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Quick Guide On How To Plan A Day Trip to Hallstatt

Quick Guide On How To Plan A Day Trip to Hallstatt

I have received few emails throughout the year on how to plan a day trip to Hallstatt so I am putting this quick guide to help, it's very easy!

Train Tickets

The Austrian Rail website is by far the easiest rail website I have seen, website is http://www.oebb.at/en/#

It is a very informative planning tool, everything you need to book your day trip to Hallstatt...well almost everything :)

There are three ways to get to Hallstatt:

Option 1: Regular trains (most expensive)

If you are going on weekdays by train use this option, for weekend trip look at option #2 below. First, finding the train on the website by inputting your departure station (most likely to be Salzburg, if Vienna it's doable but will be a long day)!  So let's put from Salzburg to Hallstatt, select a date from the calendar, and then departure starting at 05:00 am:

Click on Book ticket and the results look like this:

Click on "I would also like to book a return journey" and select the return time, I use 16:00. Add passengers traveling with you. Then click on calculate fare for time tables:

Since I added passenger for 2 adults, the price displayed are for 2 people. For this example, I choose the 6:12 am arriving 8:47 am. Click on "Details", it will display the full information:

The train number IC 541 departing Salzburg on 6:12 am, no platform shown yet probably too early, so make sure when you get to the train station, double check the platform on the display and the train number before boarding the train. Note that the train direction is to Wien Westbahnhof, but you'll need to get off at Attnang-Puchheim to change to another train. Click on the "i" icon next to IC 541 for the list of train stations in which you'll be passing on the way:

You'll get off on the 2nd stop: Attnang-Puchheim, arriving 6:58 am. Attnang-Puchheim station is a very small station, so don't worry about the 17 minutes to change train, you'll have enough time to walk across the platform. Change to train number R 3406 departing 7:15 am and arriving 8:47 am. Note that the direction of the train is heading to Obertraun Dachsteinhöhlen. Click on "i" icon for details on the 2nd train:

It will be a long ride, 20 stops to reach Hallstatt but you'll pass by many picturesque towns, lakes, and mountains!

Hallstatt train station is just one platform with the sign "Hallstatt". Once you get off, walk down to the path to the pier, there's a small booth there to purchase the ferry ticket. If no one is there, don't worry, you'll be able to pay when boarding the ferry, ticket is around €2.40 . The ferry time table accommodate the train schedule pretty well so you won't be waiting for long. The journey across the lake to Hallstatt town will be amazing so have your camera ready! The ferry will drop you off at the ferry station: Hallstatt Markt.

For the return trip, either take the 16:32 or 17:07 train to get back to Salzburg for dinner. Make sure you check the ferry schedule so you will not miss the train! The ferry departs at Hallstatt Markt the same when you arrived. The 16:32 train from Hallstatt to Attnang-Puchheim heads to the direction "Wien Westbahnhof", whereas the 17:07 train heads to the direct Linz/Donau Hbf, either one you'll get off at Attnang-Puchheim to change train back to Salzburg, direction is Salzburg.

If you want to book online, click on the price of your desire train/time, then you have an option to select the class, and then click "confirm fare":

You have an option to register for an account or proceed without registering which leads to the payment page:

Please note that the currency is in Euros, which usually credit card charges a foreign exchange fee of 3%, there are no foreign exchange fee credit cards available in the market :) If payment is rejected, you can try to call your credit card company and let them know that you are making this purchase and try again. 

Option 2: Weekend trains (best value for group travel)

To save cost, I would strongly recommend Saturday or Sunday if you are traveling with a friend or friends. This is because Austrian Rail offer a very good deal on a day pass called Einfach-Raus-Ticket cost 35 euros (as of 2014) good for 2-5 people traveling together. The Einfach-Raus-Ticket is valid all day during weekends and public holidays on all suburban and regional service trains as well as on the Raaberbahn (R, REX and S-Bahn trains); whereas for weekdays, it's valid from 9:00 am to the next day 3:00 am. For day trippers like us, we would like to maximize the time to spend in Hallstatt so would take the earliest train possible! If weekdays, the earliest is 9:00 am which gets to Hallstatt before noon, definitely not worth the saving! If you are planning to get the Einfach-Raus-Ticket, you can either buy online by clicking the "Einfach-Raus-Ticket" instead of "Ticket" on the first page:

Then you'll select a date for the pass to be valid and select the total passengers traveling together:

You can also purchase the pass from the automated ticket machine, remember to have cash with you because automated ticket machine required credit cards with smart chip and a pin number to pay!

Since the pass limited to REX, R, and S-Bahn trains, it will be different to find the correct trains. Go to the route planner: http://fahrplan.oebb.at/bin/query.exe/en

Input from Salzburg to Hallstatt, date, time, click on return journey put in date and time. Then on "products" select Einfach-Raus-Ticket from the drop down menu:

Click search connection, as you can see, only the R and REX trains are displayed and takes a little bit longer to get to Hallstatt.

Option 3: Bus (cheapest)

Alternatively, a cheaper way is to take Bus 150, back to using http://www.oebb.at/en/#

From Salzburg, take Bus 150 to Bad Ischl bus terminal, departing Salzburg at 6:45 am from platform F and arriving Bad Ischl bus terminal at 8:10 am at platform E. Then you'll need to walk over to the Bad Ischl train station to take the train R 3406 departing at 8:20 am at platform 1 to Hallstatt. This is the same train as above and will get to Hallstatt the same time - 8:47 am! The price shown above is for the train only, you'll need to purchase the bus ticket separately. The bus ticket is around €10.10.

On the return trip, you can either take the 16:32 or 17:07 train or if by bus will require 2 stops:

Take the bus 543 from Hallstatt Lanh (this is different than the Hallstatt train station located across the lake), this is the bus station in the end of Hallstatt town. Departing 17:31 and arriving 17:39 at Hallstatt Gosaumuhle. Then change to bus 542 leaving at 17:40 (not sure if 1 minute is enough time since I didn't take this bus), which heads to Bad Ischl bus terminal arriving 18:10. Lastly, switch to bus 150 again leaving at 18:24 and will be back to Salzburg at 19:53.

I hope this quick guide is easy enough to follow and plan your own day trip to Hallstatt! Have a great time and I am sure you'll! If you still have any questions, feel free to leave a comment here or email me!