Welcome to beautiful Upper Austria in the hinterland of Mozart's city of Salzburg. The beauty of the area embraced by the Dachstein Mountains and the Hallstattersee is truly inspirational especially in the crisp, stable weather that this region often acquires during the period of this tour. There are people who claim that once you have walked here you will have experienced the best 'typical' alpine hiking in Europe.

The tour gets off to a cracking start at Bad Goisern, a small market town lovingly embedded in the Goisertal Valley. You can opt to do a walk onto the high trails of the 'Goiserer Hohenweg' with some spectacular viewpoints over the Dachstein peaks before heading to Gosau via the Goiserer Hutte at nearly 1600m below an optional peak called Hoch Kalmberg 1833m. Gosau has a more pastoral feel to it and the broad valley here attracts thousands of cross-country skiers in the winter. From Gosau a circular walk will take you to the Alpine Lakes of the the Gosausee and Hintere Gosausee with some spectacular mountain panoramas to the Gosaukamm mountains, or you can do some walks along the forest edge above the valley. The next walk takes you via the flanks of Mount Plassen to perhaps the real gem of the tour, for two nights at the ancient town of Hallstatt.

This is a village of some 1,200 people, wonderfully remote, squeezed between the base of Mount Plassen and the waters of Lake Hallstattersee. It grew rich from the ancient and modern trade in salt which is plentiful in the surrounding mountains. The town is almost traffic-free and it is also a UNESCO world Culture and Natural Heritage site. A tiny ferry glides between the nearest train station across the fjord-like lake and drops you off on the town's storybook square. Clinging to its lakeside ledge under the mountains, Hallstatt seems smaller than it really is; ivy-covered guesthouses and cobbled lanes surround its pint-sized square. Its spectacular setting, at the foot of cliffs and facing the often mist-cloaked Halstättersee, is right out of a picture postcard.

The local museums and churches are certainly worth a visit. The charnel house in the graveyard contains bones, including painted skulls, of the local dead whose graves were dug up after 12 years to make room for new clients. If you get tired of walking here, a funicular can whisk you up to the 'Salzwerk', or salt mine in a valley above the town or if you like you can hike up in an hour or so. You may prefer to take the funicular up to the mine and then walk back down to the village after the tour and go on to visit nearby Obertraun for a tour of the ice caves.

Travel Information

Season: Mid June to mid October. Note that it is possible that if you book early or late within this season, some of the walks may be affected by fresh snow fall or residual snow. This will vary from year to year and Sherpa cannot be held responsible for this.

The first Hotel: in Bad Goisern.

Convenient airports: Scheduled services from the UK fly to  Vienna (Wien). From the airport there is a shuttle bus to Wien Westbahnhof (45 mins) and then the train to Bad Goisern takes between 3 ½ to 4 hours.

If you are a ‘Land Only’ customer you can also make use of Ryan Air flights from London Stansted to Salzburg. These tend to be very early morning (which means a very early start  from the U.K)  or too late in the evening to  reach Bad Goisern on the same day although a taxi can normally be arranged for approx 120 Euros taking  1 hour 15mins. Trains from Salzburg airport to Bad Goisern take approx. 2 ½ hours. You can also fly from London Stansted to Linz and then bus/train to Bad Goisern  (in 2.5 hours). Or  you could  fly  to Graz.  From Graz Airport to Bad Goisern it takes about 3.15 hours by train.

End of Tour:   The tour also ends on Day 8 in Bad Goisern. If  you are flying out of Vienna in the  early  afternoon,  you will have to leave  on the 06.30 or 07.30 trains to  get to Vienna  airport in time. Transport on train back to Vienna and onto the airport: 3.5 to 4 hours plus airport bus or taxi up to 45 mins.

Or back to Linz, 2.5 hours, Graz 3.15 hours or Salzburg 2.5 hours approx (taxi can also be arranged to Salzburg taking about 1 hour 15 min. You can take the 05.28 train from Bad Goisern and the airport bus which costs 20 Euros and gets you to the airport at approx. 08.20) and then flight to London Stansted.

(Note that the train/shuttle bus transfers are not included).

What's Included

The price is based on two people sharing a twin or double room and includes good bed & breakfast accommodation and evening meals on 3 evenings. Note that a twin room in this part of Austria often means two mattresses within a wooden frame together with two separate duvets or one large mattress with two separate  duvets.

Not included: Train or cable car services within Austria, packed lunches, snacks and drinks, entry fees etc.

