Salzburg Super Saver: Austrian Lakes, Mountains and Salt Mines

The trip to the Salzburg salt mine was really fun, and my father enjoyed the company and guide a lot. The guide was experienced and fluent with his introduction and jokes. We really enjoyed the slides down the salt mine, they were the highlight of the trip! There was an elderly tour group with us on the same train ride, and they sang a German folk song which I think has reference to the salt mines, and this really heated up the atmosphere. The guide for our salt mine tour was entertaining. The duration was appropriate to enjoy ourselved without being overtired. The tour to the lakes and mountains was more disappointing because of a combination of factors which should not be the fault of the agency. We took this tour in early November, which was the transition period between the tourist season and the christmas market. As such the towns were closed for preparation and nearly all the shops were closed. The tour guide different guide from the salt mine tour was shocked that we finished touring the town within 20mins. I felt that the tour guide could have checked before bringing us there. Furthermore, the weather was wet and gloomy, and started getting dark after 3pm, so we could not do much sightseeing. We also missed the cruise ride which was closed for winter season, which I feel would be the highlight of this trip. The scenery would be so much more beautiful in sunnier weathers. I will suggest to either do this trip in the morning, or scrap this tour during the winter season. P.S. If you plan to travel from Hallstatt to Salzburg via the bus route, you would not need to go for this tour unless you are keen to visit the towns or go for the cruise ride, as the bus will pass by the same route as this tour.

Very nice tour, totally recommend it to see the beautiful views of the lakes and the mountains.

A nice day with a mix of local history and landscapes. The first 1.5 hours of the morning during the drive up to the salt mines was very heavy on the Hitler/Nazi history of the area - obviously the tour guide was very interested in this and it was interesting for us too, but we felt there was too much of it. However the salt mine tour was great - a train ride, a boat ride, two slides and an informative audio tour with exhibits within the mine. Went back to Salzburg for a quick lunch at a cafe/bakery. Then we did the lake district tour in the afternoon. Was nice to see some more of the snowy countryside even though it was too cloudy to see much of the mountains, and because the lake was frozen we got a free cake and drink instead of the boat ride.

Great tour,good to get out in the countryside. Lovely views as there was snow about. The salt mine tour was interesting and fun, with the slides. Plenty of time to see everything, well organised, with a good tour guide.

Walter is an amazing tour guide. We were fortunate to have him as our guide for the first part of the day at the Salzbergwerks part of the tour. He was dynamic and gave so much information about the places we passed. He covered a range of topics so that everyone in our family - 2 parents and three adult children - was engaged. He is also friendly and funny. We did not realize the tour was in two parts - heading back to Salzburg in between the morning and afternoon pieces. Since it was December, it was dark at 4:30, so part of the trip was a bus ride in the dark. Our guide for the afternoon spoke in German at least 50 of the time, even though we had booked an English speaking tour. That would have been okay, except the information was more rote and very minimal. My family fell asleep on the bus. I don't actually recommend the Austrian lakes part of the tour, but the Salzbergwerks part was so enjoyable, I still give the tour overall 4 stars.

The salt mines trip was excellent but the lakes trip in the 2nd half of the day in December was just good not great I would say

Our tour guide Thomas was excellent and the Salt mine tour was amazing. We had a different tour guide in the afternoon for the lakes and mountains tour. This was also nice but we only made 1 stop by a lake. The rest was spent visiting small towns/Christmas markets.

The visit to the salt mines was great! Loved the lakes and mountains trip. Beautiful country.

The complementary pick up from the hotel that was promised did not happen. We have to find our own way to the tour starting point.

This tour was all we signed up for. The views were breathtaking. The salt time was very exciting.