Salzkammergut/Berchtesgaden/Salzburg ideas

I really enjoyed my daytrip to the Wolfgangsee. The named city with the church is in the middle, so you can take a ferry from one end (Strobl) to the other (St Gilgen) or vice versa. Great views, just a great time. The church is pretty neat as well.

Take the steepest cog railway from St. Wolfgang to the summit of Schafberg mountain. Great for kids!
https://www.5schaetze.at/en/schafbergbahn.html

Such a beautiful area!

Honestly, I’d skip the Werfen ice caves. My husband & I spend time in this area every year and we went to the caves last summer with high expectations. Based on the photos online I was expecting a lit up exploratory tour. It’s not that. You hike around 500 ft straight up staircases in the dark in a single file line - it’s 1,400 steps up and most of them are done in the pitch dark with little mining lamps you have to carry that illuminate your feet only. The guide stops every once in a while and lights a spark that illuminates an area for a few seconds to see your surroundings and then you keep going. When it was lit obviously it was impressive, but those points were so short, so we left feeling like we just hiked in the dark for very little reward. I can’t imagine kids enjoying it at all.

Hohenwerfen is a nice castle. Gosausee is gorgeous and shouldn’t be missed. You could do the castle in the morning and Gosausee in the afternoon so that you have one free day to enjoy the farm.

Thanks for the responses! The Schafberg train is definitely on the table. The prices and some of the recent reviews give me pause but highly considering! Wanderweg...I am so glad you mentioned this about the ice caves. Honestly it's one of those things that looks and seems great in theory but yours is not the only review I've seen with that opinion. Between that and having to bring items for cold, the main thing is if the kids wouldn't enjoy, then this may be a miss. I actually love the idea of doing the castle and falcon show and then Gosausee. I intended to maybe do Gosausee myself otw back from Hallstatt while the family enjoyed the farm, simply because it seemed like a long hike for them. Do you think active kids could handle? If so, your plan seems great!

Day 2: If you are thinking of stopping at the St Bartholomew Church on Konigssee, do that on the way to Salet (not on the way back). Aim for the first ferry, if possible; it's peaceful and ever so pretty on a nice morning. Berchtesgaden salt mine is good.

I've never taken a cable car ride in the Dolomites. We stayed in Ruhpolding last year and received free passes for the Jennerbahn with our guest tickets. Great view of Konigssee and more from up there, and it has a good restaurant. However, there's a narrow, steep, rocky path to get to the view of Konigssee; takes about 15 minutes. It's also very expensive. Just under 50 euros per adult, about 30 euros per child.

Day 3: If your children are OK with getting up early, head to Hallstatt. Have a walk around town and take some photos. There's also a good salt mine visit. Relax in the afternoon back at base.

Day 4: Make a day of Wolfgangsee. Easy, free parking in Strobl (at least there was last September) and catch the ferry there; it's a quiet, pretty, mainly residential village. Nice streets and surroundings.

Re alpine coasters in general. The older, single track coasters are slower and less fun. Rittisberg is good (about an hour).

I've never been to Gosausee but it definitely looks like a spot I'd like. The hike appears to be easy and only 4.5 kilometres long: https://www.gosausee.com/rundweg/

Edit, just to confuse. Werfen Castle yes. We visited the ice caves in 1987, neither of us can remember much about it.

Gosausee and Werfen are in opposite directions.

... head to Hallstatt. Have a walk around town and take some photos. There's also a good salt mine visit.

The salt mine in Hallstatt is closed at the moment because the funicular is being rebuilt. There is no exact date given yet for re-opening, it just says "summer 2026".

Go for the "Five Fingers" instead.
https://www.dachstein-salzkammergut.com/en/summer/above-ground/5fingers

I could not find good info, but the Fischunkelalm am Obersee was closed years ago in mid May. No reason not to visit the Obersee. Beautiful on a sunny day.

Thank you all! Obersee looks amazing as well…so many beautiful lakes and not enough time! Was considering combining an early Hallstatt morning w the salt mine if it does open in time. If not, For those who have done Wolfgangsee…could we do a quick early stroll and breakfast in Hallstatt and then park it it in St Gilgen and RT ferry to and from St Wolfgang and enjoy both of those towns all leisurely in a day? Or should I keep Hallstatt separate? My goal in Hallstatt is to really soak in that beautiful town in the early quiet hours as we are not interested in battling the day crowds with all the other beautiful areas in Salzkammergut. We could combine Wolfgangsee or Gosausee hike with it. Thanks!

"all leisurely in a day?" - Can't speak for you. Including Hallstatt with Wolfgangsee is not leisurely for me. I take long lunches and walk alot.

