Gosau Guide

Gosau sits in a long side valley of the Salzkammergut, in Upper Austria's Gmunden District. About 1,850 people live here; the count on 1 January 2026 was 1,853. The houses are scattered along the Gosaubach; the village itself stands at 767 metres. A road climbs from there to three mountain lakes under the Dachstein wall. Hallstatt is close, at the Traun shore, and it is a different kind of day: a lakeside town, not this hanging valley.

The three lakes are Vorderer Gosausee, Gosaulacke and Hinterer Gosausee. The road reaches the first. From the water the Dachstein fills the view, with the Gosaukamm on the west. Bischofsmütze, at 2,458 metres, is the high point of that ridge. You come for cold, clear water and a quieter night than the Hallstatt shore. Vorderer Gosausee is a mountain lake, swimmable if you like that kind of water, not a warm basin. The lakes sit at the edge of the UNESCO Hallstatt-Dachstein-Salzkammergut landscape.

A full day is enough for the village and the first lake if the road is open. A second day makes sense if you walk on to Gosaulacke and Hinterer Gosausee, or if you simply sit long enough for the wall to change colour. Stay longer if the paths are the point of the trip.

Most visitors arrive by road. The B 166 comes up from Gosauzwang on Hallstätter See, through the village and over Pass Gschütt toward Abtenau. There is no train in the valley. Check the current bus before you travel; local services change with the season. Once you are in, the movement that matters is the lake road, on foot or by car.

You can walk the village. For the climb to Vorderer Gosausee you will want a car, or a ride you have already arranged. If hills or loose mountain paths are a problem, stay with the first lake and the houses along the Gosaubach.