Heritage Hotel Hallstatt

The Heritage.Hotel Hallstatt encompasses three richly storied townhouses to form a hotel the likes of which are rare indeed. The main building, Kainz house, is situated right on the jetty – here’s where you check in, start every day with a generous breakfast and unwind in the sauna at the end of your day.

Stocker house, only a three-minute walk from the main house, is Hallstatt’s oldest and most unique building. It will welcome you with its special charm. Seethaler house, a five-minute walk from the main house, commands a unique view across Lake Hallstatt from its perch on the hillside. Each and every one of the three houses’ rooms has its own character and tells its own story.

In our restaurant “Im Kainz” you can expect delicious Austrian classics and regional specialties from the Salzkammergut. Start your day with a delicious breakfast in the Heritage.Hotel and get ready for the day in a perfect setting!

Hallstatt’s town centre is not accessible to tourists’ vehicles. A fact our guests fully appreciate on their leisurely strolls through the town. You can travel to Hallstatt most conveniently by parking your car on the public car park P1 and taking the free shuttle service to the hotel. We wish you a good journey here!

Spend un unforgettable holiday in the UNESCO World Heritage Site Hallstatt, at the heart of the beautiful Salzkammergut. The town will welcome you to experience cultural highlights, take part in traditional events or simply unwind and escape the stresses of everyday life. Hallstatt is the place to lay back, explore and just slow right down – come and see for yourself!

A TRULY SPECIAL ATMOSPHERE
In summer, the glittering lake. In winter, a wonderland in white. Traditional Christmas markets. And more and more beyond. Let yourself be swept up in a dream, and find the time to simply be and unwind. And let’s be frank – what other place is so impressive that a foreign country has built a facsimile of it?

The Heritage.Hotel Hallstatt on the picturesque shores of Lake Hallstatt encompasses three listed buildings, each with a rich history. What they share is the tasteful interior design and the unrivalled charm of beautiful Hallstatt.

And yet, none of them are alike, just like not two of our rooms are alike either. Explore what our three houses have in common and discover their differences and their enchanting history.

INTRODUCING YOUR HERITAGE.HOSTS
Peter Scheutz and Simone Lenz, your hosts at the Heritage.Hotel Hallstatt, are ‘trueborn’ Hallstatt locals who consider maintaining the hotels’ storied houses a duty and an honour. Both love being hosts – and travellers – and are grateful for being able to welcome guests from more than 100 countries to the Heritage.Hotel Hallstatt every year.

While the two of them love hosting guests from near and far at the hotel, Simone and Peter are just as delighted to see locals come to the hotel, to celebrate or even to marry. The two further organise concerts for local bands several times a year in the Im Kainz restaurant in order to offer the townspeople a good show.

As Hallstatt’s mayor, Peter Scheutz was involved in developing and realising the hotel project from the very beginning. He has been working at the hotel since 2010, and was its managing director in the difficult, early years.

It is thanks to him that the Heritage.Hotel Hallstatt has become a shining example of how to run a business throughout the Salzkammergut. The Heritage.Hotel Hallstatt is so dear to him that he is still working as managing director of Hallstatt Hotelerrichtungs GmbH, the company that runs the business side of the hotel.

You could say that Simone Lenz grew up in the Heritage.Hotel Hallstatt. She also studied international management and has spent considerable time abroad. Three years ago, she took on the legal position of managing director and has since put her hearts’ blood into running the Heritage.Hotel Hallstatt.

Although she has her director’s office, you’ll find her involved in the daily work all over the hotel. She firmly believes in leading from the front and is proud to have an excellent team with many years of experience working together at her side.She is meticulous in ensuring that the hotel’s guests are satisfied at all times and her discipline in keeping the hotel impeccable is evident in every aspect.

As a long-time, very conscientious employee and head of the reception, Monique Colombel, also a Hallstatt local, takes over the management of the hotel during Simone Lenz’s absence.

KAINZ HOUSE
The venerable main house Kainz lies right on the jetty in the very heart of Hallstatt. Heritage.Hotel Hallstatt’s main building sits ensconced in the historic centre below the Catholic and opposite the Protestant church.

Besides rooms, house Kainz is also where you will find reception, our restaurant “Im Kainz” and the Heritage.Sauna. For centuries, the Heritage.Hotel Hallstatt has hosted guests and connoisseurs of culture in its luxurious rooms, windows or balconies and patios looking out across Hallstatt and the lake, and has brought to life Hallstatt’s singular flair.

