Saturday, April 21, 2012

Hallstat salt mine and Dachstein caves

Hi



I will be visiting Hallstatt with my family on 3 July 2009 ( we will be driving there by car from a day trip to Mondsee and St Wolfgang am See), and staying overnight at Obertraun (Hotel Haus am See) in order to visit the giant ice caves and the salt mine on Saturday 4 July. The websites for each state that the guided tour for the ice caves is 90 mins long, but that the entire trip lasts 2hrs 30mins and the guided tour for the salt mine is 70 mins long, but the trip lasts 3 hrs. What does the total trip time for each include? Can we do both tours - ie: for the ice caves and the salt mine - in one day? And how far is the salt mine from the ice caves? Can one also book these tours and a time for these tours in advance?





We would also like to take the cable car after the ice caves tour to Krippenstein at the top to see the view and the %26quot;5 finger %26quot;lookout point. Is this section of the cable car working on 3 July and how long does it take to get to the top? Would there be long queues to use the cable car?





If anyone can answer these questions or even just a few of these questions, I would be most grateful, as it will make a huge difference to planning our time in this wonderful area.






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Could you please embed the links of the websites you visited as I cannot find the offer you refer to. I only found the following offer stated at www.dachsteinwelterbe.at :





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1-Day Excursion Programme Dachstein Cave World





(approx. 3 hours)





Two way ticket for the first cableway section



Guided cave tour through Giant Ice Cave or Mammut Cave - Lunch (2-course) at the Schönbergalm adventure restaurant including





All-In price per person: € 35,20



Children up to 14: € 23,60



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The duration of three hours includes the ride with the ropeways, walking time, guided tour (50min) and a meal at the mountain restaurant. The operation times of the ropeways are also stated on the website mentioned above. The ropeway of section III will be in service in July.







The salt mine actually is in the village of Hallstatt which is relatively close to Obertraun but definitely not walkable.



salzwelten.at/cont/…salzwelten_hallstatt.aspx




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Don%26#39;t rush too much.





It all depends how the weather is... usually less people during the week and some queues (at the cash desk for the cable car) at weekends with good weather conditions.





You%26#39;ll also need some time for relaxation, as the walk from the cable car to the ice caves entrance is quite steep but short (about 10 minutes). The walk thru the caves (it%26#39;s cold there inside) takes it%26#39;s time. As far as I know, one get%26#39;s a ticket with entrance time down at the cable car station.





Definately go up to Krippenstein... fabulous views and so comfortable to get to this high alpine area by cable car. There%26#39;s also a lodge up there with a nice sun terrasse.





For the salt mines you catch a funicular right from Hallstatt up and then a short and flat walk to the entrance, there you get some clothes and a helmet. The walk up from the village is steep... much more comfortable with the funicular.





For the ice cave and Krippenstein, you can find all information there:



http://www.dachsteinwelterbe.at





Salt Mine:



salzwelten.at/cont/…en_salzwelten_home.aspx





Take good shoes and hopefully you will have good weather conditions!




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Hi Mikey





Thanks so much for the websites and all the info. I looked at Hallstatt:Attractions Frommers.com and there weren%26#39;t as many details as the sites which you%26#39;ve given me. I understand now that the 3 hours include cableway transfers, walking to the caves. the tour, lunch etc and I think we need to spend at least 3-4 hours in order to enjoy the full experience of seeing as much as possible. Is it possible to book a tour of the ice caves in advance? we were hoping to go on the first morning tour and there might be queues on a Sat. morning (4 July). The salt mine website has a reservation form, but we can%26#39;t book one of their tours if we don%26#39;t know what time our ice caves tour will be. ( We thought of going to the ice caves first as we%26#39;ll be staying close to the dachstein cableway( Hotel Haus am See at Obertraun).



We will also be staying for 2 nights in Berchtesgaden after Hallstatt/Obertraun, and I see that they also have a salt mine tour. Is it similar to the Hallstatt one? We don%26#39;t know which to choose.



Thanks again for your quick replies.




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Hi Robbi





Thanks for all your advice. We were hoping to book an ice caves tour in advance, as I%26#39;m afraid of possible queues and long waits for the first available tour on a Sat morning-4 July.



We definitely want to allow lots of time for going up to Krippenstein to see the view. Do you know if the mountain adventure restaurant is at the top, or it it on the same level as the caves?



What are your thoughts on the difference between the Hallstatt salt mine tour and the Berchtesgaden salt mine tour. The %26quot;Salt Man%26quot; theme of the Hallstatt one sounds very intriguing, but the illuminated salt formations in the Berchtesgaden one also sounds wonderful.



We%26#39;ll make sure we take good walking shoes!




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