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If you are planning a trip to Europe in the summer , especially to Austria, you can’t pass the Austrian lakes. The beautiful lakeside resort Obertraun offers the best of two worlds: a nice waterfront lido and breathtaking mountains right next to them. You can relax and go for a refreshing swim or take the next cable car to “climb” one of the mountains.
We ended up booking rooms at the “Haus am See”, meaning house at the lake, which is exactly what it is. The best location on the whole Hallstätter lake, if you want to take my word for it, because it’s the sunny side of the lake. This is important because the lake is surrounded and embedded by rather steep mountains and the sun goes down early.

It’s a family run hotel and restaurant right by the lake with very reasonable prices and ideal for families travelling on a budget. Their service is outstanding and I must mention sweet Isabelle who is the nicest waitress you’ll ever meet!
They got two dogs roaming the premises, playgrounds for the kids, a real nice terrace to eat dinner and enjoy the view, a jetty for small boats you can rent and a view from most rooms that puts a big smile on your face each and everytime you step on your balcony.

From this “base camp” you can easily take hiking tours or use the cable cars to go to the many mountains surrounding the area, which are the High Dachstein mountains, by the way, a World Heritage and a superb hiking region.
Once you are up there you can enjoy the view, take a hike and then eat something at one of the many mountain huts called “Hütten” they got high up there.
What else is there to do? Well, ever did paragliding off a real mountain? In the mood for some extensive moutainbiking, riding, or even diving and fishing at the lake of Hallstatt? We watched some guys diving in another lake up the road a bit, must be something else.
It’s all waiting for you right here!
For those of you who tend to pack in a little information and education on your trip, go see the old and famous salt mines in Hallstatt, a town right next to Obertraun. This is also a good idea if the weather isn’t nice, because down at the salt mines (and in the many caves you can also visit, the kids love these caves, they’re spooky), the weather doesn’t matter.
The old downtown Hallstatt is definitely a place to go. You’ll need to park your car outside the old town and walk through. Very picturesque and a site you simply must see! Get a pedal boat or an e-boat and cruise the lake a bit and shoot some pictures of the town from the lake!
Austria is part of the Euro zone and they speak German. Well, they write German, but their spoken language sounds a bit different from what you might have heard in Germany. But most of the service personnel will also speak English, of course.
So, we really enjoyed our little vacation in Obertraun and I am sure you will, too! Go check the hotel’s website at www.hotel-hausamsee.at, there’s an English version, too, if you click the union jack button on the upper right side! Enjoy!