Hallstatt, part I - transport

I got up at a whopping 4am in the morning, which is quite the norm. I don't think I got much sleep that night - probably 4 or 5 hours, but still so much better than Wroclaw.

At this point my cold had practically vanished, although I still had to blow my nose once in a while. I got the worst of the cold in Berlin, had to deal with a downsized version of it in Dresden, and it had gotten much better by the time I was in the Czech Republic.

Anyway, I got up that morning and made myself a nice cup of steaming coffee and looked over my itinerary for the day. I was on a pretty tight schedule - I had to go over to Hallstatt, which was a three hour journey from Salzburg, then come back to Salzburg, catch the Meridian back to Munich, then take a regional to Fussen, where I planned to spend the night. Thinking about this day gives me a bit of a headache to be honest - I spent SO much time on trains and transport, and the Meridian was fun the first time but it was just so droll and uncomfortable the second time. Saved up quite a bit on the cost though, again thanks to my Bayern day ticket. I remember sitting in my kitchen at London Bridge and planning out this part of the trip, and thinking that I was going to have "one helluva day", but unfortunately there aren't any straight means of transportation from Hallstatt to Fussen, both of which are very secluded, out-of-your-way areas (yet are home to the most famous landmarks in the Bavarian region. Both also charge an exorbitant tourist tax. Thanks for that).

Journey was not at all straightforward. I had to first take the bus 150 from Salzburg Gnigl, which was only 5 minutes away from my hostel. It pays to look up every single detail sometimes, otherwise I would have had to take an unnecessary bus to the Hbf. I remember listening to We Are Young, and pacing about the bus stop to keep warm, since it was freezing and still completely dark, and pretty much deserted. Rather scary to be honest. The bus was actually more like a coach, very comfy, and I got a seat at the back. We entered the mountains fairly quickly, and the sensation of watching the dawn breaking over the Bavarian Alps as the bus hurtled through the alpine highway, was really quite magical.

Breaking dawn. You can tell from this picture that we're pretty high up. 

The journey to my next point of transfer, Bad Ischl, took an hour and a half, and I really needed the loo by the end of the journey. Shouldn't have enjoyed that coffee so much.

Had to wait roughly an hour for the train to Hallstatt Hbf, so had plenty of time to walk around and take pics of Bad Ischl's small but quaint train station. Nice place, buried deep in the mountains, FREEZING, a bit lonely. I wouldn't really want to live here, gorgeous and pristine though it is. I bought my Hallstatt train ticket here. Didn't buy a round journey, a fact I would really regret when coming back but we'll get to that when it comes. Moral of the story: always plan ahead when possible.

Got increasingly excited as the view outside just got more and more spectacular.

How can you keep your cool when even the railtracks are so pretty!?

My first sight of Hallstatt's glacial lake. Here's a teaser of what's to come.

I then took the ferry, the only means of transport to the village of Hallstatt, across from the Hbf. Took about 20 minutes and it was just breathtaking. The ferry captain was very friendly indeed. A glimpse of how the earth might have been.. I'll save the truly breathtaking pictures for later.

A few notes on Hallstatt transport, from Salzburg at least:

1. DO plan ahead. Write down the exact times of the trains and buses you need to take from points of departure x, y and z. DO NOT WAIT TILL YOU GET THERE. DO NOT "WING IT." It is not wingable. You have been warned!
2. That being said, when planning ahead, you should know that Bus 150, the only bus from Salzburg that goes all the way up to Bad Ischl, has a fixed schedule which you can find online. I've included a picture of the bus schedule from Bad Ischl to Salzburg - it's marked in red, but you should double check with google.
3. The schedule for the regional train from Bad Ischl to Hallstatt Hbf can also be found online. 
4. The schedule for the ferry to and fro Hallstatt and Hallstatt Hbf is ONLY AVAILABLE AT THE FERRY PORTS, but they generally leave by the 00. When you arrive at the port in Hallstatt, make it your first priority to write down the ferry times which work into your schedule.
5. The whole process of planning this journey is convoluted to say the least but completely worth it. I must have spent hours on planning this part of the journey alone. There are a few other alternatives rather than the bus-train-ferry route; apparently there's a bus-bus-ferry, or a train-train-ferry. As you can see the last leg of the journey can only be managed by ferry; the village of Hallstatt is completely and utterly isolated from all the other land masses. I went with bus-train-ferry because it was apparently the most scenic, and second cheapest.

The bus schedule from Bad Ischl to Salzburg.