The Salzkammergut region is without a doubt one of Austria’s most beautiful. It is home to a myriad of splendid subalpine lakes (76 to be exact), each more stunning than the next, set amongst towering mountains all around. We were particularly charmed by this scenic lake-filled area, where you can spend multiple days swimming, taking lakeside walks, embarking on boat cruises, and paddleboarding – it’s a true paradise for water lovers. To help you plan the perfect visit and discover some of the region’s most beautiful lakes, we put together this travel guide on 6 Lakes to Discover in the Salzkammergut. Although we will specifically highlight 6 of them, we will provide useful information on several other lakes in the region as well.
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You might also be interested in these pages:
Best Things to See and Do in the Salzkammergut
Perfect Road Trip Itinerary in the Salzkammergut
Best Things to See and Do in Salzburg
Best Things to See and Do in Hallstatt
Orientation – Salzkammergut Location
The Salzkammergut region occupies an area of about 11.5 sq km, immediately east of Salzburg, Austria. Its western limits are very close to the German border, with Berchtesgaden National Park and the stunning Königssee on the other side.
The region isn’t however an official province of Austria (the map from the official Salzkammergut tourism website below approximates the region’s borders): it spans parts of the Salzburg, Upper Austria and Styria provinces. Therefore, there is no exact definition regarding where the region starts or ends, and it is roughly centred around its largest town, Bad Ischl, known for its numerous spa resorts.
The Salzkammergut region is best explored by car, in our opinion. Although there is public transit available, the routes are rather infrequent making it difficult to visit multiple attractions within a single day. But if you don’t plan on having your own vehicle, it’s definitely not a deal breaker — you might just need to focus on fewer attractions, particularly on those with better connectivity with public transit.
If you need to book a rental vehicle for your travels, we highly recommend using Discover Cars to get the best rates on your rental in Austria or Germany.
We also highly recommend Airalo (eSIM card) for your connectivity needs when travelling abroad. Airalo is the world’s first and largest eSIM store with eSIM plans for 200+ countries and regions worldwide.
Important: All Austrian motorways (“Autobahn”) and expressways (“S” roads) are subject to tolls. All cars, motorbikes and camper vans must either properly display a toll sticker or have purchased online a digital vignette when they plan to drive onto a motorway or expressway. Vignettes with periods of validity of 10 days, 2 months or 1 year are available from more than 6,000 outlets in Austria and neighbouring countries, and digital vignettes can be purchased from the ASFINAG website. They are not prohibitively expensive — for instance, the 10-day vignette for cars costs €11.50.
While this guide focuses on some of our favorite lakes in the Salzkammergut area, we also have a separate guide, the Best Things to See and Do in Salzkammergut, which covers a greater range of attractions in the region, including castles, salt mines, ice caves, hiking trails, and more.
If you are interested in planning a detailed road trip itinerary in the region, we recommend checking out our Salzkammergut Road Trip Itinerary guide. The guide covers the best places to stay in the area, how long to stay in the Salzkammergut, and how to organize each day.
Salzkammergut Lakes
The Salzkammergut, often referred to as the Salzkammergut Lake District, is home to 76 lakes nestled in between scenic rolling hills and towering mountain peaks. Most of the larger lakes have roads along at least one side with often several pull-offs with viewpoints. Most of them also have scenic lakeside towns waiting to be discovered. There are also a few lakes that are more isolated and off the main roads, some with hiking trails around them.
Swimming in the Salzkammergut Lakes
Swimming is permitted in pretty much all Salzkammergut Lakes (one exception among those highlighted in this guide is Hinterer Gosausee, which is part of a nature reserve). While each lake has designated swimming areas, you can pretty much swim anywhere as long as steer clear of ferry and boat cruise lanes.
Some of the warmer lakes for swimming are Mondsee and Wolfgangsee, whose temperatures tend to peak around the mid-to-high 20s oC during the summer. Some of the colder lakes are Vorderer Gosausee and Hallstatter See because they are fed directly from glaciers. Vorderer Gosausee usually peaks around 20C.
Water Activities in the Salzkammergut Lakes
Almost all the lakes offer some combination of pedal boats, e-boats, and SUPs for rental (except for Hinterer Gosausee). Many also offer sailing and kitesurfing activities, notably the larger lakes such as Mondsee, Wolfgangsee, Attersee and Traunsee.
Boat Cruises in the Salzkammergut Lakes
Aside from the Gosau Lakes, all lakes highlighted below offer boat cruises (that often double as ferries to different points of access around the lakes).
