I went on a study abroad trip to Austria and Germany the summer between my junior and senior year of high school. We traveled across Germany and Austria spending a couple days in different cities. Many of the cities I had already heard of because they are larger cities, but there were a couple of smaller ones I did not know of.
One of those being Hallstatt. We sadly did not get to spend the night here; therefore, we only got to spend about 8 hours during the day. There are not any hotels there really because it is a small intimate town.
When we arrived, I noticed how absolutely beautiful it was. I travel a lot, but I had never seen anywhere nearly as breath-taking as this little town.
Hallstatt is tucked between the Austrian Alps and is right off the shore of a huge crystal clear lake. This is one of the few places I would not mind moving to by myself with no phone. There is just this sense of calmness and safeness there. I feel like everybody knows everybody, and they genuinely care about everybody. It honestly looks like it came straight out of a movie.
We learned so much history about what happened in Hallstatt, especially during World War II, and how we were standing on the same land as some of the most horrific and heroic experiences in Austrian history. The few locals that were able to understand and speak English were able to share their stories or their family's.
After that, we had lunch at a café right on the shores of the lake. The patio area, which had sturdy floors, projected onto the lake where I ate salmon pasta with breadsticks. SO GOOD. It was probably one of the best meals with the best scenery I have ever had. After that, we found a cute gelato shop where we had lakeside homemade gelato.
European people often have negative views when it comes to an American tourist, but Hallstatt was the only place I noticed that nobody was judging us as we toured. People wanted to show us their own businesses or the most popular place to eat.
Something a local told me that I thought was interesting is that everybody who has ever passed away in Hallstatt has been buried in the same graveyard. She explained that it keeps the sense of community in the town by everybody ending up together. At first, I thought that was very strange and a little creepy, but then I realized that is actually really interesting.
I am so thankful I had the opportunity to travel to Hallstatt, Austria and the rest of Germany and Austria. That trip was the first time I had been to Europe and will definitely not be the last. If you ever have the opportunity to visit this beautiful town, I HIGHLY recommend it.