Best Day Trips From Salzburg

If you are spending a few days in the beautiful Austrian city of Salzburg, you might want to use one (or several) of them to visit some of the many worthy nearby towns and attractions. You definitely won’t lack options, as there are several idyllic lakeside villages, stunning hilltop castles, beautiful alpine landscapes, crystal clear alpine lakes, guided tours of salt mines and ice caves, great hiking trails, and so much more, all more or less within one hour’s drive from Salzburg. To help you plan the perfect visit and great day trips, we put together this travel guide on the Best Day Trips From Salzburg.

Table of Contents — Best Day Trips From Salzburg

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You might also be interested in these pages:
Best Things to See and Do in the Salzkammergut
Perfect Road Trip Itinerary in the Salzkammergut
Best Things to See and Do in Salzburg
Best Things to See and Do in Hallstatt

We’ve covered the Best Things to See and Do in Salzburg in a separate guide, so we won’t go over these here. You might also be interested in our Sazkammergut Road Trip Itinerary travel guide, highlighting how to spend up to 7 days in the area.

Salzburg is ideally located and well connected with several other towns to allow for a wide variety of interesting day trips. Although you can reach most of the suggested attractions below by public transport (bus or train), combining several of them in a single day trip will be easier either with your vehicle.

If you need to book a rental vehicle for your travels, we highly recommend using Discover Cars to get the best rates on your rental in Austria or Germany.

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Important: All Austrian motorways (“Autobahn”) and expressways (“S” roads) are subject to tolls. All cars, motorbikes and camper vans must either properly display a toll sticker or have purchased online in time a digital vignette when they drive onto a motorway or expressway. Vignettes with periods of validity of 10 days, 2 months or 1 year are available from more than 6,000 outlets in Austria and neighbouring countries, and digital vignettes can be purchased from the ASFINAG website. They are not prohibitively expensive, for instance, the 10-day vignette for cars costs € 11,50.

Alternatively, you can join group tours that leave Salzburg to explore various nearby destinations as a day trip. We will present several group tour options further below after having presented the various towns and attractions that are included in their itinerary.

Day Trip Options East of Salzburg (Salzkammergut)

Heading east out of Salzburg takes you into Austria’s stunning Salzkammergut region, known for its beautiful lakes, majestic alpine scenery, idyllic lakeside villages and a historic cog train.

Visit St Wolfgang and the Steepest Cog Railway Train

Located along the shores of Lake Wolfgangsee in the heart of the Salzkammergut, Austria’s beautiful lake district, the small town of St Wolfgang deserves to be discovered. Though many come to town to experience the unique cog train (Austria’s steepest cog railway–the SchafbergBahn) that whisks passengers to the summit of Schafberg Mountain, there’s so much more to experience in St Wolfgang. In particular, it has a beautiful, colorful and lively town center filled with cafés, shops and restaurants, but without the crowds of Hallstatt, and has several beautiful lakeside walking trails. St Wolfgang is 50 km east of Salzburg and it typically takes just under an hour to drive there.

For more information and tips on visiting St Wolfgang, check out our travel guide on the Best Things to See and Do in St Wolfgang.

For information that is specific to the cog train to the Schafberg summit, check out our Schafbergbahn Travel Guide.

Go Hiking in the Stunning Gosau Lakes Area

The stunning Gosau Lakes (often referred to as Gosauseen) are one of few exceptions in the Salzkammergut: most lakes have roads along at least one of the shores but here there are no such roads, only hiking trails, providing you with a much more serene lakeside experience. The Gosau Lake parking lot is about one drive from Salzburg (70km). The area was definitely one of the most beautiful we visited in the Salzkammergut region, let alone Austria. It’s a scenic area that can be explored via easy hiking lakeside trails. It’s also a popular destination for Via Ferrata amateurs, swimmers, divers and those who want to explore the largest of the three lakes by pedal boat paddle board.

For more information on the beautiful alpine lakes and hiking in the area, check our Gosau Lakes Hiking Guide.

