Postcard Photo of Hallstatt
I barely planned anything for my trip to Western Austria, so it should not come as a surprise to know that I needed to figure out how to get from Salzburg, where I flew into, to the small village of Hallstatt. The Salzburg airport is a very small airport, and surprisingly, it doesn’t have a direct connection to the railway system. There is, however, two buses which visitors can take to get to the Salzburg train station. Bus 2 and 10 both go to the train station from the airport and they come regularly. You can pay the bus driver for a ticket or purchase one from the kiosks at the bus stop.
Tranquil Hallstatter See at Hallstatt
Getting to the Salzburg train station takes around twenty minutes and much like the airport, it is relatively small compared to other train stations that I have seen. It has a lot of connections though to the city and beyond. From here I needed to take another bus 150 which goes to the city of Bad Ischl. Pay the bus driver as well. It takes around an hour and a half to get to Bad Ischl, so I just sit back and watch the beautiful Austrian countryside.
The route is particularly picturesque as it passes by some snow covered mountains and beautiful alpine lakes. The bus goes by a schedule so it can’t really go any faster even if there aren’t too many passengers. The bus passes through several towns before pulling into the Bad Ischl bus station. From here, it gets a bit tricky. There is a train to take to Obertraun and then you can either take a ferry to cross the lake or bus 543 to go to Hallstatt.
There are also multiple buses to take and it wasn’t exactly clear which ones. There is a bus 542, which I took, which appears to go to Hallstatt, however this is not exactly accurate. The bus stops close to Hallstatt and everyone gets off and transfers to bus 543. You do not need to pay again for the second bus and the driver will bring you to the bus terminal at Hallstatt. The terminal itself isn’t much as it is just a stop, but you can’t help but notice a massive number of tourists taking photos here. You will be pleased to know that the bus stop is very near is also one of the best spots to take photos. I haven’t even checked in with my accommodations yet and I have already started taking photos. After all, I can’t really say no to such a beautiful scene.
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