We took bus #25 from the center of town to the cable car station. The cars start going up at…read more8:30am every half an hour until about 5pm. The view from atop is breathtaking. The Untersberg massif, which spans approximately 70 km², is located right on the border with Bavaria. The Untersberg cable car starts in St. Leonhard near Grödig and leads to the Geiereck, from where we enjoyed breathtaking panoramic views of the Alps and the Salzburg valley area....we loved the views, the fresh air and the whole cable car/gondola experience. Many people go hiking right off the station at the top. We did not, but we can see how others would enjoy the trails during any of the four seasons of the year. It is included in the Salzburg Card if you have one.

Free with the Salzburg card to take the 8.5 minute cable car to the top of Untersberg. There's a…read morecable car every 30 minutes and free WiFi. There's a huge lot if you drove or take bus 25 to the very last stop. Breath taking views of the alps. It was cold and with fresh powdery snow. Make sure you wear appropriate shoes with tracking if you plan to go further out in the snow. Takes another 30 minutes to hike to the peak which is the highest peak in Austria. Going down was more dangerous than going up.

The biggest draw for us was the trick fountains versus the palace or the gazebo featured in the…read moreSound of Music. We took the bus to Hellbrunn and the stop was around 10 minutes walk to Hellbrunn. The bus was free since we had the Salzburg Pass. We obtained our timed entry tickets from the gift shop. Timed tickets were needed for the trick fountains versus the palace which could be entered anytime. We spent one hour for the walk through all the trick fountains and half an hour inside the palace. One caveat about the trick fountains, the first entry timeslot required waiting around the first fountain until enough other visitors arrived. The grounds team would then man the control boxes/valves and manually turn them on to control the fountains and the tricks. This repeated at each stop on the map. No automation just old school, hundreds of years old tech. Definitely take the time linger at each stop as some were elaborately designed fountains, grottoes, gardens, statues or water powered mechanical figures. The staff definitely caught us and many others with surprise squirts of water from hidden spouts in the ground, walls or ceiling (especially in the Neptune Grotto). The floating crown was another must experience grotto. The mechanical theatre, with its three stories of moving townsfolk figures (all powered by water), was the ending highlight of the walk. The Palace itself was well maintained and contained exhibits about the palace, fountains and the original owner the Prince Archbishop. The stuffed "unicorn" will catch your attention. Well worth taking the bus ride from Salzburg.

The honest draw here is the Sound of Music gazebo, and it does deliver, though it's worth knowing…read moreupfront that the pavilion was actually relocated to make it easier for the public to visit. So it's not technically where they filmed the scene, but it's the real gazebo on very beautiful grounds, and standing in front of it in Salzburg still feels cool The palace and park themselves are a bigger win: a 17th-century pleasure palace with enormous, well-maintained grounds that are genuinely gorgeous to wander on a good day. The trick fountains are a legitimate reason to come, although they were off on the day of our visit which was a bummer. If you're in Salzburg and have any interest at all in the film or just want an afternoon outside the old town, this is worth the trip.

We took the funicular up and walked around the different museums in the fortress. The views of the…read morecity and the mountains were beautiful. Some of the major highlights of Fortress Hohensalzburg are the magnificent Princes' Rooms, the Magic Theater on the High Level, the Great Armory in the castle courtyard, the various museums (like the marionette museum, the tower and the historical museum) were all very interesting and detailed. Go up for the breathtaking views over the rooftops of the city. It was really interesting to learn how this fortress had evolved over a period of almost 500 years. If you want to do all, it would take 3-5 hours...it's huge.....

High on a Hill there's a lovely Fortress. Funicular up in 30 seconds as opposed to a 35 minute…read morewalk. The view from the Observation Tower is spectacular, an alp or two is always good eye candy. We spend about 2 hours wandering around, through the museum and courtyard. Look through every window you find and you can see why this Fortress was impenetrable. Also have a go with the bells on way out and if you have time come back to the bell area at 11.00am to hear the original mechanism working. A final drink and snack in the restaurant will afford those great views once more. We arrived early with few people around. Yes there are a lot of steps but they are well designed and shallow. The way down from the tower is separate to the way up so you don't get blockages. The rest rooms are fantastic just at the end of the Museum.