Visit Hallstatt

The picture-perfect postcard village of Hallstatt is just over an hour’s drive from Salzburg. Although it can get overcrowded at times, it remains nonetheless a must-visit destination in our opinion. Fortunately, early mornings and evenings can be quieter making it more likely that you will enjoy a fun stroll through this historic small town. And even if it does get too crowded, there are plenty of activities where you can somewhat escape the crowds, such as visiting the world’s oldest salt mine or spending some time on Hallstatt’s impressive Skydeck, or even better heading down the road to Dachstein Krippenstein, a mountain where several great surprises await (see below). You can also easily combine Hallstatt (morning) with a visit to Dachstein Krippenstein (afternoon) within the same day.

For more information and tips on visiting Hallstatt, check out our travel guide on the Best Things to See and Do in Hallstatt.

Visit the Dachstein Ice Cave (Dachstein Krippenstein)

Located in the Krippenstein Mountain Range, the Dachstein Ice Cave is one of the few places on Earth where tourists can easily access giant-sized ice caves. The first sections of the Dachstein Ice Cave were discovered in 1910 and tourist access began only 2 years later. The ice in the cave is formed by water seeping from the Dachstein plateau down into the cave through various small cracks. When outside temperatures are above freezing the caves still contain really cold air, so the penetrating water freezes and forms rather splendid ice shapes. Although some water flow in the summer is warm enough to produce slight melting, it actually balances the winter growth, enabling a cycle of slight melting with growth that guarantees the survival of this magnificent natural phenomenon. To reach the Krippenstein Mountain car park, you need only drive 10 minutes past Hallstatt.

For more information on this attraction, check our Travel Guide on visiting the Dachstein Ice Cave.

Visit the 5 Fingers Viewing Platform (Dachstein Krippenstein)

Located on the same mountain as the Giant Ice Cave, the 5 Fingers Viewing Platform offers spectacular panoramic views from near the Dachstein Krippenstein summit. Worry not if you are not an avid high-elevation hiker, most the the journey up is done via cable car. Beyond the base station, the mountain is serviced by three stations. Whereas the Giant Ice Cave is near the first mountain station, the 5 Fingers Viewing Platform is a short hike from the second mountain station. The 5 Fingers viewing platform offers an incredible adrenaline rush as you lean over a 500m drop below you. Built in 2006, as its name suggests, the platform is shaped like a hand with 5 fingers that protrude from a sheer rock face at an altitude of 2108 meters above sea level. It offers breathtaking views of the Salzkammergut region from above Lake Hallstatt and the Krippenstein Mountain Range.

For more information on this attraction, check our Travel Guide for Visiting the 5 Fingers Viewing Platform.

Best tour options for visiting Salzkammergut

If you are limited on time or don’t plan on renting your own vehicle, joining an organized group tour could be a great idea. There are several great tours that explore the Salzkammergut region from Salzburg:

If you are a fan of the Sound of Music, several great tours focus on sights and locations that were featured in the movie:

Day Trip Options South of Salzburg

Heading South of Salzburg will provide you with a little bit of everything, including palaces and castles, a historic salt mine and the world’s largest ice cave.

Hellbrunn Palace (Schloss Hellbrunn)

Situated slightly outside the city center (about a 10-minute drive or 25-minute bus ride south), Hellbrunn Palace is worth including in your Salzburg sightseeing itinerary if you have at least two days in the city or somewhere nearby. This impressive Baroque palace took only three years to build, from 1612 to 1615, which was exceptionally fast for the early 17th century. As impressive as the palace is, the main draw here is the immaculately maintained garden and its “surprising” fountains. The gardens are not only filled with stunning and intricate water fountains but they hide within them several trick fountains that only shoot out water once in a while to surprise the unsuspecting visitor! The trick fountains were conceived by Prince-Archbishop Markus Sittikus (the same man behind the palace’s construction), and intended as a series of practical jokes to be performed on guests.

Admission Tickets cost € 15.00 (or free with your Salzburg Card). Otherwise, tickets can be bought on-site or pre-booked online (but reservations are not necessary).

