Where: Obertraun in Upper Austria
How to get there: from Wien HBF to Obertraun Dachsteinhöhlen Bahnhof via Attnang-Puchheim (around 4h)
Dachstein mountain is the highest mountain that straddles Upper Austria and Styria, and the Dachstein region in which it’s located is one dramatically beautiful place.
The fastest way to reach Dachstein is to travel to Obertraun (a small village in Upper Austria) and use this as your homebase for your weekend trip.
Obertraun is located next to the South end of the Hallstätter See (Lake Hallstatt) and, more or less, in the foothills of Dachstein mountain. If you’re a cave girl, or guy, (with that, we mean that you’re interested in checking out caves), take the Dachstein World Heritage cable car up to the Giant Ice Cave and the impressive Mammoth Cave. If you take the cable car up a bit further, you’ll reach the Krippenstein on the Dachstein plateau. From here, you’ll have a stunning panoramic view of the Salzkammergut.
When you’ve had enough of all the mountain goat kind of fun (which you probably won’t, but anyway), you should definitely lay your eyes on Lake Hallstatt – it’s one of the most photographed lakes in Austria. When you’re there, be sure to go for a swim, or take a pedal boat out onto the lake so you can enjoy the spectacular view of Hallstatt from the water.
