Hallstatt Salt Mine - Part 2 of 3 for Hallstatt

Hallstatt Salt Mine Tour

The Hallstatt Salt Mine Tour is a true SecludedGlen.com Approved Spot to seek out and visit.  We were dropped off at a small street with a crosswalk.  Facing south, the village was across the highway to the left. To the right was a small back alley inconspicuous road that curved left. Follow this nondescript trail as it curves left.  After about 500 feet you will see a building structure on the right.  This is the station for the vermicular to go up to the Salt Mine.  The vehicular is a tram on the side of a mountain.  You purchase your ticket and wait to go through a turn stall.

When your tram arrives you go up the mountain towards the Salt Mine on a track.  You stop midway up as you see a second tram coming down.  It looks like you are going to collide but you actually swerve to the right as the downward tram swerves on a track to your left.  Quite exciting!  The scene at the tram station is spectacular but we will show you better vantage points.

Once up there, you walk a very scenic path up on the forest path up you will see a small house with a display of the history of the area inside. It is a walkthrough display with exits on both sides.  At the top of this path of about 0.7 miles (1 kilometer) you will encounter a tall cabin housing the entrance to the mine. You should have the ticket you purchased at the bottom of the vehicular station. You get lockers and miners jumpsuits to wear.  Thank goodness because the mine itself is super cold.  

After you are dressed up and your belongings are stowed away at the free lockers, you go through the turn stall where the worker scans your ticket.  You walk through several rooms of display until you come to the end where there is a double door.  Wait for the tour guide to arrive.  The tour is first come first serve and operates continuously during the day.  Maximum capacity is 65 per group but ours only had about 50.  

A cheerful Austrian showed up as our tour guide. He spoke first in German and then in English about what we will do and rules once inside.  He opened the door and off we went....to the outside!  That was a surprise.  We walked up several flights of covered stairs outside until we reached the mine entrance.

Our tour guide stops us here and tells us that this is an operational mine so do not wonder off.  He says we will walk single file into the mine for about 500 feet.  It is dark and cold lined with lights on the side and mining rails on the floor. What he does not tell us is the ceiling gets quite low at some points where if you are over 5 feet 7 inches tall you will have to duck or bump your head!

We then go into an area where it is the top of a miner's slide! Yes, a slide in the mountain!  We all slide one at a time on dual slides. You wait for the green light. Of course, some people do not follow directions so he blasted them shouting, "Follow directions, how hard can it be!" We could not agree more and we enjoyed he deserved blasting of those non-listeners!

We proceed to two indoor rudimentary theaters with lasers and screens!  Then we slide down a larger slide and they time us. I went 30 kilometers per hour!  The guide is a professional and surpassed 45 kph!  We proceed to a man made cave filled with salt brine water and watch in amazement of a laser show over the water!  Lastly, we are treated to a fresh wood bench stadium seating theater with a large screen.  They tell a cartoon story of a 12 year old boy who becomes a man by following his family down a stairwell 3,000 years ago and starts salt mining.  The screen fades out and lifts up.  We see the actual 3,000 year old staircase!  

We were thinking if we had to be a miner, salt mining is one of the better professions. It sure beats coal mining which is heavy pollution for your lungs and environment or other more intense mining.  Salt was one of the most valuable commodities in the ancient world. The word "salary" comes from the ancient Latin word of "salaria" which is salt!  

We then finish the Salt Mine tour by climbing out a long mining train cart attached with 20 rows of benches and the conductor whisks us out of the mine for the 1 mile journey.  If you reach out you can see parts are covered in black tarp paper.  Here you have duck as well because the ceiling of the tunnel gets a bit too close for comfort. Only in Europe do they not tell you this allow such a crazy ride with no helmets.  This would never happen in the United States! 

As we approach the journeys end the conductor rings a bell and we stop.  You exit the gift shop where the guide gives us a salt capsule memento and we tip him.  There is a small café we tried but it was a mistake. Lady was nice but there is no view.  For those in the know, leave here and head down the path you came up.  

Here we recommend taking the bridge to the left before you get to the tram station.  You will find the Hallstatt Mine Café.  Sit and enjoy the most spectacular view in the world from any cafe! We had the Weiner Schnitzel and Apple Strudel. So good! We paid for water, it costs so much in Europe for water. In the US, tap water is free but not in most places in Europe, you have to purchase bottled water.  How ironic since you are in the Alps with some of the cleanest water in the world!

There is also the Look Out Point, a sharp acute triangle shaped platform with a single lightning rod that we waited to take a photo the spectcular Halllsatt Secluded Glen below!

You can also walk down this path and up stairs to the cafe and lookout.  That path is also a footpath all the way down the mountain which takes about an hour or so depending on your speed and how often you stop to admire the scenery.

We chose to wait for the tram ride. A longer line this time. Took three train cars and about 20 minutes prior to boarding.  On the way down, it is the reverse as we now go to the right of the oncoming ascending tram opposite us.  On the way up, ride the upper deck of the tram cable car, on the way down it is a better view to ride in the lower deck. The tram car is two tiers sloped sideways.  Bare in mind there is no air conditioning and we were cooking in there!  It can get quite claustrophobic too.  The ride is one of a kind though.

Once down, stroll through their larger gift shop and exit the station and make your way back to town about 800 feet away on the small street heading east.

The Hallstatt Salt Mine is one of the best Secluded Glen spots in the universe! It has a one-of-a-kind tour. It has a spectacular cafe overlooking the best view in the world. It has nice food. It has an open air mining car ride. It has two miners slides and it has lots of salt. It has it all!

Join us next time for the final Hallstatt post when we take you the enchanting Hallstatt Ice Caves!