It's a great place to chill between Salzburg and Vienna, it's more a place to just BE. I think arriving by train and taking the ferry across the lake to Hallstatt is the perfect way to arrive. It's even more beautiful in person. Highly recommend doing an overnight there to really appreciate it-there tend to be busloads of day-trippers during the day.

~Liz

Wow, looks like a beautiful place to visit for day or 2.

Actually, Austria wasn't very high on my list either. I've now been twice and it is beautiful!!!

Someother places to see...

Near Graz is Stift Rein (The oldest Cistercian Monastery in the world with a jaw dropping gorgeous baroque cathedral that I entered during noon vespers... just wonderful!!! Don't miss Margrave Leopold I's bones! Some recently unearthed ruins including a Gothic chapel, etc.), the church in Strassengel (a private tour guide at Stift Rein allowed me to join her tour and then told me to follow her to this church (just me and her... her tour left to go elsewhere), it was wonderful!) , the Piber Stud Farm (went here on my way to Hallstatt, the Lipizzaner horses are bred, trained and retired here).

Vienna

Melk (and it's breathtaking abbey, stunningly beautiful basilica and library.)

Hall in Tirol

Durnstein

You can find out more info by googling all these destinations.

Happy planning!!!

It's gorgeous - I've just added it to my list!

I've also added it to my list and am looking into spending my birthday there in March. Absolutely gorgeous.

jdc

My husband took this photo of Hallstatt:

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/135...11574650WVmeGp

There are a few others in the album.

Five friends and I stayed for a lovely two weeks in Pfarrwerfen, Austria; the trip was done through Untours, www.untours.coml Using the train system, we were able to get around quite well, going to Hallstatt, Zell am See, Hohenwerfen for the falcon show at the castle, Salzburg, and even Vienna, Munich, and Berchtesgaden. Austria really is beautiful!
Here are some pix: http://travel.webshots.com/album/115491557HbDEdt

Another place to put on the list. I've heard about how beautiful it is but haven't been there. Thank you TLE!

I also like to use flickr - once your search is showing, click on the "interesting" link and it resorts the photos according to "interestingness" (a flickr algorithm which is based on views/comments/favorites, among others).

and WOW. Beautiful place.

tuscan: Noticed the magazine in which the original photo appeared-do you subscribe? I used to and saved issues because of the "how to's" but did so less and less so didn't renew this time.

We loved Hallstatt and the Salzkammergut. As mentioned above, there are plenty of places nearby. Salzburg is close. You could easily visit the Berchtesgaden region in Germany. We really like St. Gilgen and St. Wolfgang, also in the Salzkammergut on the Wolfgangsee. The closest major airport is Munich and from there it's maybe a 2 hour drive.

Austria is one of our favorite countries!

Tracy

TDudette: I don't subscribe to Digital PhotoPro, but my husband gets courtesy copies delivered at home. It's pretty funny to think of me getting the mag, because I can't even take a picture. DH, however, is a photographer and photo editor at a large newspaper, so gets a load of this stuff. I was about to recycle that mag when I decided to flip through it and found that gorgeous picture.

I am loving hearing you all say these great things about Austria. A good friend is in Vienna right now with her family, and I hope she gets to see a bit of the country outside the city. I do now have Austria on my list.

In fact, if I can't get the award tickets I want for England, I may switch to Munich. Thanks for the airport tip, Tracy.

Debbie

Yup. This definitely deserves to be added to the list. Thanks for posting the pic, tuscanlifeedit.

So, I had originally been thinking about 2 - 3 days in Cesky Krumlov between Salzburg and Vienna, but now this thread has me leaning more toward Halstatt. Either way, I think visits to St. Gilgen & Melk Abbey could fit in. Any thoughts re: the comparison?