Hallstatt

This place is magical – when we went there (winter) the lake had a blue mist over it, and looked like a lake out of a fantasy movie. The town in winter is very quiet and sleepy. Some nice walks nearby too! Highly recommended, even if just for taking photos of.

This has to be one of Europe’s best kept secrets… it is such a beautiful town…. there’s such a wonderful charm and romanticism, especially when you walk through the town and up to the church. I highly recommend the Potato Cream soup at the main restaurant in the town – it’s right before you walk up the hill to the Tourist center. It is the best homemade soup I’ve ever tasted!!

I went to the museum, which was nice.

The town itself is such an antique, with church on the cliff and all.

Details, read http://www.indrani.net/index.php?q=book/travel/2004_europe

A quaint little town nestled in the Salzkammergut, I would recommend not passing it up if you’re in/near western Austria (such as Salzburg). Though it’s very small, it still makes it on UNESCO’s World Heritage list.

This storybook village is breathtakingly beautiful. You will feel like you have stepped into a dream.

We rowed out onto the lake, which is rumored to be paved in secreted Nazi gold and weapons….with mountains towering all around us and the sweet village tucked onto the mountainside, we felt like we’d died and gone to heaven. Even the cemetery is lovely, each plot like a mini garden, all sweetly a-bloom.

You can also ride a gondola to the top of one of the peaks and visit an underground cave on a cool tour narrated in quick German (we survived it anyway, and it was fun!)

I’ve been lots of lovely places in Europe and the US never seen anything like Halstadt, not ever, nor do I expect to again. I can’t recommend it enough!