Visiting Hallstatt in Austria 

Hallstatt in Austria was long on my must-see list. I finally got a chance to visit this quaint place in the Austrian alps. Hallstatt is known for its production of salt, dating back to prehistoric times, and gave its name to the Hallstatt culture, the archaeological culture linked to Proto-Celtic and early Celtic people of the Early Iron Age in Europe, c. 800–450 BC. Halstatt’s tourism began in the 19th century but greatly increased after it was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. Social media images of Hallstatt, captioned “the most Instagrammable town in the world,” went viral in Southeast Asia. A replica was planned and then built in China in 2011 in Huizhou, Guangdong province, Hallstatt’s twin town. This place is thusly popular among East Asian tourists, and they usually crowd it. But I had the fortune to visit this place without crowds. The surrounding lake is amazing as well. There is a train station on the other side of the lake, and you can take a small ferry to Hallstatt. I hope you will enjoy these images and that they will bring some much needed cool to your summer days.