Salzburg Travel Forum

Hi, My friend and I will be visiting salzburg in 3 wks and will need some advice planning my trip. I have 5 full days in total, and I'm thinking of spending the first 1 1/2 days in munich, den a train down to salzburg (I'm flying into munich, flying out of salzburg)

In the 3 and a half days in Salzburg, I would like to cover the following

1) sound of music attractions (tour?)
2) Salt Mine (tour?)
3) Mozart tour (is this worth it at 23 euros? or better to go by myself)
4) Visit the snow peaks and do something. (I dont mind spending a day on this. I have never skied or been to the snow peaks before. Would like suggestions on what to do.)

I read that Hallstatt is nearby, and on their website, there are links to snow related activites. It is also near the salt mine right? If so, is it better to go on the tours, or to cover it myself?

Also, It seems that snow buses from salzburg to the different snow peaks (different one each day?), as well as salt mines in salzburg. I am confuse about the difference between hallstatt and salzburg since they offer similar activities.

Can someone please advice me on how many as well as which tour I should go for? (saltmine.sound of music. mozart)Should I pay to go on the saltmine tour or to go for it myself? (do the tours cover the same area in the outskirts?)Should I go for all 3 tours and then plan a separate trip up to the snow mountains or what? I cannot drive and will thus need to rely on public transport. Anyway help will be greatly appreciated.

I have not made any of those coach tours as I have always been driving myself. But I had a look at the programmes, and think it is not necessary to make the Mozart tour. Salzburg is rather compact and most places are at walking distance, and you can take the public buses.

The Sound of Music Tour sounds ... very nice. Also the Salt Mine/Bavarian Mountains Tour is good as it includes Obersalzberg (Eagle's Nest), and this is just spectacular. Make sure you get a tour that in fact goes up the mountain and takes you to the top via lift and not just passes in the valley. They often write: View of Eagle's Nest. This is definetely not the real thing.

If you are already over there (Berchtesgaden) you should continue to (or the coach should include) Königssee and a little Königssee cruise. This is even great in winter. If you are into light adventures you can have a ride in a four-men bobsleigh on the world cup ice canal at Königssee. It is not too risky, as the pilot and the guy on the brake are professionals ;-)

Hallstatt has the world's oldest saltmines. The word "hall" means salt (as also in Bad Reichenhall across the border, Germany's most famous salt brand), as does "Salz". Salzburg was on the historic salt road.

So make sure you visit a salt mine - just not too many... ;-)

If you take the train or public bus from Salzburg to Hallstatt (about 2 to 2.5 hours) you do not have to invest in a coach tour for covering your salt mine activity. But compare the prices first, perhaps a coach tour is cheaper in total than to pay for transportation and entry fee and nothing else.

Perhaps the locals have more thorough transportation tips.

You can go to the following web site to get a general idea of some of the tours offered in Salzburg and their cost: www.panoramatours.com/salzburg-tour.aspx. As the previous poster mentioned, Berchtesgaden, in Germany, is a little easier to reach than Hallstatt. They have the alpine lake, the salt mine tour, and very pretty scenery. On the salt mine tour, they have you put on leather pants, and you ride through the mine on a small train-type vehicle. They also have a place where you slide down to a landing, and take a boat across a small salt lake. The road to the Eagle's Nest is usually is closed until early May, so, unless they've had absolutely no snow, you won't actually visit there in March. The snow shuttle does go to different ski areas daily. You might look at the Salzburg tips to see what people say about the other tours. Gary

Beware of anything that has a prefix of Mozart - as they're normally a rip off. The salt mine at Hallein is good fun - but quite a way out of Salzburg. Try the river cruise, which is good fun, + the Nonnberg convent for vespers at about 6pm - quite a climb. See the Residenz and the Hellebrun Palace - just outside Salzburg - Augustina Brewery - food not too good, but interesting, and the wax works. Strongly suggest you get a Salzburg Card which will save you plenty of dosh.