Hallstatt is the village everyone has seen in photographs, built on a narrow ledge between the steep wall of the Dachstein massif and the dark water of the Hallstätter See. There is hardly any flat ground. Houses climb above each other, the church tower stands on a rock above the lake, and the whole arrangement looks so improbable that you wonder how it ever worked.
It worked because of salt. People have mined salt in the mountain above the village for thousands of years, and the Iron Age culture named after the place, the Hallstatt culture, spread across much of central Europe from about 800 BC. The graves found here, filled with fine bronze and amber, tell of a trading community that was rich by the standards of its time. The salt mine is still there, one of the oldest in the world, and you can ride the funicular up to it and walk in with a helmet and a miner's overall. The village is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it has the crowds to prove it.
Be realistic about the visit. In high season the village is a crush of tour buses and photographers, and the narrow lanes can feel like a theme park. Motorcycles are generally parked in the car parks outside the centre, and it is a short walk down to the lake. If you come early in the morning or in the shoulder months, you will find a very different place, quiet and slightly damp, with mist lifting off the water. A small ossuary near the church holds painted skulls, a local custom that is both macabre and rather touching.
The ride in is easy and attractive: the road along the western shore of the lake is narrow with tunnels, fast stretches and cliffs on one side, and the lake on the other. From here you can head south toward Gosau and the Pass Gschütt, a lovely road over a modest saddle, or return north toward Bad Goisern and Bad Ischl.
Fuel is not in the village. Bad Goisern or Bad Ischl is the safer bet, with Gosau as another small option, so fill up before you come in.