A fairy-tale town inspiring Frozen

January 2020 - Austria

So, we started 2020 with our first trip to Austria together. The main thing we were worried about before arriving was the weather. But thankfully it didn’t rain that much as anticipated. We were keen on going somewhere during Christmas to see the Christmas markets which we’ve never done before.

In terms of the transportation around Austria we took train and bus to Hallstatt. We also travelled to Vienna by train from Salzburg which was around 2hrs. It cost around 14 euros. Also, in terms of trains and buses within cites we got a 24hr pass which was very convenient in Vienna. We found out that there wasn’t really a ticket checking place at the subway station which was a reason why we used our tickets for 2 days instead of one.

Salzburg

This is where we landed and as it was close to Hallstatt. Salzburg as a city was quite nice, there were a lot of Christmas lights and decorations around the town still. One of the famous attractions here was Mozart’s birthplace I was quite intrigued to see this as I’m a fellow pianist too.

Hallstatt

Next stop was Hallstatt, we were quite excited for this as we’ve seen plenty of pictures online. When we arrived we were amazed at what we saw. The word to describe it would be like a fairy-tale town as there were so many colourful buildings and also it was like a small island. One thing that surprised me was that there were not many locals around. The town looked like Arendelle which is where Frozen was set. It was amazing how similar they looked.

One of the places we wanted to visit was the five fingers lookout point but sadly it was closed by the time we got there. On the other hand, we managed to get cable car to the top of Dachstein mountains. The view from the top was so surreal and so worth it. We would 100% recommend this to anyone that visits.

Vienna

Final stop was Vienna, this was where we tried many different local cuisines. My favourite would be schnitzel; it was with potatoes and also cranberry sauce which was quite unusual but it actually tasted nice. We also visited a place called ‘Ribs of Vienna’, they served ribs and meat as the name suggests. The portion size was quite a lot and a bit pricey too so I suggest sharing one dish. Another point is that it gets busy so reservation is needed.

Overall I feel it was a nice trip to start the year but we feel the cold weather was too cold for us.

Shugs