sidetrips from Salzburg? best bus tours?

Hallstatt or somewhere else in the Salzkammergut. It's gorgeous out there.

We did the Bob's SOM tour 3 years ago and enjoyed it a lot. It's not nearly as hokey as I feared it might be. Gives you a good look at the countryside around Salzburg. There were only 4 of us on a small mini-bus. Your son may enjoy thr luge ride down one of the mountains -- assuming they still make that stop. Also recommend a side trip to Hitler's Eagle Nest -- it's an easy and inexpensive bus trip.Enjoy!

I'm going to suggest a few locations a little off the beaten path. From Salzburg there are three general regions in the immediate vicinity you can explore: the Trumer Seen Region to the north, the Salzkammergut to the east, and the northern Front of the Alps to the south. The Trumer Seen region lies about 17 - 20 km north of Salzburg and consists of three drinking-water-clean lakes. There are several small villages around the lakes, most notable are Obertrum, Mattsee, and Seeham. The lakes lie in gorgeous rolling hill country. Google Mattsee, bring up a few pictures, and you'll see what I mean. You can get there by bus quite readily.

If you head south, near a town called Golling are the Salzach Oefen, the place where the Salzach breaks through the mountains in a deep chasm. Also not far from Golling, the Lammer, a tributary to the Salzach, breaks through in a similar manner near Scheffau. Both chasms are spectacular. The walk along the Lammer Oefen is one of my favorite ones in the area.

To the east, of course, lies the Salzkammergut. People have already mentioned Hallstatt and you should see that, if you haven't already. But keep going around Hallstatt lake and over the mountain to Bad Aussee and Alt Aussee. Enjoy the lakes and the scenery. Then keep on going to see the Grundlsee and a little beyond the Toplitz See. All of those lakes lie in a stunning setting. Among other things, The Toplitz See is also known as the location where the Nazis dumped I-don't-know-how-many false British Pounds near the end of WW2. People still dive there for treasure, now and then.

I'm not even scratching the surface with my suggestions, and I'm leaving out the Bavarian Highlands, completely. You can get to all of these locations by bus or train, some are a little harder to get to than others. But the best thing to do is to rent a car for a couple of days, drive in the direction of your choice, and when you see a beautiful spot get out and explore. You can't miss.

I did Bob's tour in February and loved it. Although I like the movie Sound of Music I wasn't a huge fan but it was great fun to get a lot of information about the places and they really knew their stuff. Then when we got home we watched the movie and it was great to say "I saw that, I was there...".

In Salzburg I also recommend the horse carriage tours. Very nice and not too expensive.

We also did the Berchtesgaden salt mine as a side trip from Salzburg by car. We didn't stay for the WWII sites and we're back in a half day.

I also vote for Hallstatt or somewhere else in the Salzkammergut.

Another possibility is Bad Gastein, or somewhere near there,for a day of low-level alpine hiking and/or a visit to the thermes (for instance, the Felsentherme in Bad Gastein).