• Westautobahn - The federal capital Vienna is situated in the eastern part of Austria. The A1 Westautobahn is the primary route from Vienna heading west towards St. Pölten, Linz, and Salzburg. Historically, the connection from Vienna to the west was the Roman imperial road, which ran along the southern bank of the Danube, marking the northern boundary of the Roman Empire. This was followed by the k.k. (imperial-royal) Reichsstraße and, from 1921, the Bundesstraße 1, which runs parallel to the A1 Westautobahn. The National Socialists aimed to construct a motorway from Bavaria to Vienna. On 13 March 1938, Austria was annexed by Germany, and on 7 April 1938, Adolf Hitler initiated the construction of the Westautobahn near Salzburg. Post-World War II, the Soviet occupying forces halted further construction of the motorway, which only resumed after the State Treaty of 1955. The journey on the Westautobahn from Vienna to Regau leads to the Salzkammergut Bundesstraße B 145.
• Salzkammergut Straße - From the Regau exit of the Westautobahn, the Salzkammergutstraße B 145 takes travelers through Gmunden and Bad Ischl to Bad Goisern, where they can board the Salzkammergutbahn railway at Steeg-Gosau station. The Salzkammergutstraße runs from Gmunden via Altmünster and Traunkirchen to Ebensee on the western shore of Lake Traunsee, a picturesque section completed in 1861. Before reaching Ebensee, the road runs at the foot of the Kleiner and Großer Sonnstein, which descend steeply to the lake, partly through tunnels. The Salzkammergutstraße offers stunning views of Lake Traunsee and the Traunstein on the eastern shore. From Ebensee, the route continues along the Traun river through the Traun valley, framed by the Höllengebirge mountains in the north and the Totes Gebirge mountains in the south, to Bad Ischl and then to the valley basin of Bad Goisern in the Inner Salzkammergut, located at the northern end of Lake Hallstatt.
• Traunsee - Lake Traunsee is situated on the northern edge of the Limestone Alps at an altitude of 423 meters above sea level, stretching 11.9 km from Ebensee to Gmunden. The Traun river flows through it from south to north. Both the Salzkammergut railway and the Salzkammergut road, which lead to Hallstatt, run along the western shore of Lake Traun. The northern eastern shore near Gmunden is dominated by the rock faces of the Traunstein, some of which drop vertically into the lake. The Traun glacier carved out the basin of Lake Traun as an overdeepened tongue basin. Once the lake basin became ice-free, the Traun began to fill it. Salt from the Hallstatt mine was transported down the Traun to Gmunden, from where it was further transported to Bohemia by a horse-drawn railway. During the k. u. k. Monarchy, Gmunden was a renowned summer resort. The most famous sight in Gmunden is the Ort lake castle.
• Traunstein - The Traunstein on the eastern shore of Lake Traunsee dominates the landscape near Gmunden and Altmünster with its west face, which drops steeply into the lake at a height of up to 1000 meters. The Traunstein, visible from afar, marks the beginning of the Salzkammergut due to its prominent position in the foothills of the Alps. This position was caused by the shifting of the eastern shore of Lake Traun to the north. Originally, the Traunstein was connected to the Höllengebirge on the south-west shore of Lake Traunsee. The area around the Traunstein was always glaciated during the ice ages. The Traun glacier flowed through the Traun valley, leaving behind an overdeepened basin, which was subsequently filled by Lake Traun. The landscape painter Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller immortalized the beauty of the Traunstein along with Lake Traunsee and Ort Castle.
• Traunkirchen - Traunkirchen is located on a peninsula on the western shore of Lake Traunsee, offering a beautiful view of the Traunstein. Inhabited since the early Stone Age and the Bronze and Hallstatt periods, a pagan place of worship existed 3500 years ago on the Odinstein, now known as Johannesberg, a rocky outcrop with a chapel dedicated to St. John the Baptist. Around 1020, a nunnery was established in Traunkirchen, bringing Benedictine nuns from Nonnberg Abbey in Salzburg. Since 1632, a procession has been held on Lake Traunsee on Corpus Christi Day in Traunkirchen, with numerous boats participating. Visitors can watch the procession from the shore.
• Salzkammergutbahn - The Salzkammergutbahn railway connects Stainach-Irdning in Styria with Schärding in Upper Austria. From Gmunden, the railway runs through the hilly hinterland of the western shore of Lake Traunsee to Traunkirchen, offering beautiful views of the lake and the Traunstein. Between Traunkirchen and Ebensee, the route passes through five tunnels up to 1.5 kilometers long under the Sonnstein massif, which slopes steeply down to the lake. The Salzkammergut Railway opened on 23 October 1877 with the first passenger train pulled by the “Hallstatt” locomotive. Emperor Franz Joseph I also used the railway to travel to his summer residence in Bad Ischl on the imperial court train built especially for him. Travelers can board the Salzkammergut Railway at Steeg-Gosau station in Bad Goisern on Lake Hallstatt and travel along the eastern shore of Lake Hallstatt to Hallstatt station.
• Hallstätter See - Lake Hallstatt, whose deep basin was formed by the Traun glacier during the ice ages, is located in the Salzkammergut at 508 meters above sea level at the foot of the Dachstein massif, into which it is cut like a fjord. The lake, running from south to north, is 7.5 kilometers long and 1.4 kilometers wide at its maximum. The Traun flows into Lake Hallstatt at Obertraun and exits at Steeg, a hamlet belonging to Bad Goisern, heading towards the Danube. Hallstatt is situated on the western shore of the lake, on the alluvial cone of the Mühlbach stream. Lake Hallstatt is up to 126 meters deep, with an average depth of 65 meters. Early in the morning, when the mist still lies over the lake, fishermen set out in their long, slender boats to haul in their nets. The whitefish caught are at least four years old and taste much better than farmed fish due to their slow growth.
• Hallstättersee Schifffahrt GmbH - Traveling by boat across Lake Hallstatt is the most beautiful way to approach Hallstatt. Shipping across the lake has always been necessary to transport salt, and visitors to Hallstatt were rowed across the lake in carriages, light transport boats with a shallow keel, until 1862. The first ship to sail on Lake Hallstatt was called the “Hallstatt”. It had a wooden hull made on site, but the steam engine had to be dismantled and delivered up the Traun by water. As there was no coal to run the engine, the steamer was heated with wood. In 1881, the Hallstatt train stop was opened, and regular boat service between the stop on the east bank and the market on the west bank began. Today, the 20-meter-long and 4.60-meter-wide MS Stefanie of Hallstättersee Schifffahrt Hemetsberger GmbH, which can carry up to 130 passengers, runs daily throughout the year between the railway station on the eastern shore of Lake Hallstatt and Hallstatt Markt on the western shore.
