Last updated on July 25th, 2023 at 06:51 pm

Thousands of years ago before Salzburg became famous for ‘The Sound of Music,’ it was a powerful trading center for White Gold. The rock salt mined under the Austrian Alps was as valuable as gold at the time. A name which the city embraced – “Salt Fortress” or “Salzburg.” 

FUN FACT: Salzburg was ruled by Archbishops who were not only involved politically but knew how to do business. 

During the time when the Silk route in Asia was getting famous, Austria was charting its own course in salt trading. If history doesn’t appeal to you as much, what if we said you would be navigating deep under the Earth, thousands of feet under the Alps, to learn all about Salzburg’s Salt industry? I know; we got you there!

But wait, there is more – You will also be crossing borders between Germany and Austria while you are underground. And hey, no border control at the basement level. 

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Yes, this is an adventure you cannot pass! This also makes for a great outing when traveling with kids in Salzburg.

We wrote about sliding down the Austrian Alps on a toboggan ride in our last post as a half-day trip. Now combine that with the Hallein Salt Mine tour, and you have a perfect day trip from Salzburg. TIP: The entrance to both these activities is less than 5 minutes drive from each other.  And I say half day because you really do not need more than 2 hours at the salt mines and about the same at toboggan ride.

If you are interested in a tour, we recommend the 4-hour Salzburg Salt Mine Tour with the Underground Boat Ride.

TIP: If you are wondering what salt and mountain have got to do with each other- think Rock Salt. Haven’t you heard of ‘Himalayan Salt’ before?  This is pure Alpine Salt!

Where are these Salt Mines located?

There are three salt mines near Salzburg, located at Hallein, Hallstatt, and Altaussee. Salzwelten has tours at all three salt mines. FUN FACT: These salt mines date back to the Celtic period thousands of years ago. Hallein Salt mine is located in the town of Bad Durrnberg, which is about 30 minutes south of Salzburg. 

Here’s how to get to Salzburg Hallein Salt Mine

There are many bus tour operators running Salzburg Salt Mine tours, in case that is what you are interested in. We usually prefer driving ourselves or taking public transport and buying the activity tour ticket from their front desk. If you are like us, then here are your options.

• Car: We rented a car after spending a weekend in Munich and driving to Salzburg, Austria. So if you are driving too, it’s an easy half-hour drive down to Salzwelten Hallein.
• Bus: From outside Salzburg Hbf (main station), take bus no. 170 to get to Hallein. From the Hallein bus stop, you will have to change to bus no. 41, which will take you to Durrnberg Salzbergwerk, which is within walking distance from the Salt Mine entrance.
• Train: There are a few trains from Salzburg Hbf (main station) that goes to Hallein Hbf. S3 is the Austrian S-Bahn, REX 1500 is a regional express train, and IC is an intercity train. From Hallein Hbf, there take Bus no. 41 to Durrnberg Salzbergwerk, which is within walking distance from the Salt Mine entrance.

And when you return to Salzburg, don’t miss an opportunity to enjoy the Mozart dinner concert.

What does it look like inside the Salt Mines

Salzwelten is the company that takes you on a tour of the salt mines at the top of every hour. You can find more about their timings and pricing here. Single adult pricing is €21.00, but if you are a family, they have discounted pricing available. We didn’t buy our tickets in advance but we checked the timings so as not to miss the last tour. 

After purchasing our tickets we proceeded to collect these overalls that they give to wear on top of your clothes. I am not quite sure why though. Perhaps to avoid spoiling your clothes?

The next thing we knew, we had to board an open-log train. Adventure before the adventure! This train took us inside a cave under the mountain, which was the starting point of this tour. Before beginning the tour, they showed us a brief film on the history of these mines. TIP: There is barely any light in the caves, and the tour is too fast to set up a tripod. So bear with some of our grainy photos here.

VERY IMPORTANT TIP: If you are claustrophobic, think twice before signing up for this tour. And if you do sign up but start feeling sick by the time you enter the caves don’t feel shy to flag it to the team. It’s better to be escorted back right away than to go deeper under the mountain. We had someone do that on our tour, thankfully in time.

After the introduction video, the adventurous, educational tour begins. Without spoiling all the fun, let us just say that there were a few wooden slides and a boat involved to go further down. I personally wanted to run back up for another round of sliding 🙂 PS: It was an eventful day full of sliding on the Alps and under it too! 

They have a mock-up rock salt set up to show how they extract salt from the water here. We also got to taste how salty the water underneath the caves was. Instantly you realize why they choose this spot to extract salt. 

One thing for sure is the amount of respect we now have for all the miners in the world.

And for the science geeks, here is a photo of how natural air circulation is maintained with the help of differential temperatures inside and outside the mountain –

If you ask us, we will highly recommend this tour so you can learn and experience a part of the rich history of Salzburg. If you have any questions, leave us a comment. And if you liked this post then do share or pin it for later.

Happy Traveling!