Hallein Salt Mine

The region around Salzburg has a long and rich history of salt mining. In fact, Salzburg translates to “Salt Castle”. There are three main Salt Mines that are open to visitors in the area: The Hallstatt salt mine (see our Hallstatt travel guide), the Hallein Salt Mine, and the Berchtesgaden Salt Mine (see below). The Hallein salt mine is the closest of the three to Salzburg, being 18 km south of the city (about a 25-minute drive) – though the Berchtesgaden Salt Mine is only 5 km further from Salzburg, albeit along a different route into Germany. Historically, the Hallein Salt Mine was the one used by the archbishops of Salzburg and is, therefore, often referred to as the Salzburg Salt Mine (the other two salt mines belonged to the Bavarian and the Habsburg empires). All three are great to visit and include similar guided tours (including a ride on underground miner trains and sliding wooden miner slides) but the Hallein Salt Mine makes the most sense if you want to combine it with the next two attractions in this guide (Werfen Ice Caves and Hohenwerfen Castle). Also, immediately next to the salt mine is the Salina Celtic Village, where you can visit a recreated Celtic village, constructed to look as it would have about 2500 years ago. You can visit the mine’s official webpage for more information on visiting the salt mine.

Hohenwerfen Castle

One of Austria’s most impressive castles is a short drive south of Salzburg. Although Mozart’s hometown has its own well-known castle, Hohenwerfen Castle is located in a unique setting, set high up on a rocky hill surrounded by towering mountains on all sides. We found it to be an absolutely stunning castle to visit. Hohenwerfen is generally considered a “sister castle” of Salzburg’s Hohensalzburg Castle as both castles were built in the 11th century by the Archbishops of Salzburg. The castle served various purposes throughout its history, from a primary residence to a hunting lodge, and from a military base to a prison. Unlike Hohensalzburg Fortress in Salzburg which is primarily visited through self-guided tours, here in Hohenwerfen Castle the official guided tours are a must as they are the only way to see the castle’s interior and to get detailed explanations about the castle’s rich history.

Another unique feature of the castle visits is the falconry demonstrations that are performed twice a day: professional falconers demonstrate the impressive practice of hunting with trained birds of prey. There is also a falconry museum on site.

Hohensalzburg Castle is 40km south of Salzburg (about a 35-minute drive).

For more information and tips on visiting this area of the castle, check out our travel guide on Austria’s Must-See Hohenwerfen Castle.

Werfen Ice Caves

Just a short distance from the castle in Werfen is Eisriesenwelt, the largest ice cave in the world, one that extends for more than 42 km. The cave is open to visitors from early May until the end of October, and a visit to the cave can easily be made on the same day as Hohenwerfen Castle. The car park is about 5 km from the castle, but from there you will have to walk 20 minutes along a trail to reach a cable car station. After a 3-minute ride up, you will have to walk another 20 minutes to reach the cave entrance, from where you will begin your 70-minute guided tour. For more information and advanced booking, you can consult the cave’s official webpage. The Werfen Ice Caves are located 50 km south of Salzburg (about a 45-minute drive) — about a 10-minute drive from the Hohenwerfen Castle. Unfortunately, photography isn’t permitted inside the Werfen Ice Cave, so to get a glimpse of what to expect here’s the Werfen Ice Cave’s official video:

Day Trip Options Southwest of Salzburg

Heading first south out of Salzburg and then heading slightly west takes you into Bavaria’s southeast corner and Germany’s stunning Berchtesgaden National Park, where beautiful alpine lake scenery and another fun historic salt mine await.

Take a boat trip on Königssee and hike to Obersee

Königssee is often considered Germany’s most beautiful alpine lake. Located in nearby eastern Bavaria just across the border, it is definitely reminiscent of a Norwegian fjord due to its elongated shape and being nestled between towering mountains. A fun hour-long ride on electric-powered boats will take you across the lake to its southern point, from which you can undertake a relatively easy hike around the scenic Obersee (a beautiful small lake south of Königssee), through cattle pastures and eventually to Germany’s tallest waterfall, Röthbachwasserfall. If that wasn’t enough, you can also visit a stunning old pilgrimage church from the late 17th century, St Bartholomew, which can only be visited by boat (or via a very long hike) along the lake’s scenic western shore.