Wolfgangsee: WolfgangseeSchifffahrt
Traunsee: Traunseeschifffahrt
Attersee: Attersee-Schifffahrt
Hallstatter See: Hallstättersee Schifffahrt
Mondsee: Mondseeschifffahrt Hemetsberger
Grundlsee: Schifffahrt Grundlsee
Altaussee: Altaussee-Schifffahrt
Wolfgangsee
Wolfgangsee is one of the Salzkammergut’s most popular lakes, in part because it is bordered by the three towns of St. Wolfgang, St. Gilgen and Strobl, in addition to several smaller villages such as Ried and Abersee, providing visitors with many options for lodging and exploration. There are lots of easy walking trails around the lake and more difficult hiking trails that set off near the lake into the mountains.
If you are just driving through, one of the best spots to stop and admire the lake is from this car park on the south shore, or from this car park just above the town of St Gilgen.
Our favorite town to visit around the lake is St Wolfgang. It has a beautiful, colorful and lively town center filled with cafés, shops and restaurants, but without the crowds of Hallstatt, and has several beautiful lakeside walking trails. It’s also a great place to go on a short boat cruise and visit other towns around Lake Wolfgangsee, such as St Gilgen.
Many also come to town to experience the unique cog train (Austria’s steepest cog railway, the SchafbergBahn) that whisks passengers to the summit of Schafberg. The train will climb 1,190 vertical meters at a maximum gradient of 26%, and the ride to the summit will take approximately 35-40 minutes. From the summit, you essentially have 360-panoramic views of the Salzkammergut mountains and lakes (you can see at least 5 of the major Salzkammergut lakes).
For more information and tips on visiting St Wolfgang, check out our travel guide on the Best Things to See and Do in St Wolfgang.
Traunsee
The drive along the lake’s western shore is quite scenic as the lake is backdropped by beautiful mountains, including the imposing Traunstein. The lake itself is the deepest and by volume the largest lake located entirely within Austria.
If you are just driving through, one of our favorite places to stop is at this car park by the Maria Krönung parish church. There’s a beautiful little park and it’s a perfect place to soak in the views.
With more time, we highly recommend stopping to visit a beautiful small castle near the northern of the lake, Schloss Ort.
Schloss Ort is a much smaller castle compared to its other Salzkammergut counterparts, but it’s one of the few that is located lakeside. It was founded by Hartnidus of Ort around 1080 and is one of the oldest buildings in the Salzkammergut. It was built on a small island connected to the mainland by a 123 m footbridge. Today it is one of the most popular wedding venues in Austria.
On the other side of the bridge (on the mainland), there’s a large spacious park, a second castle (Landschloss Ort) and Villa Toscana Congress Gmunden.
At the northern of the lake lies the town of Gmunden, which has a small historical town center. It’s also from where you take a cable car to visit the Baumwipfelpfad Salzkammergut on Grünberg mountain, a tree-top path and 39-meter high observation tower, one which you can ride down from through its 75-meter-long tunnel slide.
Attersee
Traunsee may be the deepest lake, but Attersee is the largest lake by surface area located entirely within Austria. It’s also one of the few lakes of the Salzkammergut that has roads that fully encircle the lake (along with Mondsee) – you can loop around the lake without stopping in about an hour. The drive is slightly more scenic along the eastern side as the road hugs the shoreline more closely and there are a few more roadside car parks to stop and enjoy the view. There’s also an Alpaca farm that you can visit along the eastern shore.
Most of the main attractions are towards the northern end of the lake, such as the Gustav Klimt Center. The center honours the famous Austrian painter Gustav Klimt, who from 1900 to 1916, regularly spent his summers along the shores of Attersee. The center focuses on Gustav Klimt’s life and work in this region. Beyond the center, you can enjoy a pleasant stroll around the nearby boardwalk and visit Klimt’s old family home.
Halstatter See
Although most associate Halstatter See with the fairytale village of Hallstatt, the lake in itself is quite beautiful and scenic. The lake is quite massive, stretching 8.5 km long and up to 125 meters deep. It’s long and narrow, surrounded by towering mountains, giving it a definite Norwegian Fjord look. You can rent one of several electric boats, rowing boats, swan-shaped pedal boats, or stand-up paddle boards (SUP) to enjoy some great times on the water.
The picture-perfect postcard village of Hallstatt is located in the southwestern corner of the lake. What was once a quiet place unbeknownst to most travellers has become a tourist hot spot since being listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. The village isn’t very large, but it is quite beautiful and pleasant to stroll through when it isn’t too crowded, which is rare these days. For more information and tips on visiting Hallstatt, check out our travel guide on the Best Things to See and Do in Hallstatt.
There are also several fun attractions near the town, including the Hallstatt salt mine and Dachstein Krippenstein Mountain, where you will find the Dachstein Giant Ice Cave and the 5 Fingers Viewing Platform.
