Best Hotels in Salzburg for Every Budget — 49 Real Picks From £124 (2026)

Salzburg hotels in this guide start at about £99 a night at the airport Leonardo, the single cheapest room in the whole post, and climb all the way to £1,421 at the Hotel Sacher on the riverbank. Before you read another line, here is the honest caveat that shapes everything below: these rates were sampled for late August, which is close to the most expensive week-for-week period of the Salzburg year. Late summer is peak tourist season, and it overlaps almost exactly with the Salzburg Festival, the five-week classical music and opera festival that fills the city's hotels and holds their rates at the annual peak. The numbers you see here reflect a small baroque city running at full capacity.

The figures make the point better than adjectives do. Across all 49 hotels the middle of the sample sits around £160 a night, and the median across the wider Salzburg summer search we pulled for the same dates was closer to £187. Even the most affordable tier of this guide starts at £124 and runs to £189, with a median around £157, and not one budget-tier hotel comes in below £120 on these dates. Salzburg is a wealthy, compact, world-famous city with a limited amount of central hotel stock, and in festival week it prices like one. This guide is not going to pretend Salzburg in late August is cheap.

The good news is that Salzburg's price curve is steep, and you have real control over it. The same hotels on a March, May, late-October or November search routinely come back well below these figures, because outside the summer festival and the December Christmas markets the city empties and hotels discount to fill rooms. If your dates are flexible at all, move them out of late July and August and you will very likely see materially lower numbers on exactly the hotels listed below. Every hotel name here links to a live page where you can put your own dates in and check.

Jump to your budget: Luxury · Mid-range · Most affordable from £124 · FAQs

Scout's 3 picks: 🏰 HYPERION Hotel Salzburg — from ~£301, the most-reviewed five-star in the guide and the cheapest of the four, a polished modern hotel within walking distance of the old town. 🎻 arte Hotel Salzburg — from ~£172, the single most-reviewed hotel in this entire post, with well over nine thousand reviews behind it. 💷 Hotel Pass Lueg — from ~£124, the cheapest room in the budget tier. From-prices are live rates sampled for late August — tap any hotel for today's price on your dates.

Some practical UK-departure basics before the hotels. Getting there takes a little thought. Salzburg Airport (SZG) has a strong winter ski-season schedule with direct UK flights from roughly December to March, when the city is the gateway to the Austrian Alps, plus a thinner summer service — so a direct flight may or may not exist on your dates. The reliable alternative is to fly to Munich, which is only about 1 hour 30 minutes from Salzburg by direct train, express bus or car, or to Vienna and take the fast railjet train (about 2 hours 20 minutes). Plenty of UK visitors fly into Munich, spend a night or two there and continue by train — the two cities pair naturally.

On visas and the border, do not guess — check. UK passport holders do not need a visa for Austria: it is in the Schengen Area, and you can visit for up to 90 days in any 180-day period for tourism. But the EU border is changing. The Entry/Exit System (EES) replaces the passport stamp with fingerprints and a photo, and ETIAS, a paid online travel authorisation you apply for in advance, is due to follow. Both have had their start dates pushed back more than once, so rather than trust a date printed here, read the current UK Foreign Office travel advice for Austria before you book flights, and use the official Austria tourism site for opening hours and the current festival and market calendar.

The currency is the euro — straightforward for most UK visitors, with one habit worth building. Cards and contactless work almost everywhere a tourist goes, but Austria is more cash-friendly than Britain: some small guesthouses, bakeries, market stalls and mountain huts still prefer cash, so carry a little. The upside compared with North America is that VAT is already in the price on the shelf, so the number you see is broadly the number you pay, and tipping is modest — round up the bill or add 5 to 10 per cent for good service, no more.

