Today is our second day in Hallstatt. The weather forecast for today is for sunny skies, with a high near 80 degrees in town. Our plan for today is to visit the Dachstein Krippenstein, which is a mountain cable car system accessible from the nearby town of Obertraun. We planned on taking a bus there from Hallstatt to avoid driving. It is only a 20 minute bus ride from Hallstatt and we purchased two daily bus tickets through the OBB App for Euro 9.40 total.
We did not want to go too early since the sun angle is too low for photos up in the mountains, so we decided we would take the 10:05 AM bus from the bus stop just across the street from our apartment.
We were both up and dressed by 8:45 AM, and ate breakfast in the apartment from items we had purchased at the grocery stores yesterday. From our balcony, we saw that there were hardly any passengers boarding the 9:05 AM bus, and we hoped that would also be the case for the 10:05 AM Bus. A little later, we saw what appeared to be a crowd of people congregating near the bus stop, so we gathered up our backpacks and walked over to the stop at 9:55 AM. It was just a couple of minutes walk to the bus stop, and when we arrived, we confirmed the departure time on the bus schedule posted at the stop. What had appeared as other bus passengers was really a tour group of some kind, they were now gathered up away from the bus stop, and we were the only ones waiting for the bus, relieved it was not going to be crowded.
The bus arrived on time and we boarded, showing our bus tickets on the phone app. I had not looked closely at the electronic tickets, and when I showed the online ticket to the driver, he asked about the ticket for Stephanie. I know I had purchased two tickets, adding her as a passenger, but when I tried to scroll down or sideways, I still only saw my ticket. Finally, I realized that this was page 1 of 2 showing at the top, and I was finally able to scroll sideways at the top of the screen to show him Stephanie’s ticket on page two. The app only allows access to the second ticket from the very top of the page, unlike any other phone app tickets we had previously used which allowed you to scroll sideways at any position on the screen to see a second ticket. Relieved that we did not have to purchase another ticket, we took our seats. We were the only passengers for most of the ride, we picked up a few more people at a stop in the actual town of Obertraun.
Dachstein Krippenstein Cable Car Station
We arrived on time at the cable car station for the Dachstein Krippenstein and headed to the ticket desk to purchase our tickets. We had tried to purchase them online, but when we had tried to enter in our required address, their system did not show the United States as one of the countries to select on their drop down list. Without a country to add to our address, we could not proceed with the online purchase. In addition, since I qualified for a Senior Discount, a whopping Euro 2.40 savings, we could only show proof of age for the discount at the ticket desk.
With our tickets purchased, we got in the line to board the first cable car to ride up to the middle station. It took several minutes to get through the line, the cable cars were a one up-one down configuration, and only held roughly 60 people. They were packing people in, and although everyone had to wear a mask, it was impossible not to be really close to a lot of other people when everyone boarded the cable car. It was funny, they had lines on the floor heading up to the cable cars for social distance separation, only to be all jammed in together into the car itself.
Map Of The Dachstein Area
It was just a few minutes ride to the next station, which was about halfway up to the top of the mountain. Once we got off there, we headed to the next cable car that took us to the top. Most everyone on the car we were on for the initial ride up also headed to the next car, but a few stopped here, there were some attractions outside, but mostly for kids.
The second cable car was also pretty full, and departed just a couple of minutes after everyone boarded. It was a little longer of a ride to the top than it had been to the middle station.
Views of Hoher Dachstein From The Top
Once we arrived at the top, we headed outside and looked at a trail map to see where we wanted to go. There are two main things to see here, the Five Finger Lookout, and the Welterbespirale, roughly interpreted as the World Spiral. Both were on the same trail from here, so we headed out. There were also some good views of Hoher Dachstein, the highest peak in Austria at 2,996 meters, and the glacier on it called Hallstatter Gletscher.
There was another small cable car that descended down to a station on the base of Hoher Dachstein. There were several long trails to hike there, but nothing we really wanted to see or do.
Lake Halstatt Far Down Below
We went to the Welterbespirale first, it was closest, and it was more near the actual top of the peak we were heading to. It was not really all that much to see, it was a shiny silver elevated viewing area, and you went to the top via a set of spiral steps. Along the way up the steps there were signs pointing to various countries showing the distance and direction, including one for the United States. It was not all that spectacular, and the views from the slightly elevated top area were not really any better than from the pathway itself.
Next, we set up the tripod for some photos at a point we had selected on the way up to the Welterbespirale. This gave us a view of Hallstatt and of Lake Hallstatt for our background. We thought we may find a better viewing area on the way to the 5 Fingers, but if not, we would not have to backtrack uphill to get back to this area. We did not want to walk uphill anymore than we had to!
The 5 Fingers
We then proceeded on the trail to the 5 Fingers. It was farther away that it appeared, but the trail was mostly downhill, but fairly steep in some areas. Downhill was nice for now, but we knew we had to go back on this same trail, and we could see some people really struggling with the uphill return.
The 5 Fingers was also just OK. We were both expecting the “fingers” to be longer protrusions out onto the overhang of the mountain, but they were each only about 15 feet long. We headed out on one finger to take some photos, but mostly of Hallstatt and of Lake Hallstatt below. There was one finger that was pretty short, but also had a platform extending out from the end that had no railings whatsoever. We surmised this may be for paragliders or for people base jumping with the special flying suits, parachuting at the end.
Better Vantage Point
We did find a better spot for tripod photos adjacent to the 5 Fingers, it gave a much better view of Hallstatt far below. We set up the tripod once again and took photos of us with the scenic view of Hallstatt in the background.
