Salzkammergut Lakes

Last Updated on 01/08/2023

There are too many lakes in the Salzkammergut region. What to choose for holiday? In this topic, I will talk about most the large Salzkammergut lakes and some of the smaller ones. In addition, we will climb the Schafberg mountain on Lake Wolfgang and look at the region from above.

Salzburg old town
Salzburg Hellbrunn palace, museums
Hallstatt. 3. Echerntal gorge and waterfalls, glacial garden
Traunsee. 1. Gmunden
Salzkammergut best places to visit map
Hallstatt Town and lake
Dachstein
Bad Aussee Lakeside. Lake Grundlsee, Lake Toplitz, Lake Altaussee

The two regions should not be confused – Salzkammergut and Salzburgerland. Despite the similar names, these two regions coincide with each other only a very small piece of Lake Fuschl.

The Salzkammergut is a historical area, the private property of the Habsburgs around Bad Ischl. As a tourist region, it unites Aussee, Wolfgangsee, Fuschlsee, Dachstein, Traunsee, Attersee, Bad Ischl, Mondsee, Attergau, Almtal.

Salzburgerland is an administrative unit, federal state, most of which lies south of Salzburg to the border with Tyrol along the Hohen Tauern mountains. There are several points of interest here: Hallein, Werfen, Lake Zeller, Krimml, most of the Grossglockner road.

The general advice: do not try to embrace the immensity and do not include places in opposite points of the Salzkammergut in the program. The region looks compact, but the distances are not so small. There are slowdowns and traffic jams on the narrow lakeside roads, since the road is usually one (along the Traunsee – almost always overcrowded, along the Hallstattersee – slowdowns due to parking, on the road to Gosau – regularly slow tractors).

It is more correct to change two places of accomodation. Without a car: choose a bigger city, be sure to have good transport accessibility to those places that you have designated yourself as mandatory.
For example: if Hallstatt, Dachstein and Dachstein caves are required, then it will be Hallstatt / Obertraun
If Wolgangsee is planned, then choose St.Gilgen, not small towns around the lakes.

Boats and cruises are available on most of the lakes.

The Salzkammergut has a tourist discount Salzkammergut card that has costs 4.90 already many years. The card can be bought (or received for free from hotel) by those who stay in this region. With the card, you can receive various discounts.

Salzkammergut Lakes map

Next we will go through most of the lakes in the Salzkammergut – some will be looked at in more detail, like Lake Wolfgang, others briefly, still others have their own pages.

Wolfgangsee Lake

How to get to Wolfgangsee Lake from Salzburg: Bus 150.

There are two main cities on the Wolfgangsee: St. Gilgen is closer to Salzburg and Strobl is closer to Bad Ischl. The first is more lively than the second and this part of the lake is more beautiful.

Vacation on the lake Wolfgang is a very calm, out of busy and noisy civilization. The towns are quiet, the attractions are mostly nature. For those who do not have a car, it does not fit very well: you must take the bus almost always with transfers. It takes a lot of time. In rainy days, it becomes tiring, since you cannot walk by nature, and cultural entertainment is far from it.

Lake Wolfgang, seen from the parking lot by the road from Salzburg, above St. Gilgen. The high mountain on the left is Schafberg, you can see the peninsula in the middle of the lake.

And this is how it will be from there, but if you are not lucky with the weather.

Attractions on the Wolfgangsee lake:

• in St. Gilgen: cable car (Zwölferhorn Seilbahn).

• in the middle of the lake: the village of St. Wolfgang with a cogwheel road to Schafberg mountain and thermal pool.
• In the middle of the lake, on the side of the Salzburg – Bad Ischl highway, there is a kind of peninsula, where there are a number of children’s entertainments.

• Strobl is a very quiet town, with only a beach and a summer toboggan for entertainment, which, however, is not entirely in the city, but on a slope by the road leading to Bad Ischl.

Toward St. Gilgen from the middle of the lake. In the center of the mountain, which raises the Zwölferhorn cable car.

The most beautiful part of the lake is its northwestern end, if you go from St. Gilgen towards St. Wolfgang.
Look toward this part.

We move closer

On the opposite side of the lake is the small village of St. Wolfgang, consisting mainly of hotels.

Rocky and bald Schafberg behind.

Sometimes there is a paddle steamer on the lake.

Let’s go up the Schafberg. At the top there is a very steep slope and views of all the surrounding lakes.

Wolfgangsee lake from above. Schafberg

View to Attersee

To Mondsee

On the right is a piece of Mondsee, in the center is Lake Fuschl, on the left is Lake Wolfgang

Further counterclockwise – St. Gilgen and the road to Salzburg with a parking lot at the turn, from which we started the story of Lake Wolfgang.

Lake Wolfgang – towards Strobl. Dachstein is visible on the horizon, and below the village of St. Wolfgang.

And now we go down and move to Strobl.

Toward Strobl from the middle of the lake.

Around a small hill sticking out at the eastern end of the lake (in Strobl, in the photo above on the left), a wooden deck has been laid.

Fuschl Lake

Lake Fuschl, closest to Salzburg, is very small, with a beautiful color of water, lies in a hollow between the mountains. It flashed in panoramic shots from a helicopter in The Sound of Music.

“Sound of Music” and Salzkammergut.

Attersee and Mondsee

Here the sights are so small that you can not even mention them – they are just lakes, rather big lakes, especially Attersee.

Mondsee

Traunsee

Near Lake Traun, on one side, the city of Ebensee, on the other – Gmunden.

Ebensee has a very limited access to the water and one piece of Lake Traun is visible. The main attraction is the Feuerkogel Seilbahn cable car.
The second destination here might be Gassel Cave, but it takes two hours on foot to get there.

From the side of Gmunden – the Oldtimer Museum in the town of Altmunster and the cable car on Grünberg mountain in Gmunden itself.

Read more about Gmunden
Grünberg
Traunsee and Feuerkogel cable car

Almtal

A purely hiking region plus the Cumberland-Wildpark zoo. The surrounding mountains are called Toten Gebirge (Dead Mountains), because the water here runs mostly underground (limestone and numerous caves), respectively, there is less vegetation above.

Lake Almsee is famous as a bird sanctuary. Add to this numerous hiking trails, beautiful views of the lake from above. But most likely you won’t be able to swim – the water doesn’t practically get warm.

Unfortunately, heavy rain prevented us from seeing anything in this valley.

At the end of the lake there is a large building of the hotel and restaurant Seehaus and there is no good access to the water, but there is an information point with numerous and completely free maps and extensive parking. With parking, the situation is quite good – there are quite a lot of them along the road. There is also a bus to the hotel.

Lake Almsee.

Salzkammergut Steiermark – Bad Aussee

Bad Aussee and Altaussee belong to another land geographically and administratively, but historically and touristically it is the Salzkammergut.

There are two large lakes, smaller lakes and another salt mine.

Read more about the region: Bad Aussee Lakeside. Lake Grundlsee, Lake Toplitz, Lake Altaussee

Do you have any more questions? Use comments ⇓ or private communication form ⇨

Lake Hallstatt and Lake Gosau

Read more about Hallstatt Town, Museum and History, Salt mines, Echerntal waterfalls and glacial garden, around the lake
about Dachstein here,
about Gosau here.

Hallstatt is the main jewel on the Salzkammergut lake chain. A picture city on a mountainside, a mine, a funicular, a cable car, three caves – a rich choice for any tourist.

Lake Gosau is perhaps the most beautiful of the Salzkammergut lakes. During the day trip, you can see two lakes and take a cable car.

All posts about Salzkammergut – #Salzkammergut.