Of course when in Salzburg, we had to visit the Mirabell Gardens and not just for the Sound of…read moreMusic movie spots! Flowers and gardens were in bloom. The heatwave that hit the EU didn't deter visitors but it was still good that we visited in the morning before it got hotter or crowded. There were a few die hard SOM movie fans prancing around the Pegasus fountain before running up the steps, posing by the gladiator statues at the entrance or running through the Hedge Tunnel. The garden of dwarf statues was quieter and I wondered if visitors knew they had to cross a bridge (near the Pegasus Fountain) to gain access. The Mirabell Palace was somewhat open as we could really only climb the Angel Staircase but couldn't enter the hall where Mozart played or really anywhere else unfortunately. Still worth seeing. Lastly make sure to check out the Orangerie where the Panorama Museum was just relocated and opened in a very modern setting in June. The Sattler Panorama painting inside was a 360 degree view of Salzburg from the early 1800s. Make sure to also view the interactive terminals to do a side by side comparison between the panorama of now and the . Admission was included as part of the Salzburg Card.

I don't know why I felt like singing Do a Deer, a female deer, as soon as I entered and kept…read morelooking up at the trees! Famous for the filming of the Sound of Music, these gardens are beautiful. Definitely a must stop when in Salzburg. I was here in November and they were so well maintained. I can only imagine how beautiful they are in the spring and summer with all the flowers.

Pro: The view, the history, and the crazy bus ride up and down the mountain…read more Con: The history, crazy bus ride is not for the weak. You will have to get a bus up the mountain from the bus station down the mountain, we had a rental car and it was only about 20 minutes from the central bus station in town. Once you get your ticket, go to the number of the bus at the platform, it's numbered 1 to 4. Get your merch after you come back down the mountain. The new electric buses going up the side is smooth and quiet. Info on the ride is first given in German than in English. Sit on the right side of the bus for pictures going up, left side when coming back down. Once you are up at the upper bus stop, you can walk into the tunnel for the elevator or take the 30 minutes crazy hike up to the Eagle's Nest. The tunnel is damp and wet from the moisture of the mountain, quite eerie in the tunnel and the elevator have an operator going up and down. At the top, you exit out in the tea house, where you can walk around 360 degree of the tea house. Where you exit from the elevator is where you will line up to go back down. The restaurant is both inside and outside, so pick which side you would want to see and dine accordingly. We got unlucky with cloud for the 1st hour we were up at the nest, but when it cleared up, the view was out of this world.

Mark G. is my hubs, and I have to say, his review nailed it. He literally hit every point! This was…read morea must-see, bucket list destination, as we both have an interest with WW2 stuff. The views are SPECTACULAR! We stayed in Salzburg and had a rented car. The Kehlsteinhaus was about a 25-30 minute (very easy) drive from our hotel. Crossing the border from Austria into Germany was as easy as crossing state lines...no border patrol to worry about! Like Mark said, it is crowded, and you do need to decide how long you want to stay. What he didn't mention, is that the buses that take you up to the top, were specially built to handle the incline and change in altitude. This is why no personal vehicles are allowed. If you are afraid of heights, the best piece of advice that I can give you is to look at the floor of the bus. The road to the top is narrow, and there are very few, if any guard rails. Once you get above the tree line, you get great views, however! Once at the top, you still have another 100-200 feet to go, but this is in a brass elevator in the mountain! The building at the top is large, but easy to navigate through. The attraction inside is a red marble fireplace, which has numerous chunks missing due to the allies taking chippings as souvenirs. Take as much time as you need, but make sure you get outside to see the valleys all around, and catch a glimpse of the Königsee. You're in the Alps, people! Woo hoo!!!! 38/2020

