sigh of relief.
Throughout the day I had been telling myself that Hallstatt could not be worth it, no way, nothing could make four trains and a boat worth it. But as the boat neared the dock and the village came into clearer view, I couldn’t catch my breath. We sailed into a postcard. And the rest of the day fell away.
Hallstatt was charming and adorable and the perfect stop between two larger cities. It felt almost pretend, like a village in Disney World. We stayed at the Heritage Hotel, in the building called Seethaler. Our room had a balcony overlooking the lake, with window boxes overflowing with pink flowers, and white curtains blowing in the breeze. It was dreamy. (The room did not have air conditioning, but we slept with the windows and porch door open as we were too high above the lane for anyone to see inside). It truly was the highlight of our trip to wake up the next morning and step out onto the balcony for a look over the silent village and the lake. The lake has swans – lots of them! I’ve never seen swans up close – they are so large and regal – and fluffy!
We stayed in Hallstatt for just under 24 hours and truthfully we didn’t have more time to budget but I wish we might have had. I’ll always remember it.
At last we boarded the bus (rather, three buses – I have to say that public transportation within cities in Austria is good, but not between) to Salzburg. We arrived in Salzburg on Monday evening. Sound of Music country!
We walked around a bit until it got dark. In Kapitelplatz we came upon a screening of an opera from a previous music festival (Salzburg has a music festival every summer and though the official performances tend to sell out weeks in advance, the city provides additional free entertainment for visitors).
In the morning, we went to join…our Sound of Music tour! This was so much fun. The guide and driver were so funny and the weather was sunny and clear. The tour lasted about 4.5 hours, including an hour to walk around the village of Mondsee (this was where the wedding scene was filmed). We also visited the lake from the boat scene, the gazebo, and beautiful mountain vistas, and passed Nonnberg Abbey, Frohnburg Palace (used as the home’s exterior), the marionette theater where “The Lonely Goatherd” puppets live, and other Salzburg sights. The tour ended in Mirabell Gardens (“Do-Re-Mi”). Highly recommend!
We bought a 24-hour Salzburg Pass and went to Hellbrunn Palace to see the trick fountains. This was very charming! (But you can skip the other museums that are included in the Hellbrunn Palace tour.)
It was a super hot afternoon and my friend went back to our hotel to cool off a bit, while I stayed out and did some more exploring with the guidebook. I saw a few other Sound of Music sights including the horse fountain from “I Have Confidence” and the metal bridge between “My Favorite Things” and “Do-Re-Mi” and meandered through charming plazas and streets. Later we met at the funicular to go up Monchsberg mountain and watch the sunset.
The next day we went to Mozart’s Birthplace and the Mozart Residence (both included in the Salzburg Pass – the first, though, is more interesting than the second). We took a boat ride included in the Salzburg Pass (this was just okay) and followed a guided walk in our book to see more of the city. All so interesting! After that we went back to our hotel for supper, and then as the crowning fun jewel of our time in Salzburg, we went to watch The Sound of Music at a youth hostel! (Our book told us about this). We left right before “Something Good” because it was 10 PM and we had to walk back to our hotel, but this was such an iconic experience.
On Thursday morning we left our hotel and took the train to Munich Airport (only one transfer this time). We flew home and b”H landed in the evening. I loved this trip and am so grateful to have been able to go!
Of course I have/had many thoughts about this trip and travel in general. I learned a lot and my next post or two I will write some more reflections on this experience. In the meantime, my list if I get to go to Austria again:
In Vienna, I’d like to see the Leopold and/or Albertina museums, eat a proper apple strudel(!), see the Spanish Riding School exercises or a performance, visit the Clock Museum, Freud Museum, and see the Kinderstransport Monument at the train station. Given another day in Salzburg, we’d have taken the bus to St. Gilgen, then a boat to St. Wolfgang, then the train up the Schafberg mountain (an old-fashioned choo-choo train similar to the one in The Sound of Music).
Thank you for reading! I am happy to answer questions!
thank you for writing up your experiences. it was an interesting read for someone like me who will probably never visit such exotic locations 🙂