Hallstatt 2.0 (Day Trip 2019)

A small enchanting village on Hallstatt Lake, some say it's the most beautiful village in the world. It was my second time in Hallstatt, and I must say that this little village wowed me more during the second visit rather than the first. I was glad I went again. 

The iconic lookout point

This time, I decided to do it as a day trip from Salzburg. The first time I went, we stayed in Obertraun, about 10-minutes drive to Hallstatt. I'll write about it in another entry some other time. 

Since it's just going to be a day trip, we left Salzburg by train early morning at about 7-ish. There was no direct train and we had to go down at Attnang-Puchheim and take the connecting train to Hallstatt. You could also go there by bus 150 from Salzburg to Bad Ischl and change to bus 542 to Hallstatt Gosaumühle then take Post Bus 543 to Hallstatt Lahn. I remember reading about it while doing the research for the trip but opted to take the train instead for a different experience since the day before we already took the bus 150 ride to St Wolfgang and St Gilgen. The reason I did not continue from St Wolfgang to Hallstatt on the same day was because it will be too rushed. I prefer to take my own sweet time exploring one place rather than rushed the visit.

When you arrive at Hallstatt Bahnof, walk to the pier to board the ferry to Hallstatt village

The overall picturesque train journey there took about 2 hours plus.
Tips: People say to choose the seat on the left for a better view, but actually both sides also offer fantastic view, hehe.

When you get down at the train station, take the ferry (its name is Stefanie) to cross the lake to Hallstatt Lanh (that's where the village is). We paid 6 euro for return ticket. It was the peak of autumn when we got there, and the view from the ferry was breathtaking. For someone who's crazy about autumn, I find it magical. 
Tips : Walk straight to the lookout point when you've crossed the lake. The reason being is you would want to avoid the massive crowd therefore go as early as possible.

The view from 'Stefanie'

It's a must to take a photo at this iconic look out point. But be prepared to wait for your turn if you come when the tourist crowd from the tour groups have arrived

I can sit here for hours to take in the view

Pretty eh..?

Another pretty sight

Every corner is insta-worthy

We walked to almost every corner of the village and everywhere we went was beautiful. But bear in mind, you're not the only tourist here. Ever since Hallstatt became everyone's bucket list, thousands of travelers flock here daily to see see it themselves. The photos may portray serenity and calmness but I doubt the locals in Hallstatt village enjoy peaceful day at all when the crowd flock here.

Hallstatt Market Square

Shimmering golden leaves

The first time I came, I didn't get the chance to go up to Skywalk. So this time, up we went. We took the funicular up and down, but you could also hike if you don't feel like paying the pricey ticket. The world heritage view from the skywalk was magical! We were blessed with a sunny day on our visit. I constantly checked the weather forecast and prayed for sunny day and thank God for the perfect weather. 

The awesome world heritage view

You can walk down the stairs to the viewing point

Perfect autumn noon

There's a cafe up there where you can have coffee, snack or proper meals with a view. After walking for quite a bit, legs needed some rest. Had coffee and strudel here while enjoying the time we had before returning to Salzburg later that afternoon.

"Coffee and a view are the perfect blend"

The steep funicular to Skywalk

Despite being super touristy and overly crowded, Hallstatt is indeed a beautiful little village. If it's in your bucket list, I say go see it for yourself. There is this saying and I quote it here;

"It is better to see something once, than to hear about it a thousand times.” ~ Asian proverb

So ask yourself if you would rather just see the photos online or see it yourselves. Either way, it's your call.  We left Hallstatt that day with thousands of sweet memories.

The famous swans of Hallstatt

St Wolfgang and St Gilgen 2019 (Day Trip)

Day tripping to St Wolfgang and St Gilgen. I did not rent any car so we relied 100% on public transportation to move from one place to another. Of course you can cover more places if you choose to drive, but I opted to use public transports to save cost. And I find that in Austria, the public transport infrastructure (train and buses) are excellent, inexpensive and also pretty safe.

