Hallstatt and Salt Mines Small-Group Tour from Salzburg
Description
Small Group Minivan Tour, maximum 8 participants on a tour. Tour flexibility upon request (if all participants show the same interest). Hotel pick-up included. End of the tour centrally located in Salzburg town (Mozart's Residence near Mirabell Gardens).
Tour Options
Itinerary
Heading east from Salzburg City the first lake we pass is the emerald lake Fuschlsee passing by also hotel Schloss Fushl and the headquarters of Red Bull! On request a photo stop at Red Bull will be possible!
A short stop at St.Gilgen (also a "The Sound of Music" film location). On the way to Hallstatt we go through the famous Lakes and Mountains district “Salzkammergut” passing by also hotel Schloss Fushl and the headquarters of Red Bull. Our 1st short photo stop is high over Lake Wolfgang and the Mozart village St. Gilgen.
On our way from St.Gilgen to Hallstatt we continue our drive along lake Wolfgang, we take a picturesque view on the beautiful village of St.Wolfgang at Salzkammergut. On request we can make a short photo stop!
Bad Ischl was the summer residence of the Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth (Sisi). In Kaiservilla the declaration of the war against the Kingdom of Serbia was signed. It was the beginning of WW I. You will get explained about the history while passing the town.
Hallstatt salt mine is something so unique in the world that you should not miss it. 7,000 years of salt mining, is the "Oldest Salt mine in the World". In the Salzberg funicular you are comfortably taken up the mountain to the Upper Hallstatt Valley and to the Skywalk. After a 10 mins walk from the "Top of Hallstatt" a mine train takes you along glistening rock faces into the mountain. By slides (64 m!) you change the levels. Of course, you also can use the stairs, but you should not miss this chance of big fun. Please note that the temperature in the salt mine will be app. 8 to 10° C.
The very heart of Salzkammergut and UNESCO Cultural Heritage. The region is described by the committee as “Nature of extraordinary beauty added to scientific import”. Here besides the beauty of the site you can marvel at archaeological excavations, findings from the oldest salt mine of the world, the world’s biggest collection of sculls with elaborate paintings and much more. The sensational findings even gave an entire epoch and a culture its name: The “Hallstatt Period” and “Hallstatt Culture” are scientific names for the Early Iron Age.
On our way back to Salzburg we pass through several famous Ski resorts like Gosau, Russbach and Abtenau.
We drive through one of the charming family Ski resort Dachstein west., during the ski season can be seen many downhill skiers!
One of the famous ski resort in Austria with beautiful landscape. On request if the time permits we will make short photo stop.
Golling, A beautiful and lively Austrian Medieval town with a Fortress and impressive unique architectural houses!
We passing by one of the worlds oldest salt mines accessible for visitors at Hallein / Dürrnberg mountain. The “white gold” mined there provided almost limitless riches for the prince archbishops manifested until present days in Salzburg’s baroque magnificence.
Sit back and enjoy the ride back to Salzburg along the Austrian Alps. The tour will end near Mirabell gardens or near Mozart's residence at Makart Square!
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
VERY IMPORTANT:The client must be ready for pick-up 15 mins.(08:30am) prior/before to tour start as he/she can be already the 1st one to be picked up. Maximum 5 mins waiting will be possible, beyond that waiting regretfully is not possible. Note:On request other pick-up places, i.e. Salzburg main train station/Schallmoos Exit, Edelweiss Tours office, Theatergasse 1, 5020 Salzburg, will be possible.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
- Note:Please note that children younger than 4 years are not admitted in to the mines. At Salt mine you will get special protective cloths. Nevertheless, as the temperature is app. 8° C proper shoes and warm clothes are necessary.
- Not recommendable for travellers with walking difficulties
Reviews(274)
We enjoyed this daytrip from Salzburg very much! It would be even better, if it were about two hours longer. It is such a wonderful area!
Thank you so much for taking your time to write a wonderful review. We appreciate it very much. It is already an 8 hours group tour, of course as a private tour it will be possible to extend the time. Thank you for your understanding! Our best wishes!
Highly recommend this tour company and guide! Our driver was amazing and even help plan a proposal that our older adult son made to his girlfriend. He went above and beyond and was very knowledgeable about the areas, history, and made a great tour guide. You won’t go wrong.
Thank you very much for your review. It was also special for us due to your son's proposal and we wish that it was the beginning of a life-long happy marriage. Our best wishes for all of you.
A fun morning inside the salt mine, if even to tick off the experience from your bucket list. Guide was informative. Highlight was of course the ride down the old wooden slide. Be aware…lots of steps to get there. Give it a miss if you have any mobility issues.
Thank you very much for your review. We are happy reading that you had a fun in the salt mine! All the best!
