Hallstatt, Austria: Postcards from Heaven
“Austria’s paradise town”, “Austria’s most beautiful town”, “the world’s most beautiful town”, “love check-in place”, “the most Instagrammable town”, etc., these are all people’s opinions on Praise for the Austrian town of Hallstatt! Hallstatt is almost at the “ceiling” level among all the small towns I’ve been to! It's also one of my favorite towns.
In the first few dozen kilometers to Hallstatt, the roads were almost all very narrow mountain roads, and the road conditions were not very good. This made me wonder if the navigation was wrong. Only when I arrived did I realize that fairyland is hidden in deep mountains and canyons. "Infinite scenery is in the dangerous peaks"!
Hallstatt is located in the Salzkammergut district and is the oldest town in Austria. Located between the Alps and surrounded by mountains, it is a beautiful town surrounded by lakes and mountains. 7,000 years ago, ancient ancestors were engaged in salt mining activities in the mountainous areas and brought huge wealth to the town. Therefore, the town is also known as the "oldest salt city in the world". Today, in the center of the town, In the museum, you can still see clothes and salt mining tools excavated from the original salt mine, Iron Age living utensils and the earliest steamship model.
Salzwelten is a UNESCO-recognized salt mine in Hallstatt that dates back to prehistoric times, possibly even 4000 BC. The mountain was formed by the evaporation of seawater more than 250 million years ago, and the rich salt deposits have brought great wealth to the town.
In this lakeside town standing between steep slopes and gem-like emerald lakes, you can see quiet and beautiful fairy-tale-like residences everywhere.
We arrived at around two o'clock in the afternoon. The weather was not very good at that time, so we were a little disappointed! But the hotel we booked is in a good location, next to the lake. When you open the window and see the lake, looking at the clear smoke rising from the lake, you feel like you are in a fairyland on earth.
After taking a short rest, we couldn’t wait to go out for a walk. An hour later the sky suddenly cleared, making the town suddenly look very charming.
The town is very small, with only one main street! It can be completed quickly in fifteen minutes, but if you want to savor it carefully, it will take a while.
Lake Hallstatt is naturally the first place to visit.
Lake Hallstatt is the most spiritual of the 14 lakes in the Salzkammergut region of Austria. It is surrounded by mountains, and the surrounding peaks with an altitude of more than 3,000 meters form a natural barrier for the lake. It is like a paradise on earth, a fairyland on earth, which makes people linger and forget to leave.
The lake was formed by glaciers. The water is crystal clear and the deepest reaches 125 meters. The shores of the lake are lined with fairy-tale-like quiet and beautiful colorful residences, surrounded by towering green mountains.
The most attractive thing about the town is of course the wooden houses built on the lake, which are stacked on top of each other in an orderly manner. These cabins have hundreds of years of history, but after being renovated and painted, they not only are exquisite and beautiful, but also add a bit of historical charm. Here, you can find traces of buildings ranging from Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque to modern. In order to distinguish themselves from other houses, local residents will paint different colors on their roofs and exterior walls as their own. "ID card", these colors are particularly eye-catching under the sunlight. Bright reds and yellows in particular depict the 16th-century architecture of the Austrian town.
When you step into the small town of Hallstatt, it seems like a musical may break out at any time. In spring and summer, flower boxes line the windows amid geraniums and ivy; cobblestone streets connect charming cafes, ornate churches and alpine hotels. Natural wonders are everywhere – from the neighboring Salzkammergut Mountains to Lake Hallstatt and the village’s own cascade.
The center of the town is called the "Market Square" by the locals. In the center of the square is a sculpture of a worker carrying a barrel of salt, which seems to tell tourists about the history of salt here. A mascot that brings wealth to the town!
The development of the salt mining industry promoted the prosperity of the local economy and provided a large amount of financial revenue for the royal family of Vienna. The beautiful environment and developed economy also attracted many romantic painters, artists, poets and composers. family, thus leaving a large number of high-quality architectural and artistic relics. The Catholic Church established in 748 AD in the center of the town, the Jesus Church established in 1320 and many museums are classic representatives of them.
“Hallstatt has many unique ice caves and a wide variety of flora and fauna, so it was listed as a World Cultural Heritage in 1997. It is the only one besides Australia’s Aire Rock and the Philippine Islands. Recognized as an area with both cultural and natural environmental heritage, this fairyland-like town sits on the shore of a clear lake and is surrounded by mountains. It attracts tourists from all over the world and has become a popular tourist destination. Resort.