During our recent visit to Salzburg, we HAD to tour a salt mine. Salzburg means "City of salt" and…read morethere are several mines in the vicinity. We settled on the Hallein Salt Mine, one of three mines operated by Salzwelten. It was the closest to Salzburg and could be easily reached by public transportation. I'd visited the Wieliczka Salt Mine outside Kraków, Poland and found it fascinating so we wanted our family to have a similar experience. For this tour, guests are required to don miners' attire, possibly to protect their own clothes but just as possibly to facilitate an easy glide down two miners' slides that we'd encounter during the tour. Once we'd pulled the white uniforms over our street clothes, we were off to the mine. Our guide, Florian, was an excellent host. He told interesting stories and was quite approachable, but still strict about keeping our hands and feet in the car at all times - important because we'd soon be hurtling through very small tunnels cut into the rock and he didn't want anyone losing a cell phone - or worse. After a short movie about the history of salt and this particular salt mine, we were taken to the mine train. Straddling the large beam used for seating, we were soon descending into the mine. Markers on the wall and ceiling showed us how deep below the surface we'd descended. Visitors walk through even smaller tunnels after the train ride is concluded. Videos that were projected onto the rock walls of the mine at various points provided more background on this 2,600-year-old facility, and explained the various processes for extracting salt from the rock. We were invited to taste the brine that resulted from one of the extraction techniques, the vacuum evaporation method. In this method, water is pumped down one well, the salt below is dissolved, and the resulting brine is forced to the surface through another well. The resulting brine, we were told, was about three times saltier than sea water. That brine would then be pumped into underground lakes where it would evaporate, leaving salt crystals behind. Along the way, we saw a shrine that the miners had erected in the underground tunnels, as well as several drawings and carvings on the walls. Shortly into the tour, we came upon our first miners' slide. Florian gave a short briefing, stressing the importance of keeping our feet off the ground and off the rails until we'd reached the bottom, and then we were off. As the tour continued, we walked through the narrow tunnels and uneven floors of the mine and remarked how it would have been helpful to bring a flashlight along, as the lighting was not especially great. A second slide took us close to an underground salt lake, which was one of the evaporation ponds. Climbing onto a small barge, we were taken about 80 meters to the other shore. Even though we were underground, international boundaries were still observed. At one point, the tour passed from Austria into neighboring Germany, and the crossing was marked by a sign similar to one we would see when we crossed back into Austria. Near the end of the tour, we were shown a tree branch encrusted with salt crystals. Toward the end of the winter season, the miners would through leafless boughs into one of the abandoned pools. The twigs become encrusted with salt crystals and are quite dazzling, especially when the sun is shining. Called Salzburg Boughs, these became gifts salt miners would give to visitors to the mine. Despite both being "salt mines," there are some significant differences between the Hallein mine and the Wieliczka mine. The salt in the Hallein mine is embedded in the rocky soil and must be extracted through a variety of techniques while the Wieliczka miners primarily dealt with "salt domes" of more or less solid rock salt. As a result, Polish miners carved out a number of underground chapels, the largest of which is often rented out as an event venue today. They also replicated famous works of art by carving into the rock salt walls, including da Vinci's Last Supper. Both mine tours offer fascinating insights into the importance of salt, both centuries ago when it was used as currency and was vital for food preservation, and its much more humble place in today's society. Either tour is well worth the time; taking both tours will provide an excellent opportunity to "compare and contrast."

First time here with a tour group! I can't say nothing but an amazing experience!! So interactive…read moreand fun to experience a half day of being a miner. Great staffs, clean museum and very well setups for everyone. Definitely highly recommended.

Oldest salt mine in Europe. Make sure you buy tickets for the skywalk and salt mine if you're…read moreinterested in the salt mine. Be aware that it's about 2 hour tour start to finish and 1.2 miles walk in the mine. From the Skywalk, it's at least a 15 minutes walk up hill to the building. Tour runs every 30 minutes. We did not reserve ahead of time and just walked up to the line. There's a clock that tells you when the next tour starts. You go inside to give them your ticket then you're escorted into the locker room where they will give you protective clothing to wear over your own clothing. Then you're in a holding area where they go over the rules. I asked if I was allowed to bring my selfie stick and she said yes even though the safety video showed it as prohibited. Then you walk outside and you're in front of the salt mine. As you enter the cave, you walk in single file line between the tracks. Be aware that you'll be walking a total of 1.243 miles on foot deep deep into the mountain. There are two sets of slides. The first is shorter and practice round. The second one is the longest in Europe. You have the option of using the stairs. Don't forget to smile as there are cameras and it records your speed. Other parts of the tour require you to watch a screen and light show. Instead of walking back 1.2 miles, you sit on a train that will take you back outside the cave. You go back into the locker room to remove the protective clothing and have a chance to purchase your photo. You receive a mini salt bottle as a souvenir.

We just took the trolly up and down but there was still enough at the top to spend an hour there…read more Lots of history about the town and stunning views.

I booked the tour "Salzburg from Above" (Salzburg von oben) as part of a package with the hotel…read more Sadly, it does not show up among searches for Salzburg tours or Salzburg hiking. The tour was great and an ideal introduction to the city and its surroundings while also escaping the masses of people in the city center. We walked from near Mirabell garden up and along the tops of the hills surrounding the city and ended up at the famous cafes that claim to have invented Mozartkugeln. Lots of stunning views of the city center and the panorama. The tour guide was very friendly and enthusiastic about the city and the mountains. She gave just the right amount of information. She even did the full tour although I was by myself. The hike was not strenuous, and there were plenty of shady spots and breaks to enjoy the views. I can only recommend her. She also offers other tours in the area including especially for pregnant women and snowshoeing.