• Hallstatt - The landscape of the Salzkammergut is characterized by high mountains, the river Traun, and the lakes. Settlements like the small, picturesque mining town of Hallstatt, situated between steeply rising mountains and on the shimmering Lake Hallstatt, have always been defined by the wealth of salt. The word “Hall” in Hallstatt traces back to the Germanic word for salt. The local population was already extracting salt after 3000 BC by boiling salty springs. Around 1500 BC, salt mining began with the bronze pick. Hallstatt gained fame in 1846 when a burial ground of around 2000 people from the early Iron Age (800 to around 350 BC) was discovered. This is why the Early Iron Age was subsequently called the “Hallstatt Culture,” referring to the material culture around the Alps in large parts of Central Europe. In the 19th century, Ferdinand Waldmüller made Hallstatt famous with his paintings, and Adalbert Stifter with his descriptions of its beauty.
• Pfarrkirche Mariä Himmelfahrt (Maria am Berg) - The parish church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Hallstatt, built around 1150, with its tower given a baroque helmet in 1750, is also known as Maria am Berg. In 1320, the church was rebuilt into a Romanesque church, and in the late Gothic period, the present church was erected on the steep rock. The large south portal of the church was built in 1519. Above the portal are two frescoes by a master of the Danube School, a circle of painters from the first third of the 16th century who bridged the late Gothic and Renaissance periods. Inside Hallstatt’s parish church, visitors will see two winged altars in the double choir, one late Gothic and one neo-Gothic from the late 19th century. The late-Gothic Hallstatt altar of the Virgin Mary, a changing altar with a main shrine and two movable inner and outer wings, is a so-called miners’ altar, donated in connection with the salt mining in Hallstatt.
• Seewirt - Zauner - Seewirt Zauner on Hallstatt’s market square has been the premier fish restaurant of the Salzkammergut since 1893, known for dishes like grilled Reinanken from Lake Hallstatt. Reinanken are a relic of the Ice Age, believed to have advanced from the north to the Alps with the meltwater streams at the end of the last ice age. As the ice receded, large lakes carved out by glaciers remained, forming the habitat of the Reinanken. They prefer water temperatures between 10 and 12 degrees. The spawning season begins at water temperatures below 7 degrees Celsius. Reinanken is a common name in Austria for fish of the genus Coregonus from the trout family, characterized by its white, firm meat with a strong flavor. Reinanken feed exclusively on organisms found in lakes and reach an average size of 30 to 50 centimeters.
• Salzbergbahn - The Salzbergbahn, a funicular railway from the 1980s operated by Österreichische Saline AG, takes passengers up 300 meters in altitude from around 500 meters above sea level in Hallstatt to 838 meters above sea level in the Hallstatt high valley in 5 minutes at a speed of 5 meters per second over a distance of 548 meters. The cabin of the Salzbergbahn funicular railway accommodates 28 people. A funicular railway is a means of transport whose vehicles, running on rails, are pulled by a cable. Two carriages run, connected by a wire rope that runs over a pulley in the mountain station. The two carriages balance each other. They are driven by an electric motor that acts on the pulley in the mountain station. This system allows significant height differences to be overcome over a short distance. The special feature of traveling on the Salzbergbahn is the beautiful view of Hallstatt and Lake Hallstatt.
• Hallstatt Skywalk - Skywalks are viewing platforms that are bridge-like, statically extreme constructions enabling spectacular high-altitude experiences. The Skywalk in Hallstatt, built in 2013, is a steel construction weighing several tonnes and tapering to a point, reminiscent of Hallstatt’s roof gables on one hand and a ship’s bow on the other. It is located on the Salzberg, suspended 360 meters above Hallstatt, directly below the former fortified tower named Rudolfsturm after the first Habsburg Rudolf I. Built between 1282 and 1284 by Rudolf’s son, Duke Albrecht I of Austria, to protect the shaft and scoop buildings of the Hallstatt salt mine, the Rudolfsturm now houses a restaurant/cafe. The Hallstatt Skywalk offers a breathtaking bird’s eye view of Hallstatt, Lake Hallstatt, and the surrounding mountains, making for great photos.
• Schaugrab - In the mid-19th century, a burial ground was discovered in the Hallstatt high valley by chance, as human bones and ancient artifacts were unearthed during gravel extraction. Further excavation revealed a larger burial ground with around 2,000-4,000 burials, occupied from the 8th to 4th century BC. The graves were shallow, with an average depth of 100 to 150 cm and no surface markings. 45% of the graves were cremation graves. The body graves were mostly oriented east-west, in a supine position, facing the exit of the high valley. The graves in the Hallstatt high valley were used to characterize the Early Iron Age of Central Europe in 1874 due to the richness of the grave goods. Since then, the term “Hallstatt culture” has been used to describe the material culture in the Alpine region from the 8th to the 5th century BC.
• Salzwelten Hallstatt - The tour of the historic salt mine begins in the miners’ house with the “dressing up” where visitors are given a “miner’s outfit”. Through a wooden corridor, visitors walk outside and up to the entrance of the Kaiserin Christina Stollen, which was started in 1719. Entering the tunnel with a guide, the first highlight is reached after a few minutes: the slide. Just like the miners, visitors can slide down into the tunnel system! Next is one of the “knowledge stations”, where a film explains the history of salt mining. The tour continues through the tunnels to another slide, the longest underground wooden slide in Europe. The light show at the salt lake, created by salt mining, is particularly special. The last stop on the underground tour in the Salzberg is the Bronze Age cinema, where the oldest wooden staircase in Europe is on display. At the end, visitors can sample various salts and board the small mine train that takes them out of the tunnel.

