Hi, we are planning to visit Austria for about 4 or 5 days during a 5 week trip in the fall. We went to Salsburg last time around. This time we want a scenic little village in the mounains for hiking and relaxing. We are thinking of Hallstat unless anyone has a better suggestion. Thanks.

Definitely go to Hallstatt, it's so picturesque. I remember sitting by the lake with the best potato soup I've ever had. The Cemetary of the Bones was really interesting and we walked around the town. I have always thought it would be a great place to stay if I was a writer! Dreams!!

I agree with Nancy! Hallstat is beautiful, relaxing and quaint. I too enjoyed a wonderful afternoon lakeside, though my lunch consisted mostly of beer!<BR>Reutte is another small town that is at the foot of the Tyrol with easy acess to Neuchwenstein (spelling?)Very different than Hallstat but a beautiful town, though personally I'd pick Hallstat.

Nearby Salburg is the Lake district as you may know. It is one of the most scenic areas of Europe I think. Some of the lake I liked were Wolfgangsee aond Mondsee. The villages are so cute and the hiking in the mts is great!<BR>have fun.

I like Heiligenblut, near the Hohe Tauern National Park and the Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse.<BR>You want mountain hiking? This is the place!!<BR>You want high Austrian Alps scenery? This the place.<BR>You want a neat little Austrian mountain town? This is the place.<BR><BR>Do I work for the Chamber of Commerce?<BR>No.

a minority view on Hallstat: I stayed there for 2 days in August 2000, and found the town overrun with other tourists. The town is scenic, but much too small to handle the hordes of visitors. <BR><BR>Maybe Hallstat will be less crowded in the autumn, when you plan to visit.<BR><BR><BR>

Really anywhere in the Salzkammergut region is beautiful in the fall. We were there late fall and did have some snow, but there are tons of hiking and biking trails. Bad Ausse was a really quaint village that wasn't a "tourist" town. You are only a half hour drive to Hallstat from there. Bad Ischel or St. Wolfgang also were nice towns although larger and more touristy.<BR>

Just returned from Europe and a 2-night stay in Hallstatt at the Seehotel Gruner Baum. What a heavenly place! Breathtaking views and very peaceful. (We did not have the crowds the previous poster talked about tho' I've heard it is horrendous in the summer months.) When people see our pictures, they can't believe how beautiful it is.

I agree that Hallstatt is tough to beat. Other towns I really liked were Hall in Tirol (near Innsbruck) and Duernstein on the Danube. My recollection is that other people and guidebooks rate towns like Feldkirch, Rattenberg, and Gmund pretty high.

I'd say Hall in Tyrol too. There's a village nearby called Rinn where there is the most astonishing Baroque or Rococco church.

Just reviewed a couple of websites on Hallstatt -- Wow! It does look incredibly picturesque. It might be a perfect stopping point between Garmisch and Asolo in Italy. What about driving there? I have checked out the times and distances, but how is the actual drive to it once you leave the main highway?

When you say you are going to Austria, my first question is "What is your planned route into and out of the country?" Although not overly critical, this becomes important in a short vacation of only 4 or 5 days, especially if it takes a day to go to and from the "quaint village" of your choice, to your next destination. So you might want to think about your entire itinerary in that context. <BR><BR>Meanwhile, assuming you have total flexibility in deciding what part of Austria you will spend those 4 or 5 days, I will offer 3 alternatives based on different areas within Austria.<BR>(1) Salzkammergut lakes: My favorite village is Tranukirchen, right on the Traunsee, with incredible views around the lake. You can hike anywhere around this area.<BR>(2) Southwest and west of Innsbruck: Up the Stubai valley and the Otz valley you will find incredible scenery and several lovely mountain villages, any one of which would be suitable for great hiking.<BR>(3) Southern Austria: The area around the Worthersee, especially Maria Worth, is very, very pretty. And there's hiking in all directions.<BR><BR>Real mountain hiking at higher elevations is probably the best if you take my suggestion (2). Otherwise, a great place for clomping through mountain hiking trails is also near Hallstatt, but in the village of Gosau west of Hallstatt. A wonderful hike from Gosau is to the jewel-like Gosausee, one of the most beautiful lakes in all of the Alps. From Gosau, you can easily make a day trip to Hallstatt as well. It isn't that I don't like Hallstatt; I've been there several times. But when you add a desire to do some hiking, the Hallstatt area is not the best for that.