Salzburg Question
 

Hello we are thinking of a 2 to 3 night stay in Salzburg driving the loop from Salzburg to St. Wolfgang to Halstatt and on to Berchesgaden during our trip to Europe in May.

1. Should this be a day trip out of Salzburg or should we perhaps stay in Hallstatt or Berchesgaden?

2. What is the closest place outside of Salzburg but in Germany to pick up a rental car as we will be flying out of Germany and want to avoid the drop fee?

Thank you! Melissa from Illinois

Your sites are in a 3;10 hour loop from Salzburg;

Salzburg - St. Wolfgang 0:46
St. Wolfgang - Hallstatt 0:41
Hallstatt - Berchtesgaden 1:11
Berchtesgaden - Salzburg 0:31

If you want to stop at all 3 you will have to decide if you want to make the day that long.

The German town to use for the rental is Freilassing - it's only 6 miles or 10 km (downtown to downtown) from Salzburg - a cheap easy cab ride.

I stayed in all 3 places on a trip in July a few years ago. While I liked Salzburg, the crowds in the historic area got to me. Just too many people for my taste. I'm glad I went. It's a beautiful city. Likely in May, the crowds won't be nearly so bad as when I was there. I LOVED Hallstatt and spent 2 nights there in a room with a private balcony right on the lake. The views were astounding especially one evening as a thunderstorm wound it's way through the mountains and over the lake. Hallstatt is tiny. Not a lot to do in the touristy realm. But, as I love to hike, I spent all my time roaming the mountains with a visit to the salt mine. I was fortunate enough to be there on a Sunday morning and attended church service. What a treat! Women dressed in traditional dirndls and men in lederhosen. The choir was amazing. So much so that I thought it was recorded music until I looked up at the choir balcony and saw real people!

I spent 5 nights in Berchtesgaden and loved it as well with it's picturesque village center and stunning views of the mountains. Again I did a lot of hiking. One day I took the lovely wooded riverside trail all the way to and from Lake Konigsee and of course took the boat trip out to the much photographed church. Eagles Nest was impressive to me visually and historically. Another day was hiking around Ramsau and into Berchtesgaden National Park and glorious waterfalls.

How many nights you spend in Salzburg and/or another location really depends on your interests - city or countryside. I do think doing the driving "loop" you describe is too much for one day and would really do the sites injustice. It's a shame you don't have more time to spend in this gorgeous area. At the end of my trip I wished I had spent less time in Vienna and more in the mountains/lakes. Vienna really didn't wow me. Just my opinion.

Hi M,

Just an FYI

Salzburg is in Austria

How do we get to Freilassing from Munich Main Train station.

Ira, I'm sure Meme knows that's Salzburg is in Austria. That's why she wants to know a town in Germany where she can get the rental car, to avoid cross-border dropoff charges.

Raymond;

You just buy a ticket - it is the last stop before Salzburg on the "regular" train between them. It's just 7 minutes from the Salzburg station. Total trip time is about 1:38.

There is an express train from Munich to Salzburg - it takes about 23 minutes less overall. If you happened to get on that train by mistake (hard if your ticket says "Freilassing") and ended up in Salzburg you would still only be about 10-12 minutes from Freilassing in a cab.