Happy in Hallstatt
Day 3
Today we ventured outside of Salzburg to visit the famed town of Hallstatt, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Coming on this trip we weren't quite sure if we would make it here or not, as it's not the easiest place to get to. This was our first question for our guide, Cynthia. Should we make the easier day trip to Eagle's Nest or venture outwards? It took her no time at all to say Hallstatt was worth the energy!
We had our first little adventure taking the multiple buses out there. A bit confusing, but it had absolutely gorgeous views of the Austrian countryside, and we made friends with the locals who helped us get to where we needed to be.
To describe Hallstatt in one word - beautiful. The water was incredibly blue, the grass and trees were a vibrant green, and the traditional architecture set the scene for the day.
We mostly wandered through the little roads to get a feel for the town. We stopped for a nice lunch on the lake to soak up the beautiful views.
After eating lunch, we took a trip up the funicular to catch views of the town from above. It was our splurge item of the day! They had a little platform you could walk out on to get all the view in the background. We bartered taking somebody's picture to get our own. It was a bit scary at first, but worth it at the end!
We walked around farther up for a little bit, as well. They had a gorgeous patio attached to a restaurant, so we stopped for a quick coke break. It was absolutely beautiful weather, so we had plenty of companions with us.
We decided not to stay too late as we had a long bus ride back. Our first stop in between buses was on the other side of Lake Hallstatt, so we used that wait time to dip our toes in the water alongside all of the native Austrians. It was cool and refreshing!
We made it back to Salzburg by early evening where we wandered back into Old Town for a quick dinner at a restaurant recommended in our guidebook. There was a big musical event going on at the Church, so we weren't the only ones out and about that night.
