The Dachstein ice caves are not far from Halstatt. We caught the train to Obertraun, then walked to the cable car, which took about 30 minutes. There is a bus service between Obertraun and the cable car, and we caught that on the way back. You can also walk straight there from Halstatt by going around the south of the lake. One of the girls at the hostel did that, I think it took her about an hour.A trip to these ice caves starts with a 'sardines-in-can' style cable car ride, which is actually quite fun, unless you're claustrophobic and/or there's a smelly armpit in your face. Once you get out of the cable car there's still a 15 minute walk straight up the mountain to the caves. There are two sets of caves, the Rieseneishöhle and the Mammuthöhle. The latter don't have ice formations, so we only went to the first ones. You can only go in with a guided tour, and they're mostly in German, but apparently English tours can be organised. They do have sheets of information in English if you happen to get stuck in a German group and you don't speak German. These caves are well worth the €20 entry fee. The ice formations really are impressive, and the caves are really well lit. Our guide was really good. He gave us lots of interesting information, and he was easy on the eyes too. Don't forget to dress warmly, even in the middle of summer. They are ICE caves after all. There's a restaurant and a gift store at the cable car station.