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Salzburg Day trip

We're traveling from Munich to Salzburg for the day late July. We are thinking about taking a Bob's tours half day tour to Hallstatt to see the salt mine. We'd also like to tour old town Salzburg, see the fortress and an evening concert. How long should we allow to see the town and fortress? Also, we were looking at Bob's tours but their reviews give me pause. Is it difficult to do the salt mines without a tour? There are 7 of us aged 10 through 80 so connections and lots of walking might make the tour more attractive even with not so great reviews. Thanks!

Posted by
32523 posts

Are you intending to drive or take the train to Salzburg? Quite a different answer depending.

Posted by
1875 posts

That is too much for one day, do either Salzburg or Hallstatt, but not both. I would choose Salzburg.

You are underestimating the traveling time. Your planned trip of Munich-Salzburg-Hallstatt-Salzburg-Munich is about 270 miles (430 km) long. Just the driving time would be about 6 hours.

Posted by
451 posts

I agree with the others. The distance and travel time make Hallstatt unwise. There are salt mine tours from Salzburg that are closer to the city. Salzburg is enough for a day trip by itself.

Posted by
1542 posts

Hallstatt is too far from Munich for a day trip, never mind half a day. If you are driving, head to Hellbrunn for a visit in the morning, park there and take a bus into town for Mirabell, Hohensalzburg, Stift Nonnberg, the Old Town, a few museums. That's a long day (for me, anyway). All flat walking, more or less, lift up to Hohensalzburg if you need it. A salt mine close by in Hallein if that's a must.

Posted by
5 posts

Thanks everyone. We were planning to take the train from Munich to Salzburg and a tour that included the salt mine. I'm assuming based on your responses that the salt mine the tour company was taking us to was Hallein and not Hallstatt. The tour company's website didn't get specific in the description but they had other tours to Hallstatt so I mistakenly assumed. I did want to add in a salt mine to keep it entertaining for my daughter. Is there a salt mine close enough to visit via public transportation and not disrupt the day too much?: Thanks!

Posted by
32523 posts

There is one easily available by bus. Fun. I still have my souvenir thing of salt from there. Salzburg is full up with things that will make a 10 year old happy.

Posted by
94 posts

We did the Hallein mine as a half day trip from Salzburg. I bought "package" tickets from the travel office in the train station--RT train tix, bus tickets to/from the train station & the mine and mine tour tickets. You do still need to wait in line at the mine ticket window even if you have these-I just preferred to pay once. It was a cold and rainy day (late March) so the Celtic village wasn't super exciting but interesting enough to kill 20-30 minutes before our tour. The tour was great-we had a very informed guide and it is such a unique experience. All of us really enjoyed it -me, DH, and 2 sons 15 and 11. Plus, the cafe there had delicious soup for lunch. You can't go into the mines by yourself. When you asked if it was difficult to do the mines without a tour, I'm not sure if you mean a guided tour that includes transport or just the mine itself. It was easy to do by ourselves and we were back in Salzburg with enough time to tour the fortress before resting prior to dinner.