Traditions, customs and stories are afforded great significance in Hallstatt. You will come to recognise this time and again during your stay with us, just as you’ll come to learn about many of them on your outings. But we’d like to tell you the story of our lakeside hotel before you arrive for your stay.

Kainz house – origins and history in 10 facts

The year is 1770. Ignaz Stephan Seeauer assumes proprietorship of his father’s house including salt works, at the time known as Kramser Salt Works House.

In the early 19th century, tourism brings the first visitors to Hallstatt, and the Seeauer family wishes to chip in. Ignaz’s heir Franz Karl Seeauer, together with his mother, begins running an inn with rooms alongside the salt works. The inn is opened by his mother.

In 1850, the old Seeauer house is given over fully to the inn, with Franz Karl Seeauer soon raising it to Hallstatt’s best-running business. The house would later become known as Kainz house.

Only a few years later, Franz Karl Seeauer purchases a brewery, henceforth serving guests in the inn beer of his own making. The inn’s prominence spreads, attracting ever more tourists, counting among them such celebrities as Professor Friedrich Simony. Professor Simony is known throughout Austria for his research and exploration of the Dachstein region.

By now, the year is 1884/85. Franz Karl Seeauer acquires two houses neighbouring his inn and, together with his son Carl, begins expanding the house. Hotel Seeauer is born.

Carl Seeauer in the end decides to move to Bad Ischl to become manager of the Kaiserin Elisabeth hotel. He sells Hotel Seeauer and the inn in Hallstatt in 1899 to two brothers – Ladislaus and Rudolf Straschilek (who would later become Kainz).

At this point, nobody would have guessed that the inn and hotel would a couple of decades later return to the Seeauer family estate – through the marriage of a Seeauer heir to a Kainz maiden.

In 1961, Hotel Seeauer – the building adjoining Kainz house – is demolished to make way for a road construction project. The project falls through, however. Kainz house remains intact, but falls into disuse.

In 2001, a project is called into life in Hallstatt to renovate historic, unused Hallstatt buildings and form them into a hotel. It will take years of talks, a gruelling hunt for investors and extensive project planning until in 2009 construction finally begins on what will be Hallstatt’s first 4-star hotel – the Heritage.Hotel Hallstatt.

The two managers, Peter Scheutz and Simone Lenz (managing director), today look back upon more than ten years of successful business. And they’re keen to keep up the good work for many more to come. Be our guest for a while and become part of the great story yourself.

STOCKER HOUSE
Stocker house is the perfect place to escape the hustle and bustle of daily life and engage in the slow pace of the picturesque World Heritage Site that is Hallstatt.

The extraordinary Stocker house is about a 3-minute walk from Kainz main house. Every room is absolutely unique. Besides the usual furnishings you’d expect from a premium hotel, every room has a stunning view of either the lake or Hallstatt.

Stocker house is a townhouse steeped in tradition. The house’s construction is particular, built as it is of undressed stone, its windows covered with wrought-iron grilles, its interior cosy and welcoming. Stocker house resonates with romantic charm. We are committed to preserving this particular charm, while applying touches of modernity.

7 remarkable facts about the history of our house:

Stocker house is the oldest secular building in Hallstatt’s town centre, tracing its noble history back over more than 500 years. If the words of chronicler Isidor Engl are to be believed, the house was built earlier still, during the time of Queen Elisabeth of Bohemia (1311). This assumption is backed in part by the discovery of an ancient vault during excavations in the building’s garden.

According to the chronicler, Stocker house would back then have served as a court of law. The name Stocker goes back to Nikolaus Stocker, who bought the house in 1774. His sons would come to inherit it later. In the late 19th century, the building was extensively refurbished and opened to the public to serve as Hallstatt’s museum.

After long years of disuse, it was incorporated in 2001 into a major hotel project which sought to form a hotel business from buildings in Hallstatt that were unused but of historical significance.

Following several years of planning and financing, the project was realised in 2009. Stocker house, together with Kainz house and Seethaler house, became something special indeed: the Heritage.Hotel Hallstatt.