It became popular among East Asian tourists when it appeared on a Korean TV show in 2006.
This lakeside town stands between steep slopes and gem-like emerald lakes. It is famous for its beautiful natural scenery. It is like a postcard from heaven. It is a classic endorsement of Austrian tourism and one of the most popular destinations in Europe. A textbook of small town scenery.
You can rent a boat for 20 euros and see the town from the lake. The green mountains and green water set off against the ancient buildings are even more charming.
Strolling through the town, you will see wild cats on the roadside, swans, ducks, water birds, birds on the houses, etc. The harmonious nature of humans and animals is reflected in the town. It’s so vivid, this scene is so beautiful!
The flower pots made of old leather boots found on the roadside are hung on the iron railings in an orderly manner, which is very artistic in life.
I felt hungry after walking around in the afternoon, so I chose a restaurant by the lake for dinner. The boss actually spoke a few words in Chinese! It can be seen that there are many Chinese people here usually! We chose a local specialty: grilled fish, just because it was fished out of the lake! Since the weather is nice, we can sit outside at the outdoor dining table and enjoy the scenery while eating! There is nothing more enjoyable than this. Their method of grilling fish is also simple and crude, aiming to maintain the original taste of lake fish!
The "hobby" of Hallstatt people is that in the long and narrow town, wooden products can be seen everywhere. They use wood to make wooden signs to guide tourists; use wood to make road signs to tell you where you are ahead. It is a dream hotel, and there are also wooden carvings on other buildings. The people of Hallstatt seem to be artists and can carve beautiful ornaments out of wood.
There is a reason why people in Hallstatt like wood. It is said that thousands of years ago, the Hallstatt people mined mountain salt, the white gold of life, here. Salt mine workers have to climb hundreds of meters high from the foot of the mountain to the peak every day, and then descend to the deep bottom of the salt mine to work. What protects their safety is the "wooden slide". In the square of the town, a statue of a salt miner carrying a large wooden salt barrel seems to tell tourists the legend of wood and salt.
Although the town has a population of just over a thousand, it receives an astonishing number of tourists every year. For example, it received 1 million tourists in 2018 - the number of tourists per capita is one of the most visited cities in the world. 347 times that of Hong Kong! There is almost no distinction between off-season and peak season for tourism in this small town. It is overcrowded all year round! Therefore, a situation has emerged in the town where almost every house is an inn and every household is a restaurant, and everyone is a businessman! According to locals, day visitors sometimes show up to chase away those who have stayed for a long time because they occupy the hotel for too long! New tourists can't even stay here! Therefore, many travel companies can only pull tourists here, let them take a few quick photos and then leave quickly!
Few people spend the night in these breathtaking surroundings, so at night you have the most to offer. There is a unique atmosphere surrounding the city and lake.
It should be said that we are very lucky to stay in the town for one night during the peak tourist season! You can enjoy the night and morning of the town!
After dinner, we continued walking around the town and watched a live performance by local musicians in the church. Austria is indeed the land of music, everyone can sing and dance! Even though we didn’t understand it, we were still infected by their performance!
Afterwards, we climbed up to the Hallstatt Catholic Church at the top of the town. This ornate Gothic altarpiece was designed by the famous Austrian artist Lienhart Astl in the early 1500s. The church's artwork is so valuable that a traveling couple once smuggled a painting home in the late 1980s. After decades of investigation, the artwork was finally retrieved and restored to its original condition in the summer of 2018. From the church hill you can overlook the town of Hallstatt: churches, streets, shops, floating population, colorful lights and a little mysterious lake! The charming town night kept us wandering around until after ten o'clock at night before dragging our tired bodies back to sleep! Early the next morning, it was raining lightly, so I got up for a morning run and ran around the town.
Run to the end of the main street, where there is a small lookout specially built for tourists. This is a postcard angle to see the town. The postcard photos of the town in many magazines are taken from here! I also took a “postcard” that I was satisfied with!
Because it had just finished raining, the morning fog was a bit thick, which made the town full of fairy spirit. This scene reminded me of the fjord towns in Norway. There is a certain similarity between them! Tourists come from all over the world and take the postcards of the town they took with their own hands to share the beauty of the town with the world and let the world know that there is such a paradise in the world and in Austria. This small town is a card sent to us by God from heaven. It also has a poetic name: Hallstatt! The most beautiful village in the world! (The most beautiful town in the world)!
Nordic Yubo - Hallstatt 2022.06.24 Denmark