Prague to Salzburg and Hallstatt by Car: Route, Parking and Tips
Salzburg and Hallstatt are two of Austria's most photographed places, and together they make a perfect long weekend from Prague. The drive to Salzburg takes about four hours, and Hallstatt is another hour and a half into the lake district. A rental car lets you stop in Český Krumlov and Linz on the way and reach the lakes at your own pace. This guide gives you the route, the Austrian vignette rule and the parking facts for Hallstatt.
The route
Why Salzburg and Hallstatt are worth the drive
Salzburg’s old town
The historic centre has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996. Mozart was born here in 1756 in a narrow house on Getreidegasse, now a museum. Above the old town, Hohensalzburg Fortress, begun in 1077, is one of the largest castles in Europe that still stands in one piece, and you can reach it on a funicular.
Mirabell Gardens
Free to enter, with neat flower beds, a view of the fortress and the steps made famous by The Sound of Music. It is a good place for a short walk after parking.
Hallstatt on the lake
The village is squeezed between the lake and a steep mountain wall, so its houses seem to climb on top of each other. It is part of a UNESCO cultural landscape. Salt has been mined in the mountains above for thousands of years, so long that an entire early Iron Age culture is named after the village. Go early in the day or late in the afternoon, because day-trippers fill the lakeside lane around midday.
The painted skulls
In the small charnel house next to the church, local families kept the skulls of their ancestors, decorated with names and flowers. Space in the churchyard was limited, so graves were reused after some years. It is quietly moving rather than macabre.
A copy in China
Hallstatt was so photogenic that a replica of the village was built in southern China and opened in 2012. Locals were a little surprised, and you can decide which version is better by seeing the original.
Parking in Hallstatt
Hallstatt is tiny and very popular. Visitors cannot drive into the village centre, because it is closed off with barriers. Instead you park in the car parks at the edge, which are paid, and walk. From the car park P1 it is about 20 minutes to the village centre, and from P2 near the cable car about 15 minutes. You cannot reserve a space as a day visitor, so arrive early in summer and at weekends, or consider the train or bus. Overnight guests can use a shuttle bus from P1 and should ask their hotel for instructions.