General Information

Baths: it is not normal for your room to have a bath, the main reason being that it takes up a lot of space, some hotels/guesthouses may have a separate room in the house where a bath is available to guests, but in the main it is showers.

Breakfast: in countries such as Switzerland/Norway/Germany/Austria they are usually buffet style, please don’t offend your hosts by making up a picnic lunch from the breakfast buffet unless it has been specifically organised for you. It is important for you to tell us if you have any dietary requirements when you book your holiday so that we can inform everyone that you are staying with.

Single Supplements: are payable on most of our tours. 1) The single supplement guarantees the privacy of your own room, however, rooms can at times be small and in some places may not enjoy the same facilities as double/twin rooms.

Language: When travelling in less frequented areas you will not necessarily come across people speaking English. Remember you have left home to find things different.

Luggage: When staying in hotels, sometimes your luggage will have been taken to you room awaiting your arrival. However don’t be surprised if your luggage is waiting for you to take it up to your room.

Twin Rooms:  A twin room in this part of Austria often means two mattresses within 1 wooden frame together with two separate duvets or  one large mattress with two separate  duvets.

Level of Difficulty

Fitness: We grade this tour as moderate - challenging; anyone used to hill walking with a daily height gain/loss of up to 3,300 feet (1100 metres) should find the tour within their capability. Most days are easier than this. You will find some steep, stony trails and maybe an element of exposure on a couple of occasions. Walkers who want to avoid the ‘challenging’ walks, can use  public transport to travel between centers: Good train and/or postbus system.

Day Stages: Average duration of walk­ing per day is about 6 hours. Some of the walks may be shortened if desired by the use of cable cars/Funiculars or local postbuses.

Waymarking: As one would expect in Austria, the trails are generally very well marked and often signposted, but it is essential to both carry and be able to use a map and compass in case of mist etc. Waymarking is usually red and white paint marking but can also be yellow/orange and white.

In June and maybe early July there can be snow patches on higher trails (above 1300m), while new snowfalls are of course  possible  from  September.

Accommodation & Meals

Accommodation is on a half board basis for 3 nights (3 evening meals included); in 3 star hotels. All rooms have ensuite facilities when available. Lunches are not included in the tour cost.  However, picnic materials can be readily bought on weekdays in each of the towns and vil­lages we stay at. Or you could eat a prepared meal at one of the restaurants, inns or mountain huts that you pass on the way on a couple of days. Packed lunches for an additional charge, can also be provided by the hotels if requested the evening before. It is regarded as improper to prepare a picnic from breakfast materials.

Please note that we are not able to guarantee the accommodation exactly but the descriptions of the hotels and guesthouses below are the ones normally used.

Night: 1, 2 and 7 In Bad Goisern. A Warm welcome awaits you at our 3 star hotel, picturesquely located near the center of town. It is  a comfortable hotel  located  easily  within walking distance of the railway station and the start or finish of  quite  a few  of the walks. Rooms have regional character and there is a great bar/restaurant and terrace for outdoor dining. It is a good place to enjoy the feeling of getting away from it all!

Night: 3 and 4 In Gosau. We use an attractive, efficient modern 3 star hotel in the great rural setting of the broad Gosau Valley. Lovely mountain views over to the Gosaukaum mountains from the dining room and south facing bedrooms and great forest and village  views in other directions. Once again you have a friendly and attentive service and good cooking from sister act Brigitte and Anna who run the establishment. Anna makes some great desserts everyday in the best Austrian tradition!  There is also a drying room.

Night: 5 and 6 In Hallstatt. Our beautiful pinewood and stone hotel has been offering warm hospitality for a hundred years or so. It is also renowned locally for its gourmet cuisine. Hopefully you will be able to breakfast on the wooden carved balcony in the morning sun. At dinner time you will be in the ivy-covered stone dining room. Bedrooms have modern comforts in a house which is deeply rooted in the life and tradition of Hallstatt. The marvelous view from the balconies over the rooftops of perhaps the most romantic lake-village in the world is like a glimpse into a small paradise. The hotel is set back from the Halstattersee, but many of the rooms do have balconies.

Outline Itinerary

Please note that the walks below are suggestions and there maybe other routes or activities that are worthwhile, sometimes tying in with the local public transport system.

q       Day 1: Fly to Vienna / Salzburg /Linz/ Graz and take the airport shuttle buses, then trains to Bad Goisern. There are trains more or less hourly throughout the day.  For dates and times you could look at the Austrian railways site at: www.oebb.at. Remember for example to spell Salzburg the correct way; i.e. not Salzberg!  Type in the dates of your arrival to prearm you with the best trains to coincide with your arrival in Austria.

