I'm from another area of europe with lots of tourism, Croatia, and one trick that works here is to take the town everyone talks about, and go one town over, or two towns over.
Does that work with Hallstatt too? I've never been there.
the whole area is cool but hallstatt is unique. i spent a few days near there last summer and rented a bicycle and rode around to other villages and small towns and lakes and it's all very nice
Austrian here, nope. I mean there are similar lakeside beauties in Austria, but nothing has quite this combination of interesting topology, ancient history and atmosphere. If that combination doesn't make you excited, then it is probably okay to go to some other place instead.
That being said of the 3 times I was there during the past decade, it was only bad one time, but that was high season/winter and we booked the date because of a family event that we didn't want to move. That was bareable still since most Hallstatt tourists tend to be day-trippers that are bussed in and out and if you stay over night you get some chance to walk around late or early without a million people in an narrow alley.
Like with every touristy area it pays off to investigate which ones are the less popular weeks of the year to visit (hard to do that sometimes in Croatian, especially if you're there for a swim).
Does that work with Hallstatt too? I've never been there.