• Private transportation
• Bottled water
• Lunch
• Tea and coffee
• Breakfast
• In-vehicle air conditioning
• All fees and/or taxes
• Snacks

• Alcoholic Beverages

This tour stands out from other Hallstatt tours primarily because it is an exclusive private tour for two people, complete with a guide and a driver. What makes this tour truly unique is the approach to Hallstatt on the western shore of Lake Hallstatt by boat, offering the most picturesque views. Prior to this, you will travel on the Salzkammergut Railway along the eastern shore of Lake Hallstatt. Additionally, after exploring Hallstatt and visiting the Catholic parish church, the tour includes a delightful three-course meal at one of Hallstatt’s finest restaurants, featuring fish from a lake in the Salzkammergut. Following lunch, the Salzbergbahn funicular will take you up to the Hallstatt high valley, where you can admire the stunning views of Hallstatt, Lake Hallstatt, and the surrounding mountains from the Skywalk. The tour continues with a walk across the burial ground, which gives the Early Iron Age from the 8th to 5th century BC its name, the Hallstatt culture, leading to the miners’ house. Here, a guide will escort you into the historic salt mine.

• Be sure to wear warm clothing and sturdy shoes. Inside the historic salt mine you visit in Hallstatt, it is only around 8 degrees Celsius all year round and the ground is stony.
• The allotted time for transportation/travel is included in the total duration of the tour
• Your guide is a nice, knowledgeable Austrian person
• We can accommodate dietary restrictions such as vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, etc. If you have dietary requirements, please indicate them when booking.

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.