Photo:
Hallstatt, Austria (Photo creds: me)

We all know the many different fairy tales out there, and we all loved growing up with them. Hallstatt is a town in Austria that literally takes you into Snow White’s world. With its colorful buildings and stunning lake, Hallstatt is like a dream. 

To get to the town of Hallstatt, you have to take a small ferry boat across Hallstatt Lake from where the train stop is, to where actual Hallstatt is. Once in Hallstatt, there are tons of fun ways to spend your time.

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This town itself is one of the quaintest towns I’ve ever stepped foot in, and one of the most picturesque too. The buildings are bright colors, like something out of a children’s story, a child’s fantasy.

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Walking through the main streets of Hallstatt, we found ourselves constantly strolling into the many shops along the way. There’s tons of cool shops, with awesome gifts and treats for purchase, even a small store filled with tons of candles in all sorts of shapes and sizes! (Think… bananas, frogs, anything you can imagine. And all made out of candle wax!) Inside one of the shops with delicious looking snacks, I ended up finding a bag with this pastry cookie treat that my mom used to buy when I was much younger. I got really excited and had to buy a bag (which was emptied so fast, I’m a bit embarrassed to admit it).

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When you keep walking from the main town square, closer to the neighborhoods, you might be as lucky as we were and run into the curious swans that have no problem getting close to all the curious people. Again…. A child’s fantasy. (PS… I wasn’t feeding the swan. I held up a piece of wood to try and trick him into thinking I was feeding him so he’d come closer. It worked.)

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Walking through the residential area of Hallstatt, you’ll come across more and more sights that look so unreal, yet they’re right there in front of your eyes. Gorgeous stone walls, even more quaint homes and buildings, and a quiet creek. All of it stuns me with how fairytale-like it is.

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And now, my personal favorite part of our day in Hallstatt… The first thing we did was rent a small motorboat so we could spend an hour riding around the lake. The price wasn’t unbearably high, and it was definitely worth it, the lake is absolutely gorgeous and there are really great views of the mountains and the homes along the waterline. It’s definitely a must during your time in Hallstatt.

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Since we only had a day in Hallstatt, there were a few things we were unable to take advantage of. Salzwelten, Hallstatt’s salt mine, is up on the hill and is easily reachable. It’s a major point of interest for tourists, and I’m sure a really great place to spend some time. There are also museums, and tons of typical outdoorsy activities you can partake in with gorgeous Hallstatt as your backdrop! I do wish we had the extra time there to take advantage of these awesome activities, and I’m sure I’ll make my way there again sometime!