It was Hallstatt’s first 4-star hotel, aiding in its quick rise to prominence and in the last ten years it has become popular with guests from near and far. The two managers Peter Scheutz and Simone Lenz (who actively runs the hotel as managing director) every year welcome guests to the Heritage.Hotel Hallstatt from a total of 100 different countries. As the Hallstatt locals are fond of saying: “Hallstatt plays host to all the world.”

SEETHALER HOUSE
Our Seethaler house is perched on the hillside on what locals know as the Hallberg and offers a magnificent view across Lake Hallstatt. The lake’s expanse rolled out before you; surrounded by the typical Hallstatt architecture – Seethaler house’s warm welcome to your getaway in Hallstatt.

Our Seethaler house is about a 5-minute walk from the main house Kainz, where you’ll find Heritage.Hotel Hallstatt’s reception, restaurant and sauna. Seethaler house most closely resembles how Hallstatt locals live. Each of the unique rooms offers a magnificent view across Lake Hallstatt.

Our standard rooms have a nice window facing the lake, the deluxe rooms even come with a typical wooden balcony or veranda looking out across the lake. The superior rooms offer an unrivalled lake view and a patio overlooking Lake Hallstatt.

Our junior suites also offer a magnificent lake view and wooden balcony, but on top of that feature a separate sitting room and each have a bathtub in their bathrooms. The junior suites offer space for up to 4 people. Take time out to rest between mountain and lake, right in the heart of World Heritage Site Hallstatt.

What a splendid location Seethaler house is for tourists was discovered after the Second World War, when mountain guide and lodge innkeeper Joseph Seethaler began the house’s step-by-step conversion to a bed and breakfast. Ever since, guests can sweep their gaze across the surrounding landscape from its perch upon the Hallberg’s steep slope.

Our Seethaler house is especially popular with guests seeking peace and quiet. Thanks to its somewhat more elevated location above Hallstatt’s houses, our guests are removed from the comings and goings in the town centre and can enjoy their view of Lake Hallstatt in marvellous silence.

ROOMS & SUITES

The mystical flair between the awe-inspiring mountain ranges, the view across emerald-green Lake Hallstatt and the winding alleys, the historical buildings built into the mountainside – you’ll find all of it in each of the Heritage.Hotel Hallstatt’s three houses.

Furnishing and designing our rooms and suites, we pursued the goal of offering you luxury and homeliness in equal measure. The rooms aim to feel modern without obscuring the houses’ tradition.

Each room is designed to convey the regional charm, and to make you feel welcome. The Heritage. double rooms and suites have been furnished by our local cabinet maker Voglauer and, in some cases, Brader joinery and leave nothing more to be desired.

Treat yourself to the luxury of the Heritage.Hotel after an exciting day in Hallstatt. When we say that we’re a luxury hotel, we’re not simply referring to our outstanding service and sophisticated interior design.

Rather, we take it to mean first and foremost that we provide our guests with a space for a perfect romantic evening, for quality family time, for stimulating conversation and for shared recounting of the day’s great adventures. Let your time as a family or couple with us in the Salzkammergut be what it was meant to be: true luxury.

HERITAGE.­FAMILY
The biggest room in the Heritage.Hotel Hallstatt is the Heritage.Family Suite Superior. This suite leaves on 75 m² nothing to be desired and has space for up to 6 people.

Our Heritage.Family Suites Superior are located in our house Kainz and offer a lovely market view to our guests. The suites dispose of two bed rooms, two bath rooms (one with shower and one with bath tub) and a living room with sofa.

HERITAGE.­FAMILY
As the name suggests, our Heritage.Family Suites Standard have space for 4 people and make a perfect family room. Our Heritage.Family Suites Standard have a lovely market view and are located in our house Stocker.

You and your family can look forward to a 40m² suite with a bedroom, lounge with extendable bed-sofa and a bathroom with a tub – in a vintage building that couldn’t be cosier.

HERITAGE.­JUNIOR SUITE
Our spacious Heritage.Junior suites offer an unrivalled view and unique flair on 45 to 55 m² and are comfortable for up to 4 people. We have our Heritage.Junior suites in Kainz, Stocker and Seethaler house. The Junior suites in Kainz main house feature one large room and lake view with a balcony (sloping ceiling).

From Stocker house, you will enjoy an unmatched view across Hallstatt’s roofs and Lake Hallstatt, and the Junior suites also have a balcony. The Heritage.Junior suites in Seethaler house also have lake view and a balcony.

