Austria: Innsbruck and Hallstatt
In January of 2025 I took my first trip to Austria and visited three cities: Hallstatt, Innsbruck, and Salzburg. In this guide, I'll write about my experiences in the former two places since these were the main destinations I planned for, and Salzburg functioned as the main hub of where we stayed.
My Itinerary in Austria
Day 1: Arrive in Salzburg in the late morning. Begin journey to Hallstatt using the bus and arrive around 2:30 pm. Sleep in Hallstatt.
Day 2: Spend the morning in Hallstatt. Take the bus in the afternoon back to Salzburg, and arrive in the late afternoon/ early evening. Sleep in Salzburg.
Day 3: Day trip to Innsbruck. Take an early train there and a late afternoon train back to Salzburg. Sleep in Salzburg
Day 4: Enjoy the morning in Salzburg. Leave in the afternoon.
My decisions in making the itinerary
This is a fast paced itinerary. In about 3.5 days you see 3 cities. We had some limitations in our trip to Austria due to flying out of Salzburg and costs of accommodations. We were able to budget a 1 night stay in Hallstatt, but Innsbruck was too expensive (started at about $180 a night since everything was booked for people who were skiiing). For those reasons, we decided to use Salzburg as our home base rather than go directly from Hallstatt to Innsbruck. I personally feel content about the amount of time we spent in all the cities. We only planned for a half day in Salzburg because honestly, we felt there was not much to do.
Hallstatt or Innsbruck
I wanted to visit both Hallstatt and Innsbruck in my short trip to Austria, and I am happy I managed to fit both into my itinerary. However, it takes about 2-3 hours to get from Salzburg to either one of these locations, and they are in opposite directions. Many people have to choose one of these cities as a day trip from Salzburg, so below I will compare both cities to help you consider what would be the best fit.
Hallstatt
• Size: This is borderline a quaint village of about 750 people.
• Dynamic of the town: It takes you about 25 minutes to walk along the main road from the bus station to the end of the town. However, the town reaches a pretty high elevation, so you can very well wander the residential town area by climbing the stairs, and even do some light hiking in the area.
• Tourism status: Hallstatt is unfortunately known as being the prime example in Austria of over-tourism. Millions of people visit the city every year, which is insane considering how few people live in the city. It is an extremely touristic city.
• Transportation: Difficult to get here. Your options from Salzburg is about a 2.5 hour train with 1 transfer, then take a ferry, or take 3 buses. We opted for the bus route because it was actually faster (about 2.5 hours in total) and the cheapest option (I think it was about $15 per per person per way). You could also rent a car and drive in about 1.5 hours, but there is no driving in the town itself, so you still need to walk from the parking facility to the city.
• Accommodations: Since the town is so small, there are not a ton of options, but still a decent amount! Prices range from $120 to $350 a night per room (unfortunately, no hostels).
• Things to Do: All together, there is not too much to do in the city. You can do three main attraction which is touring the salt mine (Salzwelten), visiting the Bone House, and seeing the Giant Ice Cave. However, most of what you enjoy in Hallstatt is the beautiful scenery.
• Final Verdict: Hallstatt is perfect for those who love to take postcard perfect photos of beautiful clean towns. There are opportunities to move away from the crowded streets full of tourists if you look in the right places and plan to hike up. However, the over tourism can feel somewhat suffocating if you ardently despise it. Especially in the busy season, it might not be worth it. I would recommend going at the low tourism season or not at all.
Innsbruck
• Size: This is a much larger city of about 130,000 people.
• Dynamic of the town: The city is much larger and pretty walkable. We personally did not use any public transportation, but we did have a lot of steps by the end of the day.
• Tourism status: Since Innsbruck is a proper city, tourism is not the main purpose of the city. A lot of people are residents just going about their day.
• Transportation: It is relatively easy to get here but not particularly cheap. I struggled to find buses to Innsbruck, and instead used the trains. Unfortunately, I found the trains to be pretty expensive, even when booking weeks in advance. We paid $45 per person for round-trip tickets, and this was one of the cheapest tickets we could have bought (meaning our first train departed at 6 am).
• Things to Do: Similarly to Hallstatt, there isn't a whole lot to do here. It's especially popular in the winter for being one of the best ski spot (if that's your thing). Besides that, other things to do in the city is walk around, check out the zoo, and go to the castle.
