Things to do in

Werfen

Make a splash with this beginners whitewater rafting trip. Discover some great Salzburg scenery and enjoy varied water sections across this 10km tour. After a short 20 minute drive from the meeting point, begin your tour in the shadow of the imposing Hohenwerfen Castle. Your rafting guide will give you all the equipment you need to ensure you're safe and set for the water. Then, its time to make your journey up the river underneath the Tennen and Hagen mountains. Enjoy a route featuring beautiful sandbanks, as well as some faster surge and splashing sections too. Take advantage of the opportunity to jump out of the boat during the route and swim in the river. Enjoy fun for all the family on this whitewater adventure.

Step back in time to the Middle Ages at Hohenwerfen Castle, a former fortification built in the 11th century and located on a steep peak high above the Salzach valley in the Pongau region of Salzburg. Choose between options that include a funicular ride up to and down from the castle, or make your own way up to the 155-meter (509-foot) peak with a 15-minute walk through light woodland.  Once at the top, visit the fortress, its chapel, torture chamber, and dungeon, and be captivated by its centuries-old history. Don’t forget to explore the arsenal, belfry, and royal apartment to see what life back then must have looked like. Besides discovering what the fortress has to offer, another highlight of your visit will definitely be a stunning flight demonstration by the historic State Falconry Center. Primarily, they show domestic birds of prey in free flight. You will also get access to the Austrian Falconry Museum, which is currently hosting the “Where Eagles Dare” exhibition in the Pump Vaults. Don't miss out on the interactive “The Legend Of Jack, Witches and Wizards in Salzburg” exhibition, nor the exhibition on the architectural history of the fortress. Bring your kids along to explore the fortress grounds, and take them on a fun riddle rally.

Meet your private guide at your Salzburg hotel and get comfortable in a luxury minivan for a 1-hour drive south through the Salzach Valley and the Alps (Tennengebirge). On your way up to the ice caves you will stop to admire Hohenwerfen Castle, an iconic hilltop castle used as the backdrop in many films. After you got your tickets for the ice caves (own expense) your guide will walk with you for around 20 minutes to the cable car, after a breathtaking 3 minute cable car ride you will walk another 20 minutes enjoying beautiful views of the surrounding mountains to the entrance of the Werfen Ice Caves, a vast underground labyrinth of icy caverns extending more than 26 miles (42 km) through the heart of Hochkogel mountain. As this is a private tour, you can tailor the pace to your needs. After experiencing this breathtaking natural wonder, journey on to Golling where you will stop near the fascinating late Gothic pilgrimage church of St. Nikolaus, to visit the beautiful Golling waterfalls, the falls plunge 75 meters down two giant steps into the valley below. The thunderous Golling falls are one of the provinces most attractive and romantic natural monuments.

Visit the world’s largest ice cave or the more than 900-year-old Hohenwerfen Castle. The stunning ice world of Werfen (near Salzburg) is the largest in the world. On this tour, accompanied by an experienced tour guide, you’ll discover a world of glaciers with fascinating ice figures and truly impressive proportions. After about 20 minutes on foot from the Bergstrasse, you’ll arrive at the funicular which will take you toward the cave entrance. From there, it’s about a 30-minute walk to the cave, where the tour guide will take you on a walk through the world’s largest ice cave. You won’t want to miss out on a spectacular natural attraction of this magnitude! Alternatively, at this point, you’ll have the possibility to visit the medieval Hohenwerfen Castle, one of the best-preserved of its kind. Daily guided tours and an awe-inspiring look at resident birds of prey (every day at 3:15) will make this excursion an unforgettable experience.

On this excursion you will explore Salzburg and its beautiful surroundings on the traces of the world-famous musical “The Sound of Music”. Start your day with a walk through the Mirabell gardens, famous across the world for the Do-Re-Mi scenes filmed here. See the Pegasus fountain, dwarf garden as well as statues from Roman and Greek mythology and stunning, formal patterned flower beds. Drive up to one of the most beautiful viewpoints of the city, immortalised in Do-Re-Mi, with a fantastic view over the entire city of Salzburg and its millennium fortress. Back in your luxury minivan have a photo stop near Maria’s Abbey (Nonnberg Abbey) on your way to Leopoldskron Palace (boat scene and pink lemonade at the terrace). After a short stop at Leopoldskron drive on to the palace of Hellbrunn where you have the chance to visit the original gazebo and gardens. Then, leave the city driving south into the stunning Bavarian mountains where they filmed the opening scene. Now is your chance to spin in a field in the original area from the opening scene of The Hills are Alive. Journey off the beaten track down a scenic country road along the river Salzach and through the narrow gorges of the Lueg pass to Werfen where you will head to the top of the Sound of Music trail, the picnic spot from the movie. Enjoy a short rest here and its magnificent panorama view.  The final part of the tour takes you through the Austrian lake district via the scenic roads, where parts of the opening scene where filmed, and on to the “Sound of Music” wedding cathedral in Mondsee where the romantic wedding scene was filmed.