Can I visit Hallstatt in a wheelchair?
Hallstatt
We rented our car in Germany, so we didn’t get the memo we needed snow tires. The GPS took us on backroads and it started to snow! At one point it took 30 minutes to go .2 miles.
Krampus
We wanted to get there for a festival, but we missed it. It was a parade of the Krampus a big hairy monster thing that is German tradition for children; if you’re bad the Krampus will come down the mountain to ‘get you’. And I thought elf on the shelf was bad.
Accessible hotel but no accessible shuttle
The little village doesn’t allow cars unless you have a special permit. So we met in the parking lot and call for the shuttle, but on the phone they didn’t understand what “wheelchair accessible” meant, lost in translation! This white van pulls up, totally not wheelchair accessible; there were already 2 couples in the van. my sister got me in, and he’s loading our bags and then he turns, looks at my chair and asks “is this really necessary?” now I don’t believe he really said that, but that was our way of making lemonade out of lemons. And we laughed about it for days!
Hotel room
The very last two rooms on the first floor are accessible. I had a roll in shower plus the grab bar near the toilet. We had a double bed, but we needed a twin bed, so the room was cluttered and I couldn’t get to our deck, but it could always be worse.
There were less people here that spoke English, but I mean we were in Austria so we learned a few German words, but it was kind or nice. Peace and quiet. We did meet another couple from the States, follow the English language.
Chipmunk hat
We walked the downtown and did shopping; my cheeks were freezing so I bought this ridiculously obnoxious hat that had a cheek flaps and lots of layers. I may have looked like a chipmunk but I was a happy/warm chipmunk.
Disabled car pass
Strike a pose!
There is one main road, of course we walked it, near the supermarket were the tour buses, and when you stood beside the lake to look back on Hallstatt with the houses on the side of the hill with the churches. Fairytale! We did ask a traffic lady, she said people with disabled placards could go to the little shack where the buses wait and show proof you’re disabled and they will give you a ticket to let you drive in the town.
Past the supermarket is a little bridge over the stream they had many all-white geese with huge necks, then its residential, then we turned around.
Waterfall
In the city center, you can see a waterfall falling straight down the mountain. A skinny dangly stream of water you could hear at night when it was dark.
Church
No surprise here, I checked out the church, the tall one you see in photos. It’s the Evangelical Church. There is a Catholic Church with painted skulls, but those have a few staircases to reach. But the Evangelical Church had no shiny gold or twinkling lights, just pews and an incredibly simple Christmas tree that was beautiful.
Funicular to skywalk
We did the cable car ride up to the Skywalk, it is accessible. The top of the mountain was lightly layered with snow and it was lightly snowing it was as if I was in a fairytale, I know I overuse that word. We took the elevator up and walked around a cafe to the real view of the lake and the city. An Australian couple helped guide my manual chair down the ramp; it was very steep so I only went a little way. Then we bought hot chocolate in the closing cafe, and then rode the cable car back down.
Salt mine is not accessible.
Hotel restaurant
That night we had dinner at the hotel restaurant. I had catfish because I thought that was only in America, and it was fresh from lake Hallstatt, and it had roasted chestnuts, and it was so good we had it again the next night! For dessert I got the crème Brule which was the absolute best!!!!
Night time walk
Me and my mom decided to take a walk at 10pm, a lot of glowing gold Asian lanterns. The geese were still out. All shops were closed and cafe workers were cleaning up. It was empty but we felt super safe.
The ferry
We rented a car, because we were told the chair couldn’t get on the boat. My mom went on it and you can get on but you’d have to stay up top. And the height of the lake can change the height of the step to the dock, manual wheelchairs could do a step, power chairs cannot so it’s not recommended.
Christmas market
They set up the market on our last day. The smallest I’ve been too, but I liked what the sold the best, everything was handmade. Crafts, art, cookies even hats and gloves made from this guy’s alpaca! Everything was unique to Hallstatt. And made by locals, that was a plus, no Amazon Prime here!!
Last stop, Salzburg ahead.
