Heading Back Down to the Village of Hallstatt
I was pleasantly surprised with the Salzwelten Hallstatt. I actually didn’t know much about the place until I actually walk to the ticket booth. I realized that everything is actually high up the village of Hallstatt. While the tour of the salt mine was okay, I think the location of the place more than makes up for it. The Salzwelten Hallstatt visitor center is one of a few structures here high above the village. There is also a cafe restaurant which happens to have a nearby viewing platform where you can see much of the area around Hallstatt. I think I got more than my fill of photos of this very beautiful scenery.
Going Down the Salzwelten Hallstatt Funicular
The open areas of Sazlwelten HAllstatt technically doesn’t have a closing time, however, the funicular going down the mountain does. Depending on the season, there will be different closing times posted in conspicuous places. There is actually one posted right as you step outside the funicular station. While I didn’t risk finding out what happens if you miss the last car down the mountain, I suspect that there is a way down the mountain via mountain path. When I was purchasing the ticket to Salzwelten Hallstatt, I found out that visitors have several options and that includes having the funicular as optional. This means that there is another way down the mountain.
I thought this was an interesting option if it wasn’t winter. However, I think it will be very dark going walking down the mountain in the dark for several hours and I don’t think that would be fun at all. I took the funicular down the mountain and this time, the clouds have cleared and I can see the village of Hallstatt below. I wasn’t able to do take photos going up because there was just too much cloud cover and there was nothing to see. When I got back down, I saw that there was already a very long queue to ride the funicular. I was glad I decided to go there early precisely because I was afraid this will happen. I can’t imagine how long the queue gets in the summer.
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