The Best Tours in Salzburg – Sound of Music, Mozart & day trips

The Original Sound of Music Tour (€75, 4 hours, 4.8 stars) is the most reviewed offer on this site, with 6,314 reviews, and drives to the film locations in the city and the lake district. If you also want Hallstatt, the combined day is 10 hours at €140. A small-group version of 4.5 hours costs €93 and a private half-day tour €600 – both have only 29 reviews, so their ratings prove little. Check the exact stops in the description before you book.

Hallstatt lies in Upper Austria, not in Salzburg, and is about two hours away by bus or train each way. The half-day tour (5.5 hours, from €85, 4.7 stars, 4,223 reviews) is the short version and leaves little time in the village. Longer days cost more, for example €140 for the 10-hour day that combines Hallstatt with the Sound of Music tour. The village is popular, so expect crowds in peak season.

No, the Eagle’s Nest (Kehlsteinhaus) is in Bavaria, Germany, above Berchtesgaden, about 25 km from Salzburg, so take your passport or ID card. The tour listed here takes 4.5 hours, costs €105 and has 1,975 reviews at 4.6 stars. The building is open only from mid-May to the end of October, so check the tour description if you travel outside that season.

Only if you use it fully. It starts at €35 for 1 to 3 days and includes one free entry each to Fortress Hohensalzburg and Hellbrunn Palace with the Trick Fountains, free public transport and discounts on tours and concerts. The fortress ticket alone, with the funicular, is €19.20 here. If you only want the fortress and the old town on foot, the single ticket is cheaper; add up what you plan before you buy.

Look at the venue, the length and whether dinner is included. The concert in the Marble Hall of Mirabell Palace (€39, 1.5 hours, 4.8 stars) is the most reviewed; the Fortress concert costs €43, with dinner €84. The midday organ concert in the cathedral (€12, 30 minutes) is a short musical visit, not an evening. Tickets for the Salzburg Festival are not part of this selection.

The Christkindlmarkt on Domplatz and Residenzplatz runs from 20 November 2026 to 1 January 2027 (salzburg.info). Several advent concerts are listed here, for example the one at Fortress Hohensalzburg for €43 or with dinner for €84. Dates and opening times change every year, so check them for your travel dates.

Plan indoor things: concerts, the Marionette Theater (The Magic Flute from €33), the cathedral and the fortress museums, or the Salzwelten salt mine (€35, 4.8 stars), which lies under the mountain in Dürrnberg near Hallein rather than in the city. A hop-on hop-off ticket (from €31) is flexible but not dry on the open deck. Look at the forecast the evening before and book a date that you can still change.