Driving around in Salzburg
 

Please share your opinion on driving around in Salzburg..
Is it easy to find directions??
or is it better to take trains/use public transportation....in terms of convenience and expense ??
Does a US citizen need an International license to drive in Salburg??

Hi piya,

Salzburg has very good public transit. I wouldn't bother driving in town.

If you do, you will need an IDP and a road tax sticker (vignette).

((I))

Salzburg is difficult to drive in, owing to one way streets, buses and confusing street pattern. A car is a liability and you can walk to most places you'll want to go.

Thanks for your responses!!!

Salzburg has excellent transportation. You can buy a Salzburg Card which gets into many attractions free, discounts on others, and includes local transportation.

ok..what is the best way to get to Hallstatt from Salzburg using public transportation??? I see that train takes around 2 hrs whereas by car you can reach in 45 mins...

I have driven in twice. If you park in an outer lying neighborhood and walk it, it's not bad. The last time I parked in an underground parking garage and didn't know that you must pay for your ticket first and THEN pull up and insert your ticket. What a backup I caused. Live and Learn.

I just bought a fleximap of Salzburg that has the parking marked on the map. I would say that parking is expensive too!

We will drive in again on November too.

Good Luck!

We drove into Salzburg from Ruette and stayed in the old town area. We parked our car in a big lot about one block from our hotel. When we left very early in the morning we drove in front of our hotel to load our bags because it was raining. The street was so narrow if the car's motor had died we would have been stranded - could not possibly have opened the car door.

We made a few day trips with the car and never had a problem driving in or out of the city. The last day we drove to Munich for our flight home.

We walked to most of the places we wanted to see in Salzburg.

We had an international driver's license/permit but no road tax sticker. We may have needed one but didn't know that. Unless it was on the rental car already.

Salzburg - Hallstatt: With a car you can do a nice loop from Salzburg. From Salzburg, head south on the Autobahn A-10 to the Golling exit (be sure you have the correct vignette before you get onto the autobahn). From Golling, take the B-162/B166 to Hallstatt. ( Salzburg - Hallstatt 61km, about 1 hour)
Then take the B-145 west to Bad Ischl (favorite spa of the Austrian emperor) and the B-148 west to the St Wolfgang exit (25km). Or, if you are running late, you can see the Wolfgangsee from the B-148. You have to backtrack to the B-148 from St. Wolfgang in any event (11km)

Continue on the B-148 as far as St. Gilgen (22km), and from there head to the Mondsee and/or Attersee (about 40km). Return to the Autobahn A-1 and back to Salzburg (about 50km).

If you go by train, it will drop you off across the lake from the town of Hallstatt and you will be taking a boat to the village. It's a very nice way to approach Hallstatt. But you will will have to go back the way you came.

Parking in Hallstatt is at a premium. Most likely you will wind up parking in a garage blasted out of the rocks overlooking the village, and you will have to descend fairely long stairs to get to the village.

the vignette is 7.70 euro for 7 days...allows unlimited travel on any austrian autobahn. sold at any petrol station. we drove around austria and when we got to salzburg we parked our car and never moved it till we left. walk everywhere!
drive south to the lakes ..... in mondsee you can see the church where julie andrews actually did walk down the aisle in sound of music . it is a beautiful church.

I was in Salzburg, Hallstatt, St. Gilgen, St. Wolfgang, Bad Ischl and some other Austrian towns last year. They are all wonderful!

You don't need a car in Salzburg. As someone mentioned, get the Salzburg card for the public transportation, admissions, etc.

Rent a car for the day(s) that you want to go to Hallstatt and return it when you get back to Salzburg. No need to keep a car in Salzburg. But, also note that some rental reservation companies like kemwel.com and autoeurope.com have a 3 day minimum rental period.

Have fun! You'll love it!

Oh, btw... the vignette is typically included in the car rental but verify to be sure. And you do need an IDP.