【Europe's oldest salt mine】World Cultural Heritage - Salzwelten Hallstatt -

Hallstatt has become a popular tourist destination in recent years. In addition to the beautiful town scenery, what I am most looking forward to is actually visiting Salzwelten Hallstatt - the salt mine that was listed as a World Cultural Heritage in 1997! The ticket office for the salt mine is at the foot of the mountain, but the meeting point for the guided tour is halfway up the mountain, so you need to take a cable car and hike up the mountain to reach the meeting point. If you are traveling with the elderly or children, you should consider whether you can cope with the physical strength before deciding whether to participate. Before arriving at the meeting point for the guided tour, you will pass the skywalk of Hallstatt. There is a restaurant nearby. If you have enough time, you can have a meal in the restaurant and take a short rest before visiting the salt mine! Salzwelten Hallstatt is the oldest existing salt mine in Europe. The mine is underground and it is impossible to reach it just by walking, so you need to go through 3 slides to get deeper into the mine for a visit! Before the visit, you need to put down your personal belongings at the gathering point and change into the "miner's clothes" they provide. The tour guide will remind everyone to have enough warm clothes because the temperature inside the mine is relatively low (about eight degrees). Once everything is ready, the guide will lead everyone to explore the interior of the mine. During the period I participated, there were probably more than 30 people visiting at the same time, including several foreign families. The youngest child was only a few years old. Before sliding down the first slide, the child was curious but a little timid, and asked the tour guide several questions, which made everyone laugh! During the visit, you will see many huge salt crystals and very old wooden ladders, proving that the early technology in this place was very advanced. The tour guide will also tell you a lot about salt, explain the formation of salt mines, how miners lived in the past, etc. I personally think it is definitely worth the tour! 📍Salzwelten Hallstatt: Salzbergstraße 21, 4830 Hallstatt, Austria