Salt mines

I've been in the one at Salzburg and a couple of others. All seemed about the same and more something to do in you're passing by rather than making a special project out of it.

there are lots of salt mines out there; I went on a tour of one in Hallstatt. It was fun, and I'd recommend doing it if you're in a town that has one. As for general advice about deciding what to do, after a few trips I've come to the realization I can't do/see everything. And that trying to do too much is worse than not doing enough; it get tiring rushing from place to place trying to work everything in. I try to plan at most one longer activity per day; for example a walking tour in Rome or Paris, a visit to a large museum such as the Louvre, a day trip to a hilltown, etc. I also make a list of other things I'd like to do if I had the time and energy, and after my "big" activity then I pick from the list depending on how I feel. So after the Louvre I might decide to walk thru the nearby gardens, get lunch, stroll around with no particular aim but soaking in the sights, etc. Later in the day I might decide to drop in to see the Rodin museum for an hour or two. And that's my day. Having a list of alternatives lets you adjust based on the weather, how much energy you have, etc. But I also realize I can't do everything on the list or I'd run myself into the ground.

I've been to the one in Berchtesgaden a couple of times, but I beleive that all of them are about the same. They are interesting tours and take a couple of hours.

Sandra, given the time of year you'll be travelling, it would probably be a good idea to find out if the Salt Mines will be open. For example, I believe the Hallein Mine (Salzburg) is open year round (except for maintenance times), however the Hallstatt tours close after 26 October AFAIK. I didn't check Berchtesgaden. Cheers!

Same as the others. We went to the one in Berchtesgaden. From what I've heard they all offer essentially the same experience and Berchtesgaden was the most convenient to our route. It's a good indoor winter activity - the temperature in the mine won't be any different winter or summer - and warm dress is recommended. We we're there in mid-October. I think Berchtesgaden can be reached year round but that would be a question better asked specifically and answered by locals.

We have done both..essentially the same experience but I would think in Berchetesgaden there would more availibitly for English tours than the near Salzburg. My wife ended up translating for our group in Hallein which was a bit difficult for her because she had trouble understanding the Austrian dialect. Not all German is the same. Either one would worth its weight in salt.

With the Salt Mine tour in Hallstatt, the very talented Guide provided the tour in English, German and Italian (there was a young couple from Italy in the group, on their honeymoon). I wasn't able to understand much of the German dialogue, but found it a great opportunity to "practise" my Italian!

As I recall, most of the salt mine tour at Berchtesgaden had multiple translations coming through speakers. At each stop English speakers could stand next to the English station while others stood close to stations in their language.