The Junior suites in Seethaler house additionally offer a separate bedroom, a lounge with an extendable bed-sofa and ensuite bathroom. Room size: around 45 to 55 m².

HERITAGE.­DELUXE DOUBLE ROOM
Comfort and lake view for up to three people in a modern interior with warm colours – cosy, pleasing ambience. We have our Heritage.Deluxe double rooms in Kainz, Stocker and Seethaler house. The rooms in Kainz house feature wooden floorboards and look out onto the shipping pier and Lake Hallstatt.

In Stocker house, the deluxe rooms have a view over parts of Lake Hallstatt and feature a balcony (wooden floor). In Seethaler house, this category has a balcony and offers a view of the lake; all rooms have wall-to-wall carpeting. Many of the deluxe rooms in Seethaler house will comfortably serve 3 people. Room size: around 22 to 26 m².

BREAKFAST
Try a new way to start your day, in your own time in pleasant surroundings, and enjoy our generous breakfast buffet. We will treat every day to a beautiful view of the still placid Lake Hallstatt, to freshly brewed Julius Meinl coffee, select Ronnefeldt teas and sparkling wine.

We serve crispy bread rolls by local baker Maislinger, cold cuts from Bad Goisern butcher’s Fleischhauerei Zauner, smoked fish, fresh fruit and vegetables, a range of breakfast cereals and devilishly delectable croissants.

Our hot-food buffet further offers eggs and egg dishes, savoury bacon, sausages and meat loaf, with our legendary kaiserschmarrn dessert a sweet finish to top it all off.

The terrace or indoor area will warmly welcome guests to our house, Hallstatt locals or day trippers to our hotel restaurant any time of the day. Enjoy a calm and quiet morning in Hallstatt with breakfast at Im Kainz.

FROM FINE WINES TO SAVOURY SNACKS
Top off an eventful day full of new impressions by unwinding in our restaurant. We’ll be happy to serve you quality wine and savoury foods. Our kitchen naturally also caters to vegetarians and vegans and to people suffering from allergies. Inquire at the restaurant directly to find out about allergens and meat-free and vegan dishes.

EVENT & PARTY LOCATION IN HALLSTATT

Our hotel restaurant Im Kainz is the perfect venue to celebrate with up to 90 of your guests. Family, friends, co-workers – everyone’s welcome at the Heritage.Hotel Hallstatt. For smaller occasions, you can book a number of tables at the restaurant. If you’re planning a major event, you can book the whole restaurant. Get in touch with us and we’ll help you plan your event.

Choose to serve your guests a 3-course or 4-course meal at your event at the Heritage.Hotel Hallstatt. Our kitchen staff will be delighted to work out the actual menu with you.

All of your guests’ intolerances or allergies will naturally be taken into account and vegetarian or vegan cuisine is always available, too. In some cases, we may also be able to set up a buffet for your event. Should you wish to choose this option, please let us know when you get in touch and book.

So many occasions call for a celebration: Weddings, baptisms, birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas – it feels like the list could go on forever. Whatever it is you are celebrating, the most important thing is that you’re somewhere you enjoy being.

A venue with atmosphere, with a breathtaking view, that will amaze your guests and that you’ll remember fondly for many years to come. Which is precisely what we’ll prepare for you at the Heritage.Hotel Hallstatt.

Besides a grand location, tasty menu and happy guests, any party aspiring to magnificence also needs to set the scene with a perfectly matching setting and tailored programme.

To set the mood for your event, you might need matching music or tasteful decorations – or how about an amazing fireworks display? Should you require any assistance in planning your event, we’ll be more than happy to help. Just get in touch with us.

A REMARK­ABLE TOWN WITH 7,000 YEARS OF HISTORY
Today, Hallstatt is a name known throughout the world, either through its intriguing history, its listing as a UNESCO World Heritage Site or because an exact copy of the town was built in China a few years ago.

We consider this copy proof that people all over the world yearn to have a place as wonderful as Hallstatt close to them: a place to unwind, to take a leisurely stroll and to discover and explore extraordinary culture and history.

Hallstatt’s history really is remarkable: Hallstatt has been mining and working with salt for 7,000 years, an ongoing testimony to human culture. The significance of this weighs so heavily that an entire epoch of the Iron Age has been named for the town – the period referred to as Hallstatt culture (850 to 500 BCE). A full 7,000 years later, archaeologists began uncovering a whole series of astounding artefacts in Hallstatt’s mine shafts, making Hallstatt a historic landmark.