Now came the fun part, the uphill climb back up the trail to the cable car station. It was pretty tough at times, partly due to the altitude of abut 2,100 meters. We stopped a few times along the way to rest and catch our breath before we finally got back to somewhat level ground. There was a small chapel off to the side, so we headed up the short trail to see it. There was an altar inside behind a full height steel bar gate. There were just a few pews for about 20 people, and a confessional booth.
Upper Cable Car Station
We left there and headed back to the cable car station. It was just past noon when we arrived and so we decided to sit outside at a restaurant there and eat some lunch. We ordered two of the special local Hallstatt Beers in 0.50 L glasses, and also ordered a beef vegetable soup and a pasta dish to share.
Our Lunch at the Top
The pasta was really good, it had mushrooms, ham and some other ingredients on an egg noodle pasta, all covered in a cream sauce. The soup was also really good. Getting these to share was a perfect choice, we barely finished both dishes.
We looked at the bus schedule, which ran hourly. We either had to rush now to catch the two cable cars to the bottom for the next bus, or just relax and wait to catch the following bus. We opted not to rush, and decided we had plenty of time to order another beer and take our time to get to the bus stop.
It was really sunny, and we almost wished we had gotten a seat in the shade. We had applied sunscreen, but at this altitude, we felt we were still getting a little sunburned. We finished our second beer and paid the bill.
Enjoying Our Second Beer
We used the facilities and then went inside the station to catch the next cable car down to the middle station. Since it was afternoon, now more people were riding down than up, so the cable car was extremely crowded. We exited at the middle station, and this time, almost everyone on this car was heading to the next cable car for the ride to the bottom. We had to wait at the ticket turnstiles before we could go through and get into the cable car to the bottom station. After about a 10 minute wait, we all boarded, and once again it was packed. Luckily, the ride to the bottom was just several minutes long.
Bus Ride Back to Hallstatt
Once at the bottom, we headed outside to the bus stop, but I first stopped to use the facilities. Once we were at the bus stop, we verified the departure time, and had about 10 minutes to wait. Stephanie decided she needed to use the facilities, so she headed into the cable car station to use the restroom. About a minute after she was inside, the bus arrived and turned around to head back in the direction of Hallstatt. Since the bus was early, the driver actually turned off the bus to wait until the scheduled departure time. Of course, Stephanie did not know he was waiting to leave on his schedule when she came out of the bathroom, and thought the bus was about to leave, so she started running over to where I was standing, but I told her it was OK, and we had plenty of time.
We were the only passengers to board the bus for the ride back to Hallstatt.
Hallstatt View From The Park
Once we were back in Hallstatt, we walked south from the bus stop to a small park, which was one of the two viewing areas for iconic pictures of Hallstatt. The northern viewing area picture is probably more famous than the southern view, but with the sun location this time of year being more southerly, the northern view photo would be directly into the sun.
The park was just a few blocks from the bus station, and was quite nice. There were a lot of people just relaxing in the sunshine there, and we did the same, as well as taking some more tripod photos with the town and lake in the background.
We walked back into Hallstatt and headed up to the apartment to drop off some of our gear before heading back into the town center to look at some shops.
We also changed into some shorts, it was quite warm this afternoon in Hallstatt, about 78 degrees. Once we were changed, we headed back out to go to the town center and also to see something called the Hallstatt Charnel House, which is a small building containing over 1,200 skulls. The skulls are placed on a shelf in groups by family surname. In addition to the skulls, the major leg and arm bones were stacked in neat rows under the shelves holding the skulls.
We had not known that this was right next to the Catholic Church when we were here yesterday, it was a small building out in the cemetery, and we actually walked right past it when we visited here yesterday. Now we had to climb back up the hill to get to the Catholic Church on tired legs from our hiking today.
Many of the skulls were painted with the family names, other decorations and date of death. It was done from the early 1700’s as a way to increase space in the Catholic Cemetery. After 15 years minimum time, the skeletons were exhumed, dried in the sun, and placed in this building, which was right next to the Catholic Church. It was purely a way to increase space for subsequent burials here. It has not been practiced since the 1960’s, mainly due to now having the ability to cremate the bodies, lessening the need for space to bury full sized caskets. There was a small entry fee for the exhibit, and photos were strictly forbidden. There is a lot more information online, just do a search for the Hallstatt Charnel House.
After visiting there, we headed back down the hill to do some shopping and Stephanie decided to purchase a Christmas Ornament we had seen yesterday. The ornament is handmade glass, and hand painted by the store owner’s wife.
We then walked back to the apartment to sit on our balcony and enjoy a glass of wine, or two. We have to admit that we are not quite as energetic as we were at the beginning of the trip, we are getting a little tired of constantly being on the go. We are now content to do one or two things in a day and then spend some time relaxing. We are really enjoying being at our apartment here, especially with the balcony and its great views.
We were planning on having another eat in pasta dinner tonight, it may not be that adventurous, and may seem repetitive, but it is easy to cook, and we can enjoy relaxing in, especially after having eaten such a big lunch like we did today. We just can’t eat two big meals in the same day.
Tomorrow is supposed to be rainy, so we enjoyed the time on the balcony watching Hallstatt shut down after another long tourist day, but it was certainly a lot less crowded than yesterday since it was Sunday and everyone was heading home after the weekend.
After eating and showering, we watched a little TV before retiring for the night. It is supposed to rain pretty hard tonight, just after midnight, so we are not planning on getting up early tomorrow morning. The forecast is for some clearing after noon, so we are planning on doing a tour of the Salt Mine tomorrow afternoon.
We headed to sleep about 10:30 PM.