Day Trip to Hallstatt from Vienna: Everything you Need to Know!

Pictures can speak for themselves 😍…

But really, Hallstatt is incredibly beautiful. Not only is the town full of incredible, traditional architecture, it is squeezed into the Austrian Alps and overlooking the incredible Lake Hallstatt. It is a fairytale town. Plus, you can go to the Hallstatt Skywalk and get a view of all of it from above!

If you have only been in (or plan to be) in Vienna, this is a great way to bring nature into your city break!

How to Get to Hallstatt from Vienna by Car

If you are planning to do a road trip around Austria (which can be fun!), you can definitely drive from Vienna to Hallstatt on your way to your next destination (which should be Salzburg). In this case, your day trip to Hallstatt from Vienna will be more of a “pass-through” day trip, but still a day trip nonetheless!

How to get there: You will take A1 toward Linz, until exit 224 where you will get on B145, which you can follow to the old town of Hallstatt.

Be aware, there are tolls on this road and parking can be limited in Hallstatt. However, if you plan to get that early start, you shouldn’t have any problems finding a place to park.

Drive time: about 3 hours and 38 minutes

Rent a car to road trip Austria!

How to Get to Hallstatt from Vienna By Train

You can get to Hallstatt from Vienna with one train change, which is nice. There are various trains that go between Vienna and Hallstatt, so the train number will change depending on the time you choose.

The best (and quickest) train route will go to Linz then switch trains to Hallstatt, which will be about a 3.5 hour train ride if you time it right.

Cost: Will vary by time of year. During Christmas, the round trip train ride was between 70-80 euros per person, but in mid-January you can get round trip tickets for closer to 40-50 euros.

Intercity Train Tickets (as well as metro tickets!) Can be Purchased Through ÖBB! (Recommend getting the app)

Ferry to Hallstatt

If you arrive in Hallstatt via train, you will arrive on the east side of Lake Hallstatt (Hallstätter See) and the old town of Hallstatt is on the west side of the lake. Therefore, you will have to ferry from the train station to get to the picturesque town of Hallstatt and the skywalk.

You will arrive at Bahnstation Hallstatt and ferry to Hallstatt Markt

The ferry is only about 10-15 minutes and runs every 30 minutes to an hour. Tickets will be purchased on the ferry upon arrive (no prebooking) and is CASH ONLY.

Ferry times and information can be found here

I did extensive research on how we wanted to make a day trip of going to Hallstatt.

In December, it was going to be about 70-80 euros for round-trip train tickets, about 22 euros to ride the funicular to the skywalk plus about 7 euros for the round trip ferry ride.

• This put it at about 100 to 110 euros to take a day trip to Hallstatt via train.

A guided tour is about 135 euros per person. So, for not much more we got:

• A stress-free ride to Hallstatt that took us directly to the old town of Hallstatt on the west side of the lake
• A stop at Schloss Ort, a castle located on a little island on Lake Traunsee

About the Tour To Hallstatt

I talked with two solo travelers on the bus to Hallstatt and they had come up with the same conclusion; the guided tour had more bang for your buck. The logistics of taking multiple trains and a ferry for nearly the same price as the guided tour didn’t make sense for us.

Again, the travel time from Vienna to Hallstatt is nearly 4 hours, so this is going to be a FULL DAY trip. The tour begins at 8am and gets you to Hallstatt by about 12 or 12:30pm.

They do a good job of breaking up the drive on the way there. You make a stop for a restroom and snack break at a restaurant about an hour and a half into the drive.

Then, about 45 minutes from Hallstatt there is a quick stop at Schloss Ort, an Austrian castle perched on a lake island (about a 30-40 minute stop.)

Once you get to Hallstatt, the guide will take you to the funicular to climb up to the Hallstatt Skywalk (tickets are included.) Once the guide scans you through, you are free to explore at the Hallstatt Skywalk on your own and then can descend into town at your own pace.

Book our Tour

We took the “Hallstat & Alpine Peaks day Trip with Skywalk” tour with 7Travel

–Start Time: 8am
–Duration: ~13 hours
–Includes: Stops at Schloss Ort and Hallstatt + a restaurant stop. Tickets to Skywalk Included.
–Price: 135 euros

Book This Tour!