To this day, Hallstatt’s long history is still palpable everywhere, with the Hallstatt World Heritage museum and the world’s oldest show mine, Hallstatt Salzwelten, a trove of information for visitors from near and far.

Did you know, for example, that Hallstatt Salzwelten still mine salt today? Or that the Dammwiese above the Hallstatt salt mine already served as salt harvesting grounds for the ancient Celts?

CULTURE TRIPS IN THE HEART OF AUSTRIA
Nonetheless, Hallstatt is about more than just salt, a fact you’ll quickly recognise on your culture trail holiday in one of Austria’s prettiest municipalities. There’s so much more to explore here: Hallstatt’s wealth of nature and cultural heritage, not least present in the architecture of its listed buildings, is part of the UNESCO World Heritage.

The “world’s most beautiful lakeside town” has so much variety to offer – take a ship tour over Lake Hallstatt, go mountainbike trekking in the lake district or visit the very peaks of the Dachstein World Heritage Site. Reach the peaks of the mountain landscape and drink in the awe-inspiring vistas.

During the cold season, the Salzkammergut transforms into a magical place, making the run-up to Christmas the year’s a time of heart-touching beauty: you’ll see seas of lights, winter wonderlands and Christmas markets wherever you turn.

A REGION WITH WORLD­WIDE RECOGNITION
In 1997, the Hallstatt-Dachstein/Salzkammergut region became listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In their explanation for adding it to the illustrious circle of worldwide cultural heritage sites, with all the accompanying global prestige, the World Heritage Committee cited:

The Hallstatt-Dachstein/Salzkammergut region in Austria is an outstanding example of a natural landscape of great beauty and scientific interest which also contains evidence of early and unbroken human economic and cultural activity. The cultivated landscape is a testimony to harmonious interaction between humankind and environment.“

DACHSTEIN GIANT ICE CAVES
As one of the largest cave systems in the world, the Dachstein caves are internationally known and include three giants: the Dachstein giant ice cave – the largest underground ice landscape in Central Europe, the extensive Mammoth cave and the Koppenbrüller cave with its amazing stalagmites and stalactites.

More than 65 kilometers of explored underground passages through the mountain connect these three imposing. During a guided tour you can hike almost one kilometer of these passages, and admire all three caves staged with light and sound games.

ATTRACTIONS IN THE DACHSTEIN REGION
A special worldwide appreciation – that’s what the Dachstein World Heritage Site deserves, according to the UNESCO Committee. With its cave systems and the unique ecological flora and fauna, the landscape of the Dachstein region is a nature park of international recognition.

In addition to the giant ice cave and the mammoth cave, the Dachstein region has many other (natural) treasures that you should discover during your vacation:

EXPLORING HALLSTATT …

Let a local tour guide take you through the World Heritage Site: On this somewhat unorthodox tour, you will gain insights into a variety of the Hallstatt World Heritage Site’s treasures. Our tour starts off with a taste of a choice of salts mined on-site in Hallstatt.

We will stop by several local artisan’s workshops. Of course, the tour will also include a taste of this and that delicacy and be a journey of the “spirit” (or two). At the end of the tour, a selection of Austrian specialties awaits at a restaurant right on the lake shore to provide a perfect finish.

During the tour, you will be treated to a couple of friendly surprises and there will be a small parting gift for you to take home with you. Ideal for small groups of 6 or more; rates upon inquiry, please book at reception.

SIGHTSEEING IN HALLSTATT
Hallstatt is famous the world over. Naturally, it has a lot to offer. Many visitors have already heard of the World Heritage museum, the ossuary or of course the salt mines before they come here, having seen them on TV, the internet or from what their friends have said about them.

Hardly surprising – a trip to Hallstatt is well worth it to see just one of its sights. But there’s more yet to Hallstatt beyond the great tourist attractors. We warmly recommend seeing a few of them, too. We have put together a short list of some well-known and some not so well-known tourist gems for you:

WORLD HERITAGE MUSEUM
World Heritage Museum Hallstatt’s large collection features many cultural treasures unearthed in or near Hallstatt, artefacts that have informed the region’s culture and history for 7,000 years. The World Heritage museum’s various themed displays present Hallstatt’s history from its beginnings in the Neolithic to prehistoric salt mining to Celts and Romans.

