Overview
Introduction
The baroque town of Hallstatt, Austria, has a dramatic setting on the narrow shore between Hallstatter Lake and the sheer face of a cliff, an easy-to-reach 30 mi/50 km southeast of Salzburg. The train station is on the opposite side of the lake, so many visitors are brought into town by boat. Hallstatt is also accessible by highway, although there is limited public parking.
Attractions in Hallstatt include the World Cultural Heritage Museum (Celtic artifacts dating from the Iron Age) and the eerie Beinhaus (Bone House), located in the 12th-century St. Michael's Chapel, which displays row upon row of decorated skulls.
Nearby are the 2,800-year-old Salzwelten salt mines and the two huge Dachstein ice caves (called Mammut Cave and Koppenbruller Cave).