And the language. German is the official language and the local accent is Austrian rather than textbook German, but Salzburg is one of the most visited cities in the Alps and English is spoken without friction in hotels, restaurants, shops and at the sights. The Austrian hello is Grüß Gott rather than the German Guten Tag, and danke covers thank you; using them is appreciated and costs nothing, but you will never be stuck for English.

The last thing to fix in your head before the hotels is the shape of the city, because where you sleep matters here. Salzburg is small and split by the Salzach river. On the left bank is the Altstadt, the UNESCO-listed baroque old town under the fortress — beautiful, pedestrianised, and the most expensive and most limited place to stay. On the right bank is the Neustadt, built around Mirabell Palace and Gardens, which holds most of the mid-range hotels and is a five-minute walk across a footbridge from the old town. Everything cheaper sits outside the historic centre — around the main station to the north, along the outer roads, and out by the airport to the west. That trade-off between price and position runs right through the affordable tier below, and we have flagged it hotel by hotel.

Compare live Salzburg hotel prices or search UK flights to Salzburg (SZG).

The Best-Rated Hotels in Salzburg

Fourteen hotels, ranked within their tier by review volume — the four five-stars first, then the ten four-stars. Two things to note before you scan. The top of this list is genuinely, eye-wateringly expensive in festival week: the Hotel Sacher at £1,421 and the Hotel Bristol at £810 are among the most expensive rooms in this entire blog, and they are priced like flagship properties in peak season because that is exactly what they are. And the four-star tier below them behaves very strangely on these dates — it runs from £99 to £406, a spread of over four hundred pounds inside a single star rating, which is the clearest single illustration of what the Salzburg Festival does to hotel pricing. From-prices are live rates sampled for late August and will be lower on off-peak dates.

Luxury — the five-star tier

1. HYPERION Hotel Salzburg — Salzburg · 5★ · 4,599 reviews · from ~£301/night. The most-reviewed hotel in this entire guide and the cheapest of the four five-stars, which makes it the value pick at the top of the market. It is a large, polished modern five-star within walking distance of the old town, with the sort of spa, gym and restaurant you expect at this level and a review base — nearly 4,600 — that dwarfs the other three luxury entries combined. At £301 in festival week it is not cheap, but among Salzburg's five-stars it is the sensible one. Check the exact address on the live page.

2. Sheraton Grand Salzburg — Salzburg · 5★ · 866 reviews · from ~£489/night. Marriott's top-tier Sheraton Grand badge, set on the Neustadt side beside the Mirabell Gardens and the Kurgarten spa park — a few minutes on foot from both the gardens and the river crossing into the old town. Large rooms, a full spa, and the reliability of a global flagship brand for travellers who want a known quantity. At £489 this is straightforward festival-week five-star pricing, and the same room off-peak is a very different number.

3. Hotel Bristol Salzburg — Salzburg · 5★ · 847 reviews · from ~£810/night. A grand nineteenth-century hotel on Makartplatz in the Neustadt, directly opposite the Mirabellgarten and a couple of minutes from the Mozart Residence and the river. This is old-world Salzburg in physical form — chandeliers, antiques, the kind of address that has hosted the festival's audience for over a century. £810 a night is a serious number even in this company, and it buys history and location rather than anything modern. Check the same room in November before you decide.

4. Hotel Sacher Salzburg — Salzburg · 5★ · 723 reviews · from ~£1,421/night. The most expensive hotel in this guide by a wide margin, and we are not going to soften it: £1,421 a night is an extraordinary number. What you get is the Salzburg outpost of Vienna's Sacher dynasty, sitting right on the Salzach riverbank with the old town rising across the water, the famous Café Sacher and its Sachertorte downstairs, and the address the festival's biggest names check into. It is an exceptional hotel. It is also peak-of-peak pricing on an exceptional hotel — put the same room into a February search before you draw any conclusion from that figure.

From-prices were sampled for late August and will move with your dates. See all Salzburg stays or search flights to SZG.