OSSUARY
St Michael’s chapel is a unique kind of monument to Hallstatt’s history: it is home to 600 artfully painted human skulls. This reliquary of global fame was originally born of the limited space available in Hallstatt’s cemetery.

The people of Hallstatt decided to exhume the bones of their buried dead after ten to twenty years, adorning them with the deceased’s names and dates of birth and death before delivering them to their final resting place in the vaulted crypt beneath St Michael’s church.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES
The cellar beneath Janu’s sportswear shop in Hallstatt’s town centre takes you on a trip back in time. Excavation work for a building project in 1987 stumbled upon the artefacts of a long bygone era. On behalf of the Austrian Federal Monuments Office, archaeologists and students recovered a huge number of artefacts.

The finds date back to various pre- and protohistoric times all the way up to the modern age, producing a stunning recount of 7,000 years of Hallstatt’s history. Today, the archaeology cellar covers a surface of 300 m². It is open to visitors free of charge during the shop’s opening hours.

HALLSTATT SALZWELTEN
Take a trip back in time to the first millennium BCE and explore the secrets of Hallstatt’s salt mine. The unique subterranean world of the salt mine vividly brings to life the labours Hallstatt miners undertook in their quest for the ‘white gold’: The miles and miles of tunnels visitors can ride through on the pit railway were hewn into the mountain by hand.

There are steep miners’ slides to take you down to the underground salt lake to see spectacular displays. The world’s oldest salt mine is also where the famous ‘Man in Salt’ was found in 1734. The man’s dead body rather dramatically demonstrates salt’s powers of preservation. Visit the breathtaking Hallstatt Salzwelten yourself – you’ll not regret it.

HALLSTATT SKYWALK
For a burst of pure adrenaline, check out the Skywalk observation deck on Hallstatt’s Salzberg mountain. Look down upon the roofs of Hallstatt from a height of 360 metres or let your gaze sweep across the unrivalled Dachstein panorama.

The Skywalk is easy to reach by funicular. Unless you’re keen on your exercise, in which case there’s a footpath to the top. From Hallstatt centre, it’s a walk of about one to one-and-a-half hours (uphill!). We recommend combining the observation deck with a visit to the Hallstatt Salzwelten salt mine.

INSIDER TIPS IN HALLSTATT
For those holidaymakers who would prefer less bustle, we have 6 top secret tips right here:

Circular hike in romantic Echerntal
The Echerntal leaves the tourist mainstream and the bustle of Hallstatt behind, itself the World Heritage Site’s oasis of calm. About a 30-minute walk from the hotel (always following the Waldbach river), you’ll come across a wooden pavilion.

Nicknamed ‘Babylon’, it marks the start of the Echerntal circular hike that will take you on a one-and-a-half hour walk. The themed hiking trail offers ample opportunity to snatch a moment of calm during your holiday and drink in the Echerntal vale’s outstanding natural beauty.

Don’t let poor weather stop you from taking this route, either: on rainy days, meltwater flows down the mountainside to fill the moulins. And the moulins aren’t the only natural wonder the path takes you past. There’s also the famous Glacier Garden and an amazing waterfall…

A sunset for two
Navia Zillen shipping offers you the opportunity for a romantic escape – take a boat out onto Lake Hallstatt for a picnic of regional specialities and wine and share a romantic sunset. Our tip: Book a tour on a Zille punt as a secret gift to your partner!

One of Hallstatt’s loveliest picture points
If you’re looking for great photo motifs or just want to enjoy the wonderful landscape, you should try the hike to the Goaßerbankerl (also referred to as ‘beautiful view’). To get there, start off from Hallstatt’s Lahn district behind the P1 car park. Follow Pfannhausstiege up to the picturesque eighteenth-century calvary church and past that further up to the Goaßerbankerl.

You’ll be treated to a truly stunning view across Lake Hallstatt and Obertraun. The 90-minute hike then takes you onwards along a romantic path and several hairpin bends up to the Hirschaualm cabin..

Traditional crafts in Hallstatt’s very heart
Stop by Hallstatt’s pottery workshop to watch pottery being hand-crafted by the staff and buy high-quality, unique items as souvenirs for home. The workshop in Hallstatt (Seelände 54) is open Mondays to Fridays from 8am till noon and from 1pm till 5pm, Saturdays from 10am till noon (November through March). There’s also a shop in Hallstatt (Wolfengasse 107), open Tuesdays to Saturdays from 10am till 5pm (April through October).

