Hotels near Gosausee Lake Day Trip

Gosausee, sometimes called Vorderer Gosausee to distinguish it from the higher Hinterer Gosausee, is a 74-hectare lake at 933 metres elevation in the neighbouring Gosau valley, roughly 30 kilometres west of Hallstatt by road. Its main attraction is the reflection: on windless mornings the entire south face of the Dachstein glacier, at 2,995 metres, mirrors on the water surface with almost no distortion, giving what is widely considered the single most photographed alpine scene in Austria. A flat 4-kilometre walking loop circles the lake in about an hour, and a cable car from the northern shore climbs to Zwieselalm at 1,600 metres for a panoramic view down onto both Gosau lakes. Reaching Gosausee without a car means taking Postbus line 543 from Hallstatt Lahn, which runs roughly every two hours and takes 55 minutes. Entry is free; parking is EUR 6 per day.

Pro Tip: Arrive before 09:00 - by mid-morning the valley wind picks up and the reflection is gone, and the only shot people get after that is the same photograph with ripples across it.