Fabulous experience, our guide Fritz was very informative. I remember waking up and asking my friend, why are we doing a Salt mine excursion? It was so fun, learned so much. When our guide mentioned something about slides, I wondered what he meant! Absolutely loved the slides. Hallstatt is a constant Kodak moment. Unfortunately we had a cloudy rainy day but it was still spectacular. There was a misunderstanding about pick up. It clearly stated on Viator that we would be picked up in our hotel reception area and to be there 15 minutes before the scheduled pick up time. We were concerned because by pick up time no one had arrived to pick us up. And because I had an eSIM (European) in my phone I was concerned first of all because for some reason I was no longer receiving emails and wondered if my phone would work as my personal number was turned off. But 15 minutes after our pick up time I received a phone call and we were picked up shortly thereafter. Apparently there is a disconnect between the information given to us on Viator and the local guide. I had filled in our hotel name and address. But after that all went well.
Thank you very much for your detailed and appreciative review. We are very happy to hear that you had lot of fun and wonderful experience at Salt mine and Hallstatt! All the best!
Fritz, our guide, was very knowledgeable, entertaining. The tour was very well organized. The only one minus was that weather did not cooperate, still the views were dramatic.
Thank you very much for your positive feedback. We appreciate it much. Especially your remark about the not so fine weather but still "dramatic" views we love to read. It indeed can be like that and we think you are giften that you can perceive it. We share that fully. There are even some weather phenomena there which are awe inspiring when i.e. the clouds wave around the mountains (what cannot be experienced with sun). Almoust mystical. Best wishes
This was a great tour - Fritz was knowledgeable and a wonderful guide. Hallstatt is so picturesque and, if I were to do it again, I'd probably skip the salt mine part of the day- but that is 100% subjective! My boyfriend and I thought the salt mine part of the day was a little cheesy & we didn't find much value add there- although it did feel great to be out of the heat for a while. We agree that we think spending those couple of hours hiking around the lake would have been more our speed- but again, very subjective POV! Fritz gave us great tips for the town & was very fun to talk to during the drive. We enjoyed the free time and ability to go to the bone house, too.
Thank you very much for your review. We apprechiate it highly. Not only the positive feedback but especially also the so sensitive way of describing by not mixing up personal preferences with the locations themselves. Thank you very much and our best wishes.
Not worth the money they charged. It’s just a price you pay for convenience as there are direct buses that will take you to the venue at fraction of the price, and Hallstatt is just at the foot of the salt mines. The tour guide will simply drop you off at the salt mines and from there you are on your own; the salt mines have the their own guide. It felt like we paid only for the cab ride since the tickets were not even included
We regret that you could not enjoy the tour. Our tour is a chauffeur-guided one and lots of information is given while going to Hallstatt and - on a different way for again different impressions - back. Hallstatt itself is car free so we cannot go into it on car and it is a place to stroll and enjoy. We also give in the tour description as well as again with the booking the information that the tickets are not included. If that was not acceptable for you you would have been free to cancel your booking. You are also wrong if you say that there is a direct bus. One has to change not only one time the means of transport. If you would take public transport back on the differnet route we take you would spend more than half of the day on busses and trains. We also pick-up from the accommodation. Considering that too one could spend, depending on the location of the hotel, up to 6h for travelling. Best wishes
You don't get to the platform in the main picture. The Salt Mine tour is one of the smaller ones in the region. This was disappointing but the driver was a 10 out of 10.
Thank you very much for your review. We are surprised that you did not go to the Skywalk. It actually is on the footpath to the salt mines and usually everyone visits it. The tour itself is an 8h tour what is the usual duration for Hallstatt. The salt mines do not say (neither do we) that they are the largest one but the oldest one and not only due to that the region is of special import and was declared as UNESCO site; even a historical period was named after it - the Hallstatt period. The size of something does not always say something about its beauty or importance. Best wishes
The views are amazing! Hallstatt is the cutest, most picturesque town! The salt mines were interesting, but you should know that there are lots of steps to get to the top after the funicular. Shiva was a fabulous tour guide and I’ve taken tours all over the world! I’d give him 10 stars if I could. So very helpful, informative, & kind with the patience of a saint. We had one man on our tour who was so demanding (unrealistically so-he was asking for many things outside the scope of the tour). Shiva was very polite & handled him like a pro. To top it off the guy didn’t tip him - he was such a jerk but Shiva was professional to the last minute & was cool as a cucumber. If you can choose Shiva, I’d recommend it!
Thank you soooooo much for your review. You maybe cannot imagine how happy it makes all of us. Luckily that Gentleman has not yet written a review. One can imagine how from his point of view the tour was even though - as described so well by you - he himself was the source of his negative feelings. How lucky he was that he had participants with such friendlyness like yours on the tour who took him with patience too. Thanks a lot and our best wishes for you! The situation at the mines will change next year again. It was due to the already started reconstruction works of the funicular. From next summer on it should be quite convenient.
Fantastic tour! Our guide Fritz was very knowledgeable and made sure we got everywhere on time while providing interesting facts about Austria. Would absolutely recommend!
Thank you very much for your review. We appreciate it much. Our best wishes for you