So we took Bus 150, after an hour of beautiful ride, we hopped off at Strobl Busbahnoff and changed to bus 546 to St Wolfgang. After about 15 minutes we arrived to a foggy St Wolfgang. Explored the small town a bit but most of the shops were not open yet as it was still early. Grabbed some pastry for snack and decided to go up the mountain.  

The scenic view from the bus ride

What a foggy morning

The town was still sleeping when we arrived at 8-ish

Rode the cog railway @ I call it choo choo train 😉 from lower station at Sankt Wolfgang im Salzkammergut up to Schafberg. Due to construction work, it only went up to the middle station, the Schafbergalm. The steep ride up and down were so beautiful and up on the mountain it was sunny. You wouldn't expect that considering the fog down in the town. 

Enjoying the view from choo choo train

It was perfectly sunny up here

I wondered if he cycled up??

McDreamy..haha

Overlooking Mondsee

We spent quite some time up here, had our packed lunch as well while enjoying the view. I saw an elderly couple and offered to take their photos. Such a lovely couple. I can only dream of that :). One day, maybe.

It was already sunny in the town when we decided to go down. Lake Wolfgang looked so beautiful on a sunny day. We did not linger too long by the lakeside as I wanted to drop by at St Gilgen on the way back to Salzburg. 

Crystal clear lake

Beautiful view, if only I could can stay longer

We took the same bus that we came in and hopped off at Fuschl Am See for a little walk. The lake itself was just a 5 minutes walk from the bus stop. Peaceful place, I did not see any other tourist other than us. It was autumn at its best at the lake. St Wolfgang and St Gilgen are very laid back and not that touristy as compared to Hallstatt. You can also go on the cruise or go up the cable car here. I loved the serenity here. In my next post, I'll write about our day trip to Hallstatt.

In love with Autumn

In my elements

Salzburg, Austria 2019

It's already the second half of the year 2020. And that only means I have not updated my blog in about 1 1/2 years. That long eh..? Oops..

With Covid-9 still everywhere, I doubt that I will have the chance to travel anywhere this year. So, might as well I just write about my previous travels. In 2019 I had the chance to travel to Europe again, repeating the visit to Austria, Germany and had the chance to go to Budapest, Hungary. It was my third time in Europe. Why Europe again, one might ask. Well, I just love the landscape, culture, the architecture, the weather. I love a lot of things about Europe and I definitely would love to go again. Pray for me!

Just for your information, I've been to Austria in 2018 but have yet to write any entry on that, haha. 4 months before the trip, I've decided that it was probably a good idea to repeat Austria again and since Thai Airways was having a pretty good deal, I purchased return tickets to Vienna with a transit in Bangkok.

"The best place to watch a sunrise is from the window pane of an aeroplane"

From Vienna airport, we took the OBB train to Salzburg and stayed at Hotel-Pension Adlerhof which was only a 5 minutes walk from the train station. 

We took a leisurely stroll that evening along Salzach river. Across the river is where the Aldstadt or oldtown is. The part of Salzburg where it's always lively with travellers from every part of the world.

Overlooking Salzach River, watching the sun set.

Took a stroll in Mirabell Garden too. Since we went in the evening, most the crowd has dissapeared. But there were still many people around. For those who don't know, Salzburg is where the Sound of Music was filmed. I grew up watching the Sound of Music and to be able to come here and see this place is really wonderful.

I just love autumn, too pretty. That's mom there.

The rose garden. Roses were huge, such a pretty sight.

Festung Hohensalzburg taken from Mirabell Garden.

I find that Salzburg is cyclist friendly. Even saw locals dressed up in high heels cycling in the city. Interesting, really. I know that this was my second visit to the city but I actually haven't explored enough. Because both times, Salzburg was my base to venture out to other places. Would I return..? Time will tell. In the next entry, I'll write about our trip to St Wolfgang and St Gilgen.