bobthenavigator

You are welcome--have fun !
You will like the Eisl family--she runs the place. It is not fancy but very homey. The best food in town is across the street--are you ready--in a chinese place. The train into Salzburg is easy and takes :30--better than driving. That is a great location for day trips.

Teach

Bob, not to tax you with too many questions, but what do you think of splitting 4-5 days between St. Gilgen and Hallstatt? Too much?

bobthenavigator

Hallstatt is cute but I have only spent one day there, which seemed adequate. But, we also did the salt mine thing at Hallein, not Hallstatt. I just think St. Gilgen gives you a good central location with lots of options.

jmw

Hi Teach. St. Gilgen and Halstatt are very close to one another. I have not read every post here, but if you've decided to stay out of town from Salzburg, maybe you should just make it St. Gilgen, train into Salzburg, and visit Halstatt another day by car, staying late in the evening and returning to your St. Gilgen hotel. I know I'm one who said spend the night, but I also like to stay in one little hotel several nights instead of hopping place to place. Did you mention the time of year? It is light very late during the summer, sooo perhaps it would work. That's pretty much what I did some years ago. We chose St. Gilgen for a central location and budget hotel. I don't suppose it would be possible for you to stay in Halstatt and train or drive to Salzburg from there? I liked St. Gilgen very much, but its setting and 'village plan' is not as spectacular as Halstatt. Sorry to muddy the decision-making waters. J.

lbstokes

We just got back from Hallstatt and Salzburg. I didn't care for Salzburg that much, touristy, commercial, sort of spoiled. Hallstatt was awesome! We stayed at the Gruener Baum which is next to Gasthof Zauner. I would reccommend The Gruener Baum as a hotel, but stay away from the restaurant there. We had an awesome, corner room, top floor room, on the lake!, but had to wait 1.5 hours for an overcooked dinner. Salt mines were worth it; we opted to see the ice caves in Werfen which were incredible and a short, beautiful drive from Hallstatt. They are supposed to be the largest of the ice caves. While in Werfen you can visit the castle there also. Enjoy your trip - we did!

cparris

We also stayed for 2 nights at the gruner baum in Hallstadt. It is worth it to pay alittle extra to get a room with a balcony overlooking the lake. We did eat at the restaurant and had no problem or wait.The food was ok but not great. There is also a good pizza/italian place up the mountain a bit. The hotel is old but has character. The rooms were very big. I just loved sitting out on the balcony. Amazing view. You can also rent a canoe or kayak..or even small motor boat...it is a nice thing to do. We all liked the salt mine tour...even my somewhat picky teenagers...and the meal at the hotel on top of the mountain was good. Have fun. I have to say that we did like salzburg...it is an extremely beautiful city.

DavidD

Teach,

This is a strong, most interesting thread.

Allow me to chime-in on lodging in Halstatt. I stayed this summer for an overnight at both the Gasthof Zauner and Gruner Baum (sp?).

While both are centrally located, the Gruner features stupendous lake views. However, we had a top-floor room at the Zauner and it was very appealing, featuring a wonderful, seemingly overhead view of the town square with the lake in the rearground. There was also a small porch. The only drawback to our room was the telephone-booth sized, dimly-lit bathroom. The Zauner has a fine restaurant, specializing in traditional fare.

Concerning the Gruner Baum, the service at this hotel couldn't have been much better. We didn't have dinner here, but we enjoyed lunch in the hotel's dining room. Unlike the Zauner, however, the Gruner is more rustic than charming. Indeed, Fodor's Guide to Austria characterizes the hotel as in need of "sprucing up". This is accurate, as our room was plain and outdated in appearance. The building is quite old, and I suspect it's in need of near-future and significant repairs. So consider the Gruner for its splendid location, the views of the lake, and the service, but its rustic quality won't appeal to all tastes.

Best of luck.