Königssee is about a 40-minute drive from Salzburg. For more information and tips on visiting this area of Berchtesgaden National Park, check out our travel guide on Hiking to Obsersee with a Königssee boat Tour.

Visit the Berchtesgaden Salt Mine (Salzbergwerk Berchtesgaden)

The Berchtesgaden Salt Mine is only a short 10-minute drive from Königssee (only 30 minutes from Salzbug). We found the tour to be a fun learning experience about the history of salt mining in the area – not to mention the underground mining train rides, the boat ride across “Mirror Lake”, a subterranean salt lake, and the 36-meter-long miner’s wooden slide.

Berchtesgaden Salt Mine started operations in 1517 – and has continued uninterrupted to this day. A miner’s train will take you 650 meters (2,133 feet) into the mountain itself, where a gigantic salt cathedral with a spectacular miner’s slide awaits. Various multimedia installations depicting the mining of salt are presented throughout the one-hour guided tour.

The salt mine is located within the town of Berchtesgaden, about a 10-minute drive from Königssee. For more information, you can visit the mine’s official website. Advanced booking is recommended as the tours can sell out quickly. Unfortunately, photography isn’t permitted inside the salt mine, so to get a glimpse of what to expect here’s the mine’s official video:

Visit Eagle’s Nest

Also near Berchtesgaden in Germany, the Eagle’s Nest was built as a diplomatic teahouse for Adolf Hitler on Kehlstein Mountain. Its unusual location built up above Berchtesgaden at an elevation of 1,834 meters above sea level made it quite the engineering feat at the time. Built in 1937-38, the teahouse was intended to serve as a place of political representation, away from public view, and leave guests amazed. Since 1952, the building has been used as a mountain guesthouse and has become a popular excursion destination.

Today the Eagle’s Nest houses a restaurant, an exhibit on the history about the History of the Eagle’s Nest, and a large terrace offering stunning panoramic views. In clear weather the views of the Bavarian and Austrian Alps are spectacular.

You actually can’t drive up to the Eagle’s Nest – it can only be reached by special bus that will drive up a steep mountain road, after which you will have to traverse a passageway that leads through a tunnel to an elevator which then carries guests up about 124 meters directly into the teahouse. For more information on visiting the Eagle’s Nest, you can consult its official website.

Best tour options for visiting Berchtesgaden

If you are limited on time or don’t plan on renting your own vehicle, joining an organized group tour could be a great idea. There are several great tours that explore the Berchtesgaden region from Salzburg:

Planning a Trip to Austria?

You might be interested in these pages (coming soon):
Best Things to See and Do in the Salzkammergut
Perfect Road Trip Itinerary in the Salzkammergut
Best Things to See and Do in Salzburg
Best Things to See and Do in Hallstatt

We also highly recommend these guidebooks:
Rick Steves Vienna, Salzburg & Tirol
Lonely Planet Austria

Photography Gear

If you like our photography, you might be interested in some of the gear we use to shoot our travel and hiking destinations.

Camera Body – Nikon Z 6ii Fx-series Mirrorless Body
Main Lens – NIKON 24-120mm F/4G ED VR AF-S
Zoom Lens – Sigma 745-306 150-600mm f/5-6.3
Polarizing filters – Urth Circular Polarizing (CPL)
Camera Tripod – K&F Concept 64-inch Camera Tripod
Mini-tripod – Lammcou Flexible Camera Tripod
Camera/hiking backpack – Vanguard Alta Rise 48 Backpack
Universal Travel Adapter – VYLEE Universal International Power Travel Plug

Other Travel Essentials

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Car Rentals
Discover Cars is our go-to website for car rentals. We almost always find our preferred rate there.

Transfer from Airport
Welcome Pickups is our favourite private transfer service, which you can pre-book at a fixed price. Currently available in 220 cities all over the world (mostly in Europe, but with several major cities in Asia, the Middle East and the US).

Kiwitaxi is another private transfer service – we haven’t tried it yet, but it’s currently available in a few more countries (102 as of 2024).

Hotels and Accommodations (coming soon)

Photography Prints

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