Mid-range — the four-star tier

Ten four-star hotels, and this is where Salzburg's pricing gets genuinely strange. They run from about £99 to £406 a night — a spread of more than four hundred pounds within a single star rating. The cheapest, the Leonardo Hotel Salzburg Airport at £99, undercuts every hotel in the budget tier below it, but it is by the airport rather than in the city. The most expensive, the IMLAUER HOTEL PITTER at £406, costs more than three of the four five-stars, because it is a landmark hotel with a famous rooftop restaurant in the middle of festival season. The lesson of this tier is simple: read the price, not the star count.

5. arte Hotel Salzburg — Salzburg · 4★ · 9,471 reviews · from ~£172/night. The most-reviewed hotel in this entire guide, with well over nine thousand reviews, and a modern, design-led four-star. That volume of feedback means you can research it thoroughly on the live page rather than guessing. It sits away from the historic core — check the exact location and the bus links before booking — which is part of why a four-star this heavily reviewed lands at £172 in festival week. On the sheer weight of evidence, one of the safest bookings in the tier.

6. H+ Hotel Salzburg — Salzburg · 4★ · 9,244 reviews · from ~£197/night. Almost as heavily reviewed as the arte, with over nine thousand reviews of its own — a large modern chain four-star near the main railway station, which makes it a practical arrival-and-departure base with fast rail and bus links into the old town. Rooms are contemporary, consistent and unsurprising, exactly as the brand intends. £197 in the station district is festival pricing; the same room off-peak drops a long way.

7. Radisson Blu Hotel & Conference Centre, Salzburg — Salzburg · 4★ · 8,254 reviews · from ~£184/night. A big, dependable Radisson with over eight thousand reviews and full conference facilities, which tells you the scale of the place. Rooms are large and predictable, service is on-brand, and there is usually a decent gym and spa. Check the exact address on the live page, because the location relative to the old town is the deciding factor at £184 — but the review depth makes it a low-risk booking whatever you conclude.

8. Cocoon Salzburg — Salzburg · 4★ · 7,440 reviews · from ~£173/night. A sharp, modern design hotel — the Cocoon brand runs compact, well-styled rooms aimed at younger city-breakers — with a big review base at £173. Good value in the tier for a couple who want a stylish room and do not need a lot of floor space. Check the exact location on the live page; at this price the position is what decides whether it is a bargain or just a nice room.

9. Leonardo Hotel Salzburg Airport — Salzburg · 4★ · 6,089 reviews · from ~£99/night. The cheapest room in this entire guide, and the catch is in the name: it is by Salzburg Airport, west of the city, not in the centre. As an airport four-star it is excellent value — modern rooms, over six thousand reviews, easy for an early flight or a late arrival — but for a city break you would be busing in and out, with the 2 and 10 buses reaching the centre in about 20 minutes. Treat it as a flight-night hotel, or a budget-with-a-commute base for anyone happy to ride in each morning.

10. IMLAUER HOTEL PITTER Salzburg — Salzburg · 4★ · 5,512 reviews · from ~£406/night. Read that price against the star rating, because £406 for a four-star is exactly what the festival does. The Pitter is a large, long-established hotel on the Neustadt side near Mirabell, best known for its rooftop restaurant and bar with a fortress view, and it carries over five thousand reviews. It is a genuinely good hotel with a landmark position — £406 is a festival-week rate on it, not a normal one. Put your own dates in before you judge it.

11. Dorint City-Hotel Salzburg — Salzburg · 4★ · 5,148 reviews · from ~£159/night. One of the better-value four-stars in the tier: a well-reviewed city hotel at £159, centrally placed near the river and the congress centre on the Neustadt side. Rooms are business-standard and reliable rather than characterful, which is precisely what a lot of people want from a walkable central base. With over five thousand reviews behind it, a sensible, low-drama booking.

