Salzburg province, Austrian Alps
SalzburgerLand
A first SalzburgerLand touring trip for UK travellers: pairing Salzburg's old town with the Zell am See lake, Kaprun's glacier and the Krimml waterfalls — where to base yourself, real drive and train times, and whether you need a hire car.
In short
SalzburgerLand at a glance
SalzburgerLand is the Austrian province wrapped around the city of Salzburg, stretching south from the baroque old town into the Hohe Tauern high Alps. The classic first trip pairs two or three city days with the Pinzgau valley an hour south — the Zell am See lake, the Kitzsteinhorn glacier above Kaprun and the Krimml waterfalls, Europe's tallest at 380m. You can reach Salzburg and Zell am See by direct ÖBB train, but a hire car is what unlocks the Grossglockner High Alpine Road and the side valleys. Allow 4–5 days to pair the city and the mountains without rushing, a week to slow down.
SalzburgerLand is the province that fans out south from the city of Salzburg into the Hohe Tauern Alps, and the mistake first-timers make is treating it as just a city break with a day trip bolted on. The mountains are the point. The classic trip gives Salzburg two baroque days, then drops an hour south into the Pinzgau — the Zell am See lake, the Kitzsteinhorn glacier above Kaprun, and the Krimml waterfalls thundering 380m down the valley head — and those are a base of their own, not a return coach ride from the old town.
The question everyone asks is whether you need a car. For the headline sights you don’t: the ÖBB runs direct from Salzburg to Zell am See in about an hour and a half, and the little Pinzgaubahn carries on to Krimml. A hire car only earns its keep when you want what the railway can’t reach — the Grossglockner High Alpine Road, the Eisriesenwelt ice cave at Werfen, the side valleys you stop in on a whim. Base car-free in Salzburg and Zell am See if you’d rather not drive Austrian mountain passes; pick the car up only for the day you genuinely need it.
The route
A relaxed 5-day loop that pairs Salzburg's old town with the Pinzgau high country to the south, with only one real leg of driving. The Tauern valleys are slower than the kilometres suggest, so don't over-pack the days. You can do much of this by train — the ÖBB to Zell am See, then the Pinzgaubahn to Krimml — but a hire car is what earns its keep on the Grossglockner road and the side valleys.
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Days 1–2
Salzburg
Start in the baroque old town: the Hohensalzburg Fortress (take the funicular up), Mozart's birthplace on the Getreidegasse and the Mirabell Gardens. Two nights is enough for the city. Pick the hire car up as you leave rather than paying for old-town garage parking, or take the train south if you're car-free.
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Day 3
Werfen and on to Zell am See
Drive south and break the run at Werfen, about 45 minutes from Salzburg, for the Eisriesenwelt — the world's largest ice cave (€34 for the cable car and guided tour) — or the Hohenwerfen fortress falconry show. Carry on to Zell am See, roughly 1h15 further, and settle by the lake for two nights.
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Day 4
Kaprun and the Kitzsteinhorn glacier
Ten minutes from Zell am See, ride the Kitzsteinhorn funicular and gondolas to 3,029m for year-round snow, glacier viewpoints and the 'Top of Salzburg' platform (around €58 for the summer day pass). Back down, the Kaprun high mountain reservoirs make a half-day with their inclined lifts and dam walks.
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Day 5
Krimml Waterfalls or the Grossglockner road
Either follow the Pinzgau valley west to the Krimml Waterfalls — Europe's tallest at 380m, a 90-minute climb past the cascades (€8.50 trail toll) — or, with a car, drive the Grossglockner High Alpine Road (toll about €40 per car) for the highest panoramas in Austria. Then loop back to Salzburg, about 1h45, for an evening flight.
Where to base yourself
Pick one or two bases rather than moving every night.
Salzburg (old town / Neustadt)
££ mid-rangeThe cultural anchor and the obvious first base: a compact baroque old town under a clifftop fortress, Mozart everywhere, and the airport 15 minutes away. Two or three nights is plenty for the city itself. Stay a few streets back from the Getreidegasse, or across the river in the Neustadt, for better value than the front-row old-town rooms.
Best for: First two nights, culture, easy logistics
Zell am See
££ mid-rangeThe Pinzgau lake-resort base: a small town on a swimmable Alpine lake with the Schmittenhöhe cable car from the centre and the Kaprun glacier ten minutes away. It is the practical hub for the high country and sits on the ÖBB line for car-free arrivals. Lake-front rooms cost more; a few streets back is cheaper and still walkable.
Best for: The lake, the glacier and the high passes
Kaprun
£ valueA quieter, cheaper alternative to Zell am See, five minutes from its bigger neighbour and right at the foot of the Kitzsteinhorn funicular. Better value for a mountain-first stay and well placed for the glacier and the Kaprun reservoirs, though it has less lakeside life of an evening. A good base if you've a car.
Best for: Mountain-first trips, value, the Kitzsteinhorn
Getting around SalzburgerLand
A hire car is the natural way to tour SalzburgerLand once you leave the city — the Grossglockner High Alpine Road, the side valleys and the Krimml approach reward the freedom, and parking in the resort towns is easy and cheap. Drive on the right, and note Austria's motorway vignette (the digital 10-day pass is about €12.40) plus the separate Grossglockner road toll (around €40 per car). That said, you can do a lot car-free: the ÖBB links Salzburg and Zell am See directly in around 1h30, and the narrow-gauge Pinzgaubahn runs on from Zell am See to Krimml for the waterfalls. Validate every public-transport ticket before you ride or risk a €100–€500 fine, and pick the car up as you leave Salzburg rather than parking it in the old town.
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