Strolling Around in Obertraun – Austria
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Walking through the pretty floral town of Obertraun in Austria makes you feel really good and allows you to savour all the beauty of the surroundings.
With its cute houses surrounded by the beauty of nature, Obertraun is such a beautiful and photogenic town, and it’s a popular holiday destination for European Nordic countries.
Obertraun isn’t known among international travellers as a major Austrian travel destination, but there’s enough to keep you occupied here. With activities such as skiing, trekking, hiking, snowboarding, mountain biking, swimming, and kayaking, there are so many things to do in Obertraun.
I also recommend Obertraun to anyone who just wants to relax a bit in nature
Why we stayed in Obertraun
Those who follow me through my social media pages already know that July 11th, 2020 was supposed to be my big day and our honeymoon destination was fixed for Key West and the Bahamas.
Unfortunately, Covid-19 intervened and decided to postpone all our plans. So, Alessandro and I got finally married this year on July 3rd. The Covid 19 restrictions in the USA are still strict for international travellers, so in the meantime, while waiting for the world to open back up, we decided to take a small after-wedding break by visiting Hallstatt in Austria.
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By that time the hotels in Hallstatt were expensive, (I’m talking about around € 200.00 per night) which was a very unexpected turn of events. That’s how we decided to go for a vacation rental in Obertraun, a small town about 2 KM away from Hallstatt.
Compared to Hallstatt it was all really quite affordable, too! And in the end it turned out to be the perfect base for exploring the Hallstatt lake area.
A bit about the Town
Obertraun was founded as a scattered settlement and the main occupation of the inhabitants was wood cutting and small-scale agriculture.
It’s located in a valley along the mouth of the River Traun and is surrounded by high mountains.
With only 760 inhabitants, it is situated on the shores of Lake Hallstatt and is the smallest of the 4 (Bad Goisern at Lake Hallstatt, Obertraun, Hallstatt, and Gosau at Dachstein) historic towns of the UNESCO World Heritage region of Hallstatt Dachstein Salzkammergut.
Things to do In Obertraun.
The peaceful town of Obertraun offers a variety of things to do regardless of the season. From sports activities to simply sitting and relaxing by the lakeshore, you can enjoy this town at any time of the year.
Day trips to the surrounding areas or cycling through the Salzkammergut Cycle Route to the nearby World Heritage communities such as Bad Goisern at Lake Hallstatt, Hallstatt, and Gosau at Dachstein are definitely fantastic alternatives to the various sports activities.
Each of these towns has their own special charm as well as time-honoured traditions and customs.
Taking a cable car to visit the caves and the five fingers viewing platforms at Dachstein Mountain are definitely among the things to do in Obertraun.
And why not? If you have the opportunity among your things to do in Obertraun I also suggest you add the boat trip from Obertraun to Hallstatt. You will love the views over Hallstatt.
In our case we spent 5 days in Obertraun and went into tourist mode, taking each day as it came. After all, it was our honeymoon, right?
Accommodation in Obertraun.
There are many places to stay in Obertraun. Most of them are close to the lake. But there are also many houses offering rooms and apartments in the village area.
We stayed in a place called “Haus 66”. It is owned by a retired couple: Gerda and Johann Höll. The moment I set foot in Haus 66 in Obertraun, I felt like I must suggest this place to my readers. From the warm welcome we received to their willingness to help us to make the right decisions on things to do in Obertraun, even with a small knowledge of English, I can only say that you must consider staying at Haus 66.
The apartment in which we stayed was spacious and clean. It is newly furnished and comes with all the amenities, including washing machine and dryer. I wouldn’t want to forget to write that the views around Haus 66 are breathtaking. But this is probably the case for any other accommodation in Obertraun.
Where to eat in Obertraun.
While visiting Austria, even though our accommodation in Obertraun came with all the amenities, we never cooked at home. We tried many restaurants in the area but the one place we returned to again and again was Gasthaus Koppenrast. Here we had the best ever meals of our Austrian trip. It is a family run restaurant located by the bank of the River Traun.
You should try Gasthaus Koppenrast Restaurant while visiting the Hallstatt area.
Generally though, I found the food to be better in Obertraun than in Hallstatt.
These 15 photos to inspire you to visit Obertraun are a slice of what to expect while strolling around its cute streets. I truly hope these photos will ignite an inspiration for your trip.
If you want to know more about the things to do in Obertraun you can visit their official webpage. You will then realize how much there is to do in Obertraun.