12. ARCOTEL Castellani Salzburg — Salzburg · 4★ · 4,878 reviews · from ~£138/night. The cheapest four-star in the mid tier that is not by the airport, at £138 with nearly five thousand reviews. It is a converted former monastery with a large garden, set a little out from the very centre — check the exact location and the walk or bus into the old town on the live page — which is why it prices below the more central four-stars. Genuinely good value if you do not mind being slightly out, with parking and grounds most central hotels cannot offer.

13. IMLAUER Palais Mirabell — Salzburg · 4★ · 3,809 reviews · from ~£334/night. A smart four-star in a palais-style building near the Mirabell Gardens, from the same local IMLAUER group as the Pitter, with a rooftop terrace and a strong central position on the Neustadt side. At £334 it is festival-week pricing on a genuinely characterful, well-placed hotel — lovely, and priced squarely for the season. Check what it costs on a spring or autumn date and the picture changes.

14. Altstadthotel Kasererbräu — Salzburg · 4★ · 3,775 reviews · from ~£320/night. The one mid-tier hotel that is unambiguously inside the Altstadt, tucked just behind the cathedral in the pedestrian old town — which is exactly why it costs £320 in festival week. A traditional four-star with a small spa in the historic cellar, it puts you inside the postcard: you walk out of the door into the baroque core, with the fortress overhead. If being in the old town itself matters more to you than the price, this is the mid-tier way to do it.

From-prices were sampled for late August and will move with your dates. See all Salzburg stays or search flights to SZG.

Cheap Hotels in Salzburg — 49 Real, Bookable Options From £124

Thirty-five properties, from about £124 to £189 a night, listed cheapest first. Read the heading literally: these are the most affordable rooms in an expensive, festival-week sample, not cheap rooms. In most cities a section like this would be the bargain tier. In late-August Salzburg the median entry below costs about £157 a night, not a single one comes in below £120, and the top of the tier bumps straight into four-star chain pricing. If you have arrived here hoping for a £50 room in a walkable European city break, Salzburg in festival week is not going to give you one at any star rating.

Three honest structural notes before you scan, because they decide whether a low number below is actually good news.

First, the cheapest entries are cheapest because of where they are. Almost nothing in this tier is inside the historic centre. The rooms cluster instead around the main railway station to the north, along the outer arterial roads north and south, and out by the airport to the west. The station area is the one genuinely useful budget base for a visitor without a car — it is a 15 to 20 minute walk or a short bus into the old town, and it is where the Munich and Vienna trains arrive. The outer-road and airport hotels are cheaper again but assume you will bus or drive in each day, which for a two-day city break gets old fast. We have flagged the trade hotel by hotel.

Second, review depth varies enormously here. Some entries below carry many thousands of reviews — one has over fifteen thousand — and one carries just sixty-one. A thin review base is a real risk you should price in, not a detail to skim, and we have said so for each.

Third, star ratings in this tier are supplier-declared, not a formal grading, so read a two-star entry as "basic but real" rather than as a graded classification. Several of the strongest entries carry no star rating at all — including two of the best-reviewed hotels in the whole post, COOL MAMA and Am Neutor — because they are modern budget-design, apartment or pension stays that have not sought a classification. Unrated here does not mean bad; it means unclassified. From-prices are live rates sampled for late August and will be lower on off-peak dates.

15. Hotel Pass Lueg — Salzburg · 3★ · 763 reviews · from ~£124/night. The cheapest room in the budget tier at about £124, a small three-star with a solid 763 reviews behind it. The name points to the Pass Lueg, the gorge on the road south of the city towards Golling, so this sits some way out — check the exact location and the drive or transport time into Salzburg on the live page before booking, because it will suit a driver far more than someone relying on buses. For festival week, the outright cheapest verified bed in the tier.

16. The Passenger, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel — Salzburg · unrated · 913 reviews · from ~£126/night. A design-forward hotel under Marriott's Tribute Portfolio badge — the label Marriott gives independent-feeling boutique properties — unrated for stars because it is a boutique operation rather than because it is basic, with 913 reviews at £126. At this price, with that brand association and a design-led fit-out, it is one of the more interesting cheap bookings in the guide. Check the exact location on the live page before you commit.