So if its going to take you 3.5 to 4 hours to get to Hallstatt, how much time does that leave you to explore the town?

If you leave Vienna around 8am, you will arrive around noon or 12:30 pm. During the winter, the sun sets in Austria between 4 and 4:30pm, so you will have about 4 hours of daylight to explore Hallstatt.

The guided tours to Hallstatt leave to head back to Vienna around 4:30pm.

So, even in the summertime, you will have about 4 to 4.5 hours to explore Hallstatt with a guided tour.

Visiting Via Car or Train

Obviously, if you are opting to go by car or train, you can choose to leave earlier! And, as a morning person, I would have chosen to do so to have a little more time in Hallstatt!

Trains can leave as early as 5 or 6am from Vienna, so if you want more than 4.5 hours in Hallstatt, you can certainly make that happen.

However, know that Hallstatt is quite a small place. In 4 hours you will be able to go to the skywalk and explore the town in plenty of time. You just probably won’t have time to explore other parts of the lake.

Hallstatt Skywalk

A must-do in Hallstatt is the skywalk located up the funicular. This is where you can get INCREDIBLE views of Hallstatt, the lake and mountains from above!

There is also a restaurant at the top where you can grab a coffee, beer or snack.

If you take the guided tour, the Hallstatt Skywalk ticket will be included. If you are on your own, tickets are about 22 euros

Hallstatt Panoramic Viewpoint

If you have seen “the photo” of Hallstatt, with the picturesque church steeple with the mountain backdrop, it was taken at the “Hallstatt Panoramic Viewpoint.” If you look it up on Google, it is literally named this.

However, there is about one street in Hallstatt, so if you take that road until it “Ys” at the famous Hallstatt Lutheran Church (Evangelische Pfarrkirche Hallstatt) and keep left, up a slight incline, you will find it!

See the Swans!

The swans roam free, so you can find them at various places along the lakeside edge.

Popular spots are just in front of the famous Hallstatt Lutheran Church (“the” church with the steeple”) as well as a few other waterfront properties along Lake Hallstatt.

Grab a Coffee at Cafe Bäckerei Konditorei Maislinger

This coffee shop was recommend by our tour guide. It has coffee as well as a variety of pastries and sandwiches (the schnitzel sandwich was good!).

• Here is a menu and information on the cafe.

Hallstatt Charnel House (The Bone House or Ossuary at St. Michael’s Chapel )

I, SO UNFORTUNATELY, did not know this was here until I had already left. So I am adding it to the list so you don’t miss it.

But a unique place to visit is the Hallstatt Charnel House, a cemetery that is filled with over 1,200 skulls that have been bleached and painted.

• Why, you ask? Turns out there is not a lot of space in Hallstatt for grave sites, so after about 10-15 years of being buried, remains were dug up and then placed into the Hallstatt Charnel House to make room for newly deceased residents.
• Located on the way to the Hallstatt Panoramic Viewpoint (address here)

Just walk the Entirety of Seestraße

From the bus drop off station, if you take Seestraße you will pass by the main shopping stores, coffee shops, and to the Marktplatz Hallstatt (main square).

From there, the road changes names, but if you keep left at the famous Hallstatt Lutheran Church, you will pass by the Hallstatt Charnel House and then all the way to the panoramic viewpoint, You can’t get lost in Hallstatt.

HAVE CASH. Many of the stores to not accept cards in Hallstatt (and you often have to pay to potty!)

Don’t spend too much time at the skywalk so you can have time to explore the town. About an hour will be plenty to climb up, look around and get back down.

Be respectful of the locals. The houses are CUTE, but also people live there.

In a day trip from Vienna, you will likely not have time to do the salt mine tours. MAYBE if you decide to catch the earliest train, but definitely not if you are taking the guided tour.

Recap for Your Day Trip to hallstatt from Vienna!

In a day trip from Vienna, you won’t be able to see all the nooks, crannies and mountain trails in Hallstatt. But you WILL be able to visit the Hallstatt Skywalk and have several hours to explore the town. And, if you like a small, mountain town, you will like Hallstatt!

Here is how to spend 4 days in Vienna during Christmas time!