Local produce on the weekly market
Every Tuesday, Hallstatt locals enjoy meeting up on Badeplatz square to buy fresh fish, bread, groceries, honey and more. Tourists are of course always welcome on the market, too. The weekly market is every Tuesday from 8am till 11am.

Eastern shore hiking trail along Lake Hallstatt
The eastern shore trail connecting Steeg to Obertraun is especially popular among families. The entertaining hike is easy to manage and takes around three hours to finish. The great thing about it: it never gets boring! There are several bathing spots for taking a break and a dip.

If you’re looking to grab a snack along the way, you can’t go wrong with the Seeraunzn Hallstattblick beer garden in Bad Goisern. You’ll be served regional delicacies here from May till late October. You can also easily combine the eastern shore hike with a train trip or a boat ride across Lake Hallstatt.

WONDERFUL WINTER BEYOND SKIING
If you’d prefer to spend a quieter winter in Hallstatt, why not explore the region by horse-drawn sleigh? There are also many signposted winter trails for relaxing walks and hikes an other things to do. A variety of rated difficulties will help you choose just what you’re looking for.

Athletes or unwinders – at day’s end everyone meets up again. Either at the hotel restaurant over a comfortable dinner or, in the run-up to Christmas, on one of the Salzkammergut’s many Christmas markets.

These markets are famed throughout Austria – and beyond even – for their unrivalled atmosphere, the delicious specialties and the lovingly handmade crafts items for sale on the many stalls. You’re guaranteed to find the perfect Christmas gift to bring back home to your loved ones here.

But if you’re coming to Hallstatt to see culture and customs and to find out more about the long history of the World Heritage Site, any season will do. We’ve put together a list of all the sights for you to see, including this or that insider tip.

ROMANTIC SLEIGH RIDE THROUGH HALLSTATT
Winter at its most appealing: with the snow gently falling or ice-cold air brushing across your cheeks – on the sleigh, bells a-jingling as the pair of horses pull it through Gosau’s idyllic landscape, you’ll be snug and cosy under the warming blankets.

A brief stop amidst the enchanted forest with its thousands of snow and ice crystals is the perfect moment for a quick draught of those homemade spirits. You want to keep warm inside, too, don’t you? Another half-hour and you’ve reached the Kohlstatt lodge.

This genuine chalet is the perfect example of an original Salzkammergut lodge and a meeting point for people of all ages, curlers and horse sleigh drivers. The pleasantly warming fire and specialty teas will quickly drive out all thoughts of the cold, and the scent of frying wafting from the kitchen will be sure to make your mouth water.

The two-horsepower return journey is usually quite a merry affair and, as such, you’ll often find time just flying by as you come to the end of your romantic horse-drawn sleigh ride through the Salzkammergut.

HALLSTATT’S WINTER HIKING ROUTES
Indulging your wanderlust on a winter hike along cleared routes, following frozen streams or passing through the magic of a snowy forest will clear your mind wonderfully, brushing aside all the hustle and bustle of daily life.

That hot cup of tea in a warming tavern or rustic lodge becomes a marvellous treat – one that’s easily worth earning more than once. Go on a winter hike to dive into Hallstatt’s past and learn about the World Heritage Site. Take a tour and find all the many small, informative plaques around town.

CHRISTMAS IN THE SALZKAM­MERGUT
Visiting the Salzkammergut is worth it in any season – but during the run-up to Christmas, you won’t go wrong visiting two or even three times. Because that’s how many evenings it’ll take you to see all the Christmas markets, to try all the lovely tidbits and to get all those beautiful gifts to bring back to your loved ones.

Hallstatt Christmas market
Every year on December 8th, Hallstatt hosts its Christmas market in the town centre. It is known for its idyllic atmosphere, the traditional music played by the tower musicians and the life-size wooden nativity display in the market square. Every year, many Hallstatt clubs and associations come together at this time, putting their hearts’ blood into preparing the Christmas market for you. It’s a day you shouldn’t miss!

Wolfgangseer Advent
Likely the best-known Christmas market in the Salzkammergut is the Wolfgangseer Advent. Every year in the four weeks running up to Christmas, you’ll find local specialties and traditional arts and craft here.

