Which salt mine tour?

Hello Deanna,
We (a family of four, kids ages 11 and 9) visited the salt mine in Hallien in October 2008. All of us loved it, despite the fact that I hate to be underground! Our tour guide was exceptionally attentive. We were the only English speakers in the group and our kids were the only children. But, the tour guide made sure that we understood what was going on (usually by translating while the rest of the group was walking from one place to another). He also chipped away a piece of the mine wall for our kids to take with them. They thought that was pretty cool; we still have it.

The mine tour includes two slides and a short boat ride, as well as films that show a goofy narrative that the kids found quite funny. I don't remember how long the tour was, but it was informative and fun. I would recommend it highly.

We traveled there by public transportation from Salzburg, which took some doing. But, it was well worth the effort. Have fun!

I've done Hallstatt and Hallien but not Berchestgaden. I think most of these tours are pretty similar. I did prefer Hallien for the same reason the above poster enjoyed it- They did a much better job of making sure we English speakers got the full tour. (In Hallstatt we were given "some" English but we felt it was more because they "have" to because we asked) As far as crowds, we were told the Berchestgaden mine can be very crowded-probably because it draws from 2 very touristy cities (Berchestgaden and Salzburg). Hallien was the one recommended to us by our B&B host for that very reason- and we loved it. The tour itself is about 1- 1 1/2 hours. You maybe could pick by what else you want to do that day. For example, if you are planning to go to Kanderstag (aka Hitler's Eagles Nest) Then the Berchestgaden tour would make the most sense. If you want to follow up with a Luge ride- check out the one near Hallien. (Both of these sites are closed in the winter- you don't say when you are going.) Anyway, I don't think you can go too wrong either way. Have fun.

We went to Berchtesgaden with three kids, 16, 12, and 8. I hear pretty much the same thing about all the tours so think they are similar. Everyone enjoyed it. It includes dressing in a mining jumpsuit with leather beaver-tail, riding a train into the mountain, a lot of information about salt mining in multiple languages, a wood slide that looks like a bowling ball return that was used by miners instead of stairs and a boat ride through an old salt deposit underground lake.

It tied in nicely with what the Nightwatchman in Rothenburg said about the value of salt in the middle ages.

I think your kids will enjoy it. You can probably pick whichever tour is convenient to your travel rather than worry about going to a particular tour.

I can't recall the cost. Usually once I'm there I focus more on what we want to do than how much it costs. When you figure the cost of getting to the ticket window, the cost of tickets is insignificant and the cost to get back to the ticket window in the future isn't. Rick's books will have the latest prices.

Deanna,
I took my kids to the salt mine in Berchestgarden in 2004. I enjoyed it, but they did not do the tour in English. There were 8 Americans in the group, but it was done in German and then they would push a button and a recorded voice said it in English. My husband and I did the salt tour in Hallstatt in 2007 and it was better because it was in English.