17. Gästehaus Reiter — Salzburg · 3★ · 589 reviews · from ~£129/night. A small, family-run guesthouse three-star at £129 with 589 reviews — a modest but real evidence base. Gästehäuser like this are the Austrian budget staple: simple, clean, personal, usually with parking and a proper breakfast, and typically a little out from the centre. Check the exact location and the transport in on the live page; good for drivers and for anyone who wants quiet nights over a central address.

18. Am Neutor Hotel Salzburg Zentrum — Salzburg · unrated · 3,233 reviews · from ~£131/night. One of the best cheap bookings in the guide on the evidence: 3,233 reviews at £131, and the name points to the Neutor, the tunnel through the Mönchsberg on the western edge of the old town — so this is genuinely central for the price. Unrated for stars, but that review depth means you can research it properly instead of guessing. A strong, central budget pick; confirm exactly where it sits on the live page.

19. PLAZA INN Salzburg City — Salzburg · 3★ · 2,183 reviews · from ~£133/night. A straightforward modern three-star with over two thousand reviews at £133. PLAZA INN is a reliable German-Austrian budget chain — functional rooms, consistent standards, no frills — and the "City" in the name points to a central or near-central position, which you should confirm on the live page. A safe, unexciting cheap booking with enough reviews to research.

20. Hotel Turnerwirt — Salzburg · 3★ · 7,987 reviews · from ~£134/night. Nearly eight thousand reviews at £134 makes this one of the best-evidenced cheap hotels in the whole post — you can research it thoroughly before you commit. A traditional three-star in the northern districts of the city, usually with parking and a restaurant, a short bus or drive from the centre. Check the exact location and the bus links on the live page; on the numbers alone, excellent value.

21. B&B Hotel Salzburg-Nord — Salzburg · 3★ · 3,530 reviews · from ~£134/night. Part of the B&B Hotels budget chain, in the north of the city as the name says, at £134 with 3,530 reviews. These are modern, no-nonsense, self-check-in-friendly budget hotels with reliable rooms and easy parking, aimed at drivers and value-hunters rather than sightseers. You will bus or drive into the centre — check the links on the live page — but for a family watching the budget it is dependable.

22. Hotel Plainbrücke | self check-in — Salzburg · 3★ · 1,649 reviews · from ~£139/night. A self-check-in three-star by the Plainbrücke, a bridge over the Salzach in the north of the city, at £139 with 1,649 reviews. Self-check-in keeps costs down and suits late arrivals, and the northern riverside setting is a short bus or cycle from the centre. Check the exact position and the transport in on the live page before booking.

23. Holiday Inn - Salzburg City by IHG — Salzburg · 4★ · 2,196 reviews · from ~£140/night. The cheapest branded four-star in the budget tier and a strong pick if chain reliability matters: an IHG Holiday Inn at £140 with over two thousand reviews. The "City" tag flatters it a little — it sits nearer the exhibition-centre side than the old town, so check the exact spot on the live page — but IHG standards, family rooms and easy parking make it a booking you can sign off without agonising.

24. Atrium Hotel Salzburg — Salzburg · unrated · 2,286 reviews · from ~£141/night. Unrated for stars but with 2,286 reviews at £141, a well-established mid-size hotel. Unrated normally signals a property that has not sought a formal classification rather than anything to worry about, and the review depth here makes it a researchable, low-risk cheap booking. Check the exact location and the walk or bus into the centre on the live page.

25. myNext - Riverside Hotel Salzburg — Salzburg · 2★ · 61 reviews · from ~£141/night. The thinnest evidence base in the whole guide by a distance — just 61 reviews — so treat it as a calculated risk and read every one of them. It is a riverside two-star, hostel-style property (myNext runs student and budget accommodation) at £141, which on these dates is simply what a basic riverside room costs in festival week. Check exactly what you are booking — a private room or a shared one — on the live page.