The falconry show is awesome. If your kids are brave have them sit on the grass near the falconer. I won't give away more than that :)

In regards to Gosausee. Active kids can definitely do the hike to Hinterer. However, I wouldn't put too much pressure on having to go all the way back to Hinterer. We went in July and actually liked the loop around the main lake + the beach on the northeast side of the lake better than the hike to the back. We wanted to swim and the lake access at Hinterer is really awkward steep big rocks, whereas the main lake has tons of little beaches and access points. With a family I'd probably ditch Hinterer, do the loop of the big lake and have a lunch or ice cream at the Gasthof Gosausee overlooking the lake. Or leave the family to chill at the beach on the big lake while you huff up the hill to Hinterer :)

Ironically the cold weather gear wasn't really necessary at the ice caves because I was in a cold sweat the entire time from doing an ice stair climber in the dark :) You can tell I loved that place, haha!

Gunderson, you are right. We'll stick to the plan of leaving Wolfgangsee to enjoy peacefully. I initially thought about driving to Strobl and taking the ferry to St. Wolfgang and then walking the lake back before heading to St. Gilgen, but then wondered if it wouldn't be better to just park in St. Gilgen and ferry round trip from there to eliminate moving twice. Thoughts? As for Gosau, Wanderweg I love the idea of strolling the main lake and just me going up to Hinterer if the weather is good. From our base to Hallstatt it is about 45 minutes drive...I think we could go there early as a family to enjoy a quiet morning and then stop at Gosau otw back for a lake stroll and late lunch. Sounds amazing! And thanks for the falcon tip ;)

You should be able to pull up the Wolfgangsee ferry schedule by now, it's frequent but not THAT frequent so plan accordingly.

I'm sure you know Hallstatt is loved to death so it's a real "thing"

Dmd, if you are considering a round tour of the lake (about 3 hours with wait times), start with Strobl. We arrived early on a Saturday in September. Parked on Seestrasse (free). Strolled around the residential streets and further, went into the church by the lake, watched an oom-pah band on the small square.

The ferry leaves Stroble at 10:25. There's also a path (1 hour) which leads to the next ferry stop at Gschwendt, if you fancy the walk.

The main area of St Gilgen is relatively small and doesn't take long to walk around. Ate outside at The Kendler. There's a nice path leading to Furberg, where you can also catch the ferry to St Wolfgang. We didn't stop at St Wolfgang this time; as I remember, it is busier than St Gilgen, with more shops and restaurants. Can't help with the cog train ride.

If you don't fancy Stroble, park at Ischlerstrasse 18 in St Gilgen.

Gunderson so you parked at Strobl and took ferry straight to St. Gilgen? I like the idea of the easier parking and would not mind a Strobl to St. Wolfgang ferry to visit there for awhile. The walking path from St. Wolfgang to back to Strobl actually looks very nice as well. If there is not too much in St. Gilgen then I certainly wouldn't mind saving a separate drive there and doing something else or just keeping this day super calm. Thanks all again!

Phred thanks yes I'll be looking at the schedules closely. And for Hallstatt, we are not ones that have to go somewhere because it's popular so I've even considered skipping it to focus on more authentic, less crowded areas in the Salzkammergut. However, my intention is to arrive in Hallstatt no later than 7am and walk the hopefully calmer/quiet town and lakeside with a coffee in the AM to hopefully enjoy it better. Hard to pass up when it's 45 minutes from our lodging, BUT aim to be outta there by 10am at the latest. A few quiet hours I think will be a nice experience.

I'd stop in St Gilgen for a stroll and maybe lunch. The core is not large, but it is a nice spot. We had a very long lunch, then a walk way past the Furberg ferry stop and back to St Gilgen; it was latish by the time we reached St Wolfgang, so we didn't bother to visit this time.

We spent a few days in Salzburg last fall. We enjoyed the nearby Untersburg cable car. Stunning views, nice hiking. The old town of Salzburg is worth time itself - beautiful churches, Mozart's birthplace, Hohensalzburg Fortress. The hike across the Monchsberg, from the Fortress to the lift elevator at the other end was rewarding.

The Salzburg Marionette Theatre was closed while we were there, which was a disappointment.

Enjoy your trip!

Thanks Kevin, yes we have a full day built in for Salzburg to see as much as we can. Maybe even another evening if possible. We definitely intend to do the castle first then Moenchburg down to Steigl Keller. Would like to stroll the old town, abbey and cathedral and have dinner at the Augustiner. It looks awesome and honestly wish we had even more time for it :/ Thanks for sharing!