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Decide How Many Days in Salzburg in Late December

We are traveling from Vienna to Salzburg on December 26th getting into Salzburg about 12 noon. We fly out of Frankfurt on the morning of the 30th and have hotel reservations there the evening before. We are trying to decide whether to spend all of our remaining time in Salzburg and then just train to Frankfurt on the afternoon of the 29th or leave Salzburg a day earlier and spend a night closer to Frankfurt for instance maybe Bamberg. I guess it just depends on how much there is to do in Salzburg in the winter and maybe there are great day trips that we could do from Salzburg if we run out of things to do in Salzburg. Note we are not skiers or hikers.

Seems like there are some great towns fairly close to Salzburg for day trips but again not sure how good they are to visit in the winter - towns such as Hallstatt, Bad Ischl, St Wolfgang or maybe even go see King Lugwigs castles (we have seen them in the summer).

Or if we leave a day earlier from Salzburg, is Bamberg worth doing? We have been to Nuremburg (and will be there at the beginning of the trip) and we have been to Rothenburg.

Any thoughts or ideas are welcome and don't need to be limited to the towns mentioned.

Thank you!!!

Posted by
15996 posts

You only have 3 nights (2 full days) available for Salzburg (Dec 26, 27, 28) before you have to leave and go to FRA. Stay put. Salzburg is one of the most beautiful cities I have been to and if the weather is amenable you can take a day tour to visit some of those beautiful smaller villages around or some of those beautiful castles.

Posted by
5837 posts

We had a similar Salzburg itinerary this past January. Three nights in Salzburg, half days each end and two full days. Any less and we would be rushing to check off the "must see" stuff.

Altstadt is compact and we combined old town and the Hohensalburg for our first full day. We did fit in the SOM tour including the surrounding country side that filled half of our second full day. Of course the SOM tour is a bit controversial in the minds of some. Capped of our second full day with a Mozart dinner concert.

Bottom line is Salzburg is a pleasant small city to explore. Take three nights realizing daylight is short(er) in December. But you do get more night life.

Posted by
6 posts

Thank you Roberto and Edgar for your replies. I think you both are right to say just stay put!

Edgar, when you took the SOM tour, was it an extra for the surrounding country side? Did you like the tour company you used? And would you recommend the Mozart Dinner concert? If so, which place was that at?

Sue

Posted by
5837 posts

Sue,

As I alluded to, SOM tour value is an eye of the beholder thing. I can say that my wife and I enjoyed the tour and felt it was money well spent and even added something extra for our guide. Our January visit was a plane, train, bus trip so the tour of the countryside gave us a view of the rural surroundings in an efficient amount of time. We did the Panorama Tour 1A: http://www.panoramatours.com/en/salzburg/tour/tour-1a-original-sound-of-music-tour-R-28/
In January we had a minivan sized small group of 5. Web page tells you what you see and where.

We did the St Peter Mozart dinner in old town:
http://www.stpeter-stiftskeller.at/en/mozart-dinner.html
The hotel made our reservation (and probably got a commission). A great experience, but you will have to be the judgeu of it being "worthwhile". I can say we enjoyed the evening and 9 months later can't tell you how much it cost. I can say that drinks are extra.

Posted by
2579 posts

If you are a SOM fan, then I would take the tour. I have done so 3 times in the past 40+ years. know however, that many sights are in the pedestrian area and are best visited on foot.

The salt mines in Hallein are open year round and are a fun excursion close to Salzburg.