Gosau Lakes: Voderer Gosausee and Hinterer Gosausee
The stunning Gosau Lakes (often referred to as Gosauseen) are one of few exceptions in the Salzkammergut: most lakes have roads along at least one of the lakeshores but here there are no such roads, only hiking trails, providing you with a more serene lakeside experience. There are several hiking options here including just looping around the first lake (Voderer Gosausee) and a longer out-and-back trail with more elevation gain that takes you past Hinterer Gosausee. The area was definitely one of the most beautiful we visited in the Salzkammergut region, let alone Austria. The lakes are also a popular destination for Via Ferrata amateurs, swimmers, divers and those who want to explore the largest of the three lakes by pedal boat paddle board.
For more information on the beautiful alpine lakes and hiking in the area, check our Gosau Lakes Hiking Guide.
Other lakes to discover in the Salzkammergut
There are several smaller lakes to discover that offer a more relaxed setting. These include Grundlsee, and Altausseer See, both of which are a short distance east of Hallstatt, and Fuschlsee, which lies between Salzburg and Wolfgangsee.
Altausseer See is the smallest of the three and has a beautiful walking path that loops around the lake, which can be completed in about 75-90 minutes. Lake Altaussee is also suitable for ice skating and curling during the colder months, as it often freezes over completely in winter. An interesting anecdote is that the lake and the hunting lodge Seewiese were filming locations for the James Bond film Spectre in 2015.
Although there aren’t many attractions around Fuschlsee, one quick worthy stop might be to see the futuristic-looking Red Bull HQ, located just outside Fuschl.
A popular intermediate-sized lake is Mondsee, north of Wolfgansee and west of Attersee, where you will a beautifully preserved old town and one of the most stunning churches in the Salzkammergut, the Abbey Church of Mondsee.
Bonus Lakes : Königssee and Obersee
For these lakes, we are actually leaving the Salkzammergut and heading into Germany. Although they are outside our current region of interest, these lakes are stunning and definitely worthy of your time, and the first lake is at most a 90-minute drive from most destinations in the Salzkammergut (and only 35 minutes from Salzburg). Located in nearby eastern Bavaria just across the border from Austria, Königssee is often considered Germany’s most beautiful alpine lake. It is definitely reminiscent of a Norwegian fjord due to its elongated shape and being nestled between towering mountains. A fun hour-long ride on electric-powered boats will take you across the lake to its southern point, from which you can undertake a relatively easy hike around the scenic Obersee (a beautiful small lake south of Königssee), through cattle pastures and eventually to Germany’s tallest waterfall, Röthbachwasserfall. If that wasn’t enough, you can also visit a stunning old pilgrimage church from the late 17th century, St Bartholomew, which can only be visited by boat (or via a very long hike) along the lake’s scenic western shore.
Königssee is about a 40-minute drive from Salzburg. For more information and tips on visiting this area of Berchtesgaden National Park, check out our travel guide on Hiking to Obsersee with a Königssee boat Tour.
Planning a Trip to Austria?
You might be interested in these pages (coming soon):
Best Things to See and Do in the Salzkammergut
Perfect Road Trip Itinerary in the Salzkammergut
Best Things to See and Do in Salzburg
Best Things to See and Do in Hallstatt
We also highly recommend these guidebooks:
Rick Steves Vienna, Salzburg & Tirol
Lonely Planet Austria
Photography Gear
If you like our photography, you might be interested in some of the gear we use to shoot our travel and hiking destinations.
Camera Body – Nikon Z 6ii Fx-series Mirrorless Body
Main Lens – NIKON 24-120mm F/4G ED VR AF-S
Zoom Lens – Sigma 745-306 150-600mm f/5-6.3
Polarizing filters – Urth Circular Polarizing (CPL)
Camera Tripod – K&F Concept 64-inch Camera Tripod
Mini-tripod – Lammcou Flexible Camera Tripod
Camera/hiking backpack – Vanguard Alta Rise 48 Backpack
Universal Travel Adapter – VYLEE Universal International Power Travel Plug
Other Travel Essentials
Travel Insurance
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e-Sim cards
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Car Rentals
Discover Cars is our go-to website for car rentals. We almost always find our preferred rate there.
Transfer from Airport
Welcome Pickups is our favourite private transfer service, which you can pre-book at a fixed price. Currently available in 220 cities all over the world (mostly in Europe, but with several major cities in Asia, the Middle East and the US).
Kiwitaxi is another private transfer service – we haven’t tried it yet, but it’s currently available in a few more countries (102 as of 2024).
Hotels and Accommodations (coming soon)
Photography Prints
If you found this blog useful, you can help support our blog by purchasing low-cost digital prints. Printed physical prints are also available for purchase.
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Well, that wraps it up! We hope you enjoyed our Guide to 6 Lakes to Discover in the Salzkammergut and that it will prove useful for planning your trip.
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