In 2007 we took a train ride from Salzburg to the nearby village of Hallstatt. I liked it immediately. The village was thoroughly charming and I was straight away prepared to accept its claim of being the most attractive village in Austria
The village is set on piles driven into the lake with an intricate system of intersecting timber ramps, butresses and ascending terraces like hanging gardens creating an air of mystery and the eeriness of mirage, a village that seems to be almost lost in the middle-mist of folklore and fable. The mountain flanks rise sheer from the lake, leaving no room for a road and all but the smallest of vehicles are prohibited from entering the centre of the village.
We walked through streets with houses sometimes built into the mountain, sometimes hanging on to the mountain and at other times on top of the mountain and on the other side they were built right up to the edge of the lake.
Have Bag, Will Travel 
It’s a delightful place
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It certainly is, thanks Sheree.
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Nice mountain shot there !
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I really like that part of the world. When you were there, was Hallstatt full of Chinese visitors? It was for us…and there is a completely bizarre story behind it. Did you uncover that story too?
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I don’t recall a lot of Chinese but a lot of schoolchildren.
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Story is…a wealthy Chinese guy visited Hallstatt and fell in love with it. He went home and set about building an exact and entire replica town on the shores of a lake in China, brick by brick. It’s become a hugely popular spot, so much so that now tens of thousands of Chinese visit the “real” Halstatt every year, having been to the replica version. Bizarre huh!?
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Good story. Thanks for adding it.
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I agree! It’s a lovely place 🙂 🙂
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Thanks Jo. If I had that balcony I wouldn’t move all day.
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🤗💕
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How lovely. I have a game that involves guessing where your next balcony will be (well, it is still almost-lockdown …). I wonder if I’ll be right? I wasn’t today!
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Let’s see how you get on with I. It is a tough one.
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In that case I’ll be wrong. I went obvious, and still in Austria.
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I have never been to Innsbruck Margaret.
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Spoiler alert … not!
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Absolutely beautiful
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Imagine having the first cup of tea of the day on that balcony.
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Exactly!
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A good advocacy. Perhaps the lack of room for vehicles is the secret
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There are no major roads for sure.
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It´s a must see when visiting Austria. We loved it!
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Everyone surely does!
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I’ll vote that your best balcony yet.
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Thank you.
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That’s a really pretty one! None of that dilapidation stuff for the Austrians. The view’s not too shabby either.
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Austria along with Germany and Switzerland are the tidiest countries that I have been to.
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what a beautiful place!
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It certainly is, always in my top ten!
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