Once arrived, settle into your hotel,  you can  stroll along the riverside path if you want to go for a ramble. Dinner at hotel.

q       Day 2: Bad Goisern Circular Walk, There are different options today. If you are up for a bit of a challenge, you can take the train to the Spa town of Bad Ischl (15 mins) there is a 19 km walk from here back to Bad Goisern involving a climb up to the craggy peak of Predigstuhl 1278 metres (some steps & cables to summit but  you can bypass the summit). There are great vistas towards the Dachstein group, which still looks quite far off at this point and over the Halstattersee. A steep descent takes you along the Ewige Wand rock band before doubling back through some old salt workings bringing you out into the forest above Bad Goisern.  
An alternative is a shorter walk steeply up a forested rock ridge called the  ‘The Jochwand,’  9 km approx. There are great views over the region before the path drops downhill again to Bad Goisern. Lazier walkers can walk along both sides of the river bank and explore the coffee shops of Bad Goisern.

q       Day 3: Bad Goisern to Gosau 16 km (1100m ascent – 900 m descent) The path climbs past the Goiserer Hutte 1598m.  Hardened walkers may wish to spend an extra hour or so climbing up to the peak of Kalmberg 1833m. It is then down hill to Gosau heading steeply through attractive Alps and then through forests and walk into the spread out village of Gosau.

q       Day 4: Walks from Gosau: You can take the local postbus to Gosaursee and gain the ridge high above with a Funicular car up to the ‘Gablonzer Hutte,’ 1522 metres. and then from there follow a pretty path back down again to Gosau called the ‘Herrenweg’ ( The Man’s Walk) On this 7km walk there are normally great views of the Gosaukamm Mountains.
You can also take the postbus up to the Gosausee and then walk the trail to the Hintere Gosausee, which is the smaller  higher  second lake, ascent and descent is about 300metres. This trip takes about 4 hours and on a good day you will get  some  very dramatic reflections of the mountains  in the waters. So you can decide whether you want a full or half days of walking.

q       Day 5: Gosau to Hallstatt 7 hours walking approx. 16 km ascent 900m, descent 1000m   From Gosau you can walk to Hallstatt (literally ‘Salt City’) maybe with the assistance of local transport to shorten routes. Walking, the route follows the valley before climbing up through forest and alpine pastures liberally watered by mountain streams reaching the flanks of Mount Plassen.  Here is a short steep section to descend, before  a more gentle undulating general descent via the mines of Salzberg where you will find a salt mine where guided visits are possible depending on when you arrive. Finally drop down to Hallstatt. If it is wet or if a storm beckons a little funicular will get you down.

q       Day 6: Walks from Hallstatt. Time is well spent utilizing cable cars and the Obertrauner Hohenweg to visit an ‘Ice cave,’ the ‘Mammoth cave’ and Mount Krippenstein, with more views to the Dachsteins and to their glaciers. Alternatively from the town a steep gradient leads you up to the salt mine which originally gave the town its wealth. (If you have not visited this yesterday on the way down from the walk).  You could avoid the climb by using the little funicular railway instead. High above there are great views of the Hallstattersee and the high peaks. You can walk back on the ‘Soleweg’ path.

Of course we would not suggest that you do not spend some time in Hallstatt, looking around for instance, the old graveyard where bones and skulls have been piled up in the  bone house, many painted  with floral motifs. You could also take the ferry  boat across the Hallstattersee for a mini cruise. Photographers will certainly appreciate the different vistas of the  town  from the water!

q       Day 7: Hallstatt to Bad Goisern (12 km approx, 4 hours). The walk leads off northerly  from above Hallstatt along the  ‘Solweg’ the path  by which they  have  pumped brine (liquid salt) towards Bad Ischl  for a few hundred years. Originally the brine was piped via a wooden piping and is claimed to be the oldest commercial pipeline. Hopefully if the weather is clear and still you will get some beautiful reflections in the waters. You can take a detour down to the lake at a place called Gosaumuhle  where you may like to take a swim on a warm day. You then carry on into Bad Goisern and your first hotel once again.  Alternatively you  can catch the ferry across to the  railway station in  the morning and walk round the  eastern side of the lake to Bad Goisern.

q       Day 8: Depart. After breakfast return to your point of departure. Allow enough time for the train journey for your check in time. If you are on the internet, you could look at the Austrian railways site at: www.oebb.at  

On this Self-Guided Tour we provide you with:  

Route notes and maps.

© Sherpa Expeditions Limited

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