When planning my trip to Vienna, I knew I absolutely had to do a day trip out to Austria’s Lake District to explore the small towns – especially the picturesque Hallstatt! While public transportation in Europe is generally very good, getting to these small towns can be a bit tricky (especially on a time crunch). Therefore, I chose to book a day trip with a tour, knowing that they would take care of all the logistics so I can just enjoy! And it turned out to be an absolutely perfect day bopping around. I booked the Hallstatt Christmas Tour with White Alligator Tours and couldn’t recommend them enough! We visited several small towns and had plenty of free time to explore. Here’s my recap exploring Christmas markets in Austria’s Lake District!
Pick up and drive to the Lake District
The tour started bright at early, with a 7:00 am pickup time from my hotel. I stayed at the Hilton Vienna Plaza, which was a perfect home base for exploring the Christmas markets in Vienna! The hotel was beautiful, modern, in a central location, and reasonably priced (if you book far in advance)! I loaded up into the cozy Mercedes Benz sprinter van with four other passengers, and we were off! Our guide gave us good tips, info, and history on the places we passed through Vienna, but wasn’t overbearing at all. We settled in for the long drive out to the Lakes District, stopping for a quick fresh air stop at Landzeit. This place had a full cafeteria, coffee cafe, and small gift shop. Have Google Translate ready though, because none of the workers spoke English!
Mondsee
Our first official stop of the trip was in the beautiful lakeside town of Mondsee. This little town was cozy and quaint and having thirty minutes to explore on our own was the perfect amount of time. We arrived just as their Christmas market, Advent in Mondsee, was opening. The market is set up in the center of town, right in front of the famous St. Michael Basilica, where they filmed the wedding scene in The Sound of Music! The basilica is free to enter, and is worth popping in to view the beautiful alter, organ, and iconic pink arches! Just outside the square were beautiful buildings pasted with pastel colors, which made for such a beautiful stroll through town.
Mondsee is also located right on Lake Mondsee, and it’s worth taking a short walk down to enjoy the views. I loved looking up at the hills and photographing the homes, churches, and buildings that sit so peacefully (and also being jealous of the people that live there).
Wolfgangsee Overlook
Our next stop was a quick scenic overlook of the Wolfgangsee (Lake Wolfgang). From this stop, we got beautiful views over the lake, of the snow-capped mountains that surround the area, and the town of St. Gilgen (which we would explore next!). This was a quick stop to take some photos and enjoy the views, but just enough time to get to appreciate it all. Shoutout to our guide who kindly offered to take pictures of me (and then do more when I hated the way I looked in the first ones, lol!).
St. Gilgen
down into the town of st. gilden. much bigger market but still quaint and had a small town feel. walk along the lake and mozart’s mother’s birthplace.
Hallstatt
hallstatt. drive to hallstatt – around the lake, so scenic and beautiful. 30 minute walking tour with a local who gave us interesting history about the town. 750 residents. interesting history as a mining town. famous for their salt. spent a few hours strolling around the town, down by the lake. famous viewpoint. another good viewpoint is the parking garage.
St. Wolfgang
saint wolfgang. around the lake. this was the biggest market we went to all day. the whole town transforms into a market. very busy, but lots to see and do. escape the crowds by the church viewpoints place. inside a small market. llamas, big candle on the water.
Back to Vienna
back to vienna. 3 hour deive – took a nap and edited pictures.
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