The Wolfgangseer Advent turns the towns St Gilgen, Strobl and St Wolfgang into a single, tranquil venue. See the floating Advent lantern on Lake Wolfgang, the towering Advent candle in St Gilgen and the six-metre comet in Strobl. Get caught up in the enchanting unmatched, pre-Christmas atmosphere.

Bad Goisern Christmas market
On one Advent weekend every year, the Hand.Werk.Haus in Bad Goisern hosts a masterful Christmas market with a lovely atmosphere for people of all ages. Fifty exhibitors are on display, there are kids’ workshops, local music and Christmas specialties.

Gosau Christmas market
Every year on the first and second weekend during the Advent, Gosau’s romantic Christmas market offers a cosy place for people to get together. The kids love the traditional lantern procession, the grown-ups delight in the craftsmanship and delectable Christmas goodies on offer all around the open-air museum and in the Heimathaus exhibition centre.

MOUNTAIN BIKE HOLIDAYS IN HALLSTATT
The Salzkammergut is an ideal destination for a cycling holiday, with more than a few tours besides those noted here, for example the picturesque trail up to the Rossalm hut, a great route to take for mountain bike and e-bike alike. Our reception staff will be delighted to help you plan your bicycle tour.

Families with young children will also find the Salzkammergut appealing thanks to the easier mountain bike tours on the flatlands and lake areas. E-bikes are also a great way to explore Hallstatt and its immediate surroundings.

Around Lake Hallstatt
The eastern shore hiking trail includes a mountain bike cycle route for families with children. Well signposted paths following the lake’s shoreline lead past lush meadows, forests and picturesque houses. We recommend starting your cycling trip in Obersee or Obertraun. Our tip: Combine your cycling outing with a ship crossing on Lake Hallstatt.

Trans-Salzkammergut Grand Tour & Trans-Salzkammergut Circle Tour
294 kilometres long and covering 7,000 metres of elevation – the Trans-Salzkammergut Grand Tour isn’t a quick and casual holiday cycling trip. In four legs, the tour takes you from Bad Mittendorf to Gmunden and includes overnight stays in lodges, a total of nine lake crossings – and spectacular views.

The Trans-Salzkammergut Circle Tour is considered the ‘slim’ version, but don’t let that mislead you. It’s still more than 200 kilometres and more than 4,500 metres in elevation to tackle from Bad Mittendorf to the Viehbergalm hut to Gosau and back to Bad Mittendorf.

Ausseerland circle tour
Slightly less challenging, although still not recommended for beginners, the Ausseerland circle tour takes you along 112 kilometres of cycling. It does, however, offer the option to break it down into two separate tours for two separate days: The first leg is 67 kilometres long, taking you from Bad Aussee to Bad Ischl and back again.

Leg two also starts off in Bad Aussee to pass through Bad Mittendorf and then back again (45 kilometres). What makes this mountain bike tour such a great one is that it takes you past several lakes: Lake Hallstatt, Grundlsee Lake and Lake Altaussee.

Around the Sarstein
Roughly 36 kilometres long and covering less than 900 metres in elevation, this tour qualifies as an easier one. It’s best started off (and travelled to) at Bad Aussee station, where you’ll also be able to park your car.

As the tour’s name implies, it circles the Sarstein ridge. A major section of the trail follows Lake Hallstatt’s eastern shoreline, providing a lovely variety of scenery along the tour.

Shipping on Lake Hallstatt
Hallstatt’s shipping operator’s tour ships are more than just transport vessels for crossing Lake Hallstatt. They’re also places for learning about the region. On the crossing, you’ll find out interesting things about Lake Hallstatt and the nearby towns.

Depending on what else you have planned, you can choose between a brief crossing between Obertraun and Hallstatt or a slightly longer outing (around two hours) between Bad Goisern and Hallstatt. The latter tour is great for combining with a hike or bicycle tour along the eastern shore trail.

Navia shipping offers a particularly traditional way to take to the water on Lake Hallstatt: you can take a ride across the picturesque lake in a 12-metre Zille, a type of barge that the locals were already using 500 years ago. On the crossing, the Zille’s pilot will regale you with exciting stories from the region’s past.

A tip for romantics: You can take a Zille tour on Lake Hallstatt during sunset (including picnic and wine) and in the early morning.

Website: www.hotel-hallstatt.com

Rooms: 54

Price: from 184 EUR per night