• Final Verdict: Innsbruck is the perfect place for those who want to be a tourist in a beautiful city in Austria, but not feel like a tourist. There are some attractions throughout the city, but ultimately it's very few and not particularly too exciting. Mainly go to enjoy the vibes of the city, go for long walks, and see some cool animals.
Hallstatt
About the City and How to Get There
Hallstatt is a small town that has become famed for it's quaint beauty and is even included in the world heritage list by UNESCO. My first pick for transportation to Hallstatt would be to drive if you can afford it and it's convenient enough to pick up and drop off a car. For us, it made more sense and was less stressful to just take the bus.
In order to go with the buses, first take bus no. 150 from the central Salzburg train station to Bad Ischl. From Bad Ischl, take the bus n. 542 to Hallstatt Gosaumühle, then do one last transfer from Hallstatt Gosaumühle to Hallstatt Lahn on bus no. 543. It's not fun to do the 3 switches, but it's pretty easy. Even if you get lost, a lot of people will be there to help you transfer.
General Tips
• Visit Salzwelten. This was the main activity I did in Hallstatt and it was so worthwhile. I would recommend buying tickets ahead of time and going as early as possible. As part of the ticket to the Salzwelten, you get access to the cable car, the famous Skywalk (viewing platform), and a 2 hour tour of the saltmine. The walk from the top of the cable car to the saltmine is gorgeous, and you stop multiple times to take scenic photos of the mountains around you. The earlier you go, the less crowded the nature is in the area. (see below for a picture of the walk from the cable car to the salt mine)
• Spend the Night. Most people go on a day trip using GetYourGuide or just go on their own with the bus and go home at the end of the day. However, since there are so many tourists who come and go, it's so much easier to avoid the crowds by going in the late morning on a bus there (since everyone takes the morning bus) and leaving the next day at mid-day (since most people will plan to take the last couple ferries of the day). I was miserable just watching people squeeze into that last ferry heading back to Salzburg for the night and was so thankful we were staying for a night.
• Plan dinner ahead of time, especially in the off season. Since the town is so small, there are not many options for dinner AT ALL. We actually almost could not get dinner since everything closed. The LAST call for getting a table (and in some cases to put in an order) when we traveled in January was 7 pm. If you tried to get food after 7 pm, all the restaurants in the town would turn you down. The dinner options are also not great since everything is somewhat expensive and the food not so great. It's a tradeoff but still, one night of mediocre food is worth it.
Innsbruck
About the City and How to Get There
Innsbruck in the capital of Austria’s western state of Tyrol. It's best known for being a destination for winter sports due to it's proximity to the Alps. It's the fifth largest city in Austria and the city is surrounded by the beautiful mountains and architecture.
General Tips
• A day trip is sufficient. We went on the 6 am train there and left on the 4pm train back. In that time, we got breakfast in Innsbruck, wandered around the old city, went to Schloss Ambras (the castle), then walked along the river to the zoo. We spent a few hours at the zoo which included a small lunch break, and even had time for a nice coffee break to sit and relax. If you stayed the night, you could have also added a bit of hiking to your itinerary and go up the cable car to the mountains for a more scenic view. However, even if we stayed the extra day, we would not have decided to do these things; we felt content exactly as we had planned it!
• Visit the Zoo. I would recommend going to the zoo because the animals are particularly interesting and unique. According to the zoo, there is no other zoo in the world that has such a complete collection of wild animals from the Alpine region. Expect to spend between 2 and 3 hours at the zoo. Their collection of birds are dedicated exclusively to the species found in the Alps, including ravens, owls, and a bearded vulture. Other unique animals include ibex, lynx, moose, brown bear, wolves, bison, and wildcats!
• Walk to or back from the zoo. You don't need to walk there AND back, just choose one. The walk to the zoo goes along the river in a quiet area. It's a peaceful and calming walk, though it is uphill on the way there (so maybe choose to walk back :)).
Final Thoughts
I loved traveling to both of these cities. Though there are not too many things to do in these cities, I enjoyed how picturesque they both were and enjoyed the the few attractions I saw in each place. Also because of this reason, it makes both places a pretty good place to spend 1 day on a side trip from Salzburg. I think Innsbruck was ultimately my favorite, mainly because of how much quieter the city compared to Hallstatt. Also, I am really glad I went in the winter, mainly because I think the snow made the landscapes magical, and it meant there were less tourists. All around I can highly recommend both places!
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