26. Kolpinghaus Salzburg - SommerHOSTEL — Salzburg · 2★ · 2,521 reviews · from ~£142/night. A summer hostel: the Kolpinghaus is a student residence that opens to travellers in the summer months, which is exactly why it appears at £142 in August with a healthy 2,521 reviews. Rooms are simple and functional, the position is reasonably central, and it suits budget travellers and families who want a plain room in a good spot rather than any comfort. Check the room type and exact location on the live page.

27. Pension Elisabeth - Rooms & Apartments — Salzburg · unrated · 2,695 reviews · from ~£146/night. A pension with rooms and self-catering apartments, unrated for stars because that is what pensions are, with a solid 2,695 reviews at £146. The apartment option is the real draw — a kitchen cuts the eating-out bill that quietly doubles the cost of a Salzburg trip — and pensions like this typically sit near the station or in an outer district. Check the exact location and what is included on the live page.

28. Das Edlinger — Salzburg · 4★ · 3,117 reviews · from ~£147/night. A four-star at £147 with over three thousand reviews looks like a strong deal, and it may well be one — Das Edlinger is a traditional Austrian house, and a four-star rating with that review depth is reassuring at this price. The likely trade is a location out from the very centre, so check the exact spot and the transport in on the live page. Worth a hard look for anyone who wants four-star comfort on a budget.

29. Hotel Modus — Salzburg · unrated · 2,444 reviews · from ~£150/night. A modern, design-conscious hotel — the name is the clue — at £150, unrated for stars but with 2,444 reviews. Contemporary rooms, self-check-in-friendly, aimed squarely at the city-break market. Check the exact location and the walk or bus to the old town on the live page: at £150 in festival week, position is what decides whether this is good value or merely a nice room a long way out.

30. Austria Classic Hotel Hölle — Salzburg · 4★ · 1,378 reviews · from ~£150/night. A four-star at £150 with 1,378 reviews, part of the Austria Classic group of traditional independent hotels. The Hölle sits in the south of the city, with parking and a restaurant, which makes it a comfortable drivers' base a short ride from the centre. Good four-star value if you have a car; check the exact location and the bus links on the live page if you do not.

31. Hotel Lehenerhof — Salzburg · 3★ · 2,268 reviews · from ~£151/night. A three-star in the Lehen district, across the river north-west of the centre, at £151 with 2,268 reviews. Lehen is an ordinary residential-and-shopping part of the city with good bus links and the football stadium nearby, a short ride or a longish walk from the old town. A solid, unglamorous cheap booking with enough reviews to trust — check the transport on the live page.

32. Hotel Kohlpeter — Salzburg · 3★ · 1,417 reviews · from ~£153/night. A traditional three-star in the west of the city, out towards the airport, at £153 with 1,417 reviews and usually parking and a restaurant. That location keeps the price down and suits drivers and early flights; you will bus in for the sights. Check the exact spot and the bus links on the live page, and weigh it against the better-placed three-stars at similar money before booking.

33. Hotel Drei Kreuz - Self Check In — Salzburg · 3★ · 3,926 reviews · from ~£155/night. A self-check-in three-star with nearly four thousand reviews at £155 — a good evidence base and a keen setup for late arrivals. The name points to the Drei-Kreuz area on the southern side of the centre; check the exact location and the walk or bus in on the live page. The review depth makes it one of the more researchable cheap bookings on this list.

34. COOL MAMA Hotel Salzburg — Salzburg · unrated · 8,175 reviews · from ~£157/night. On the numbers, one of the standout cheap bookings in the guide: 8,175 reviews at £157, the second-largest review base in the entire post, unrated for stars only because it is a modern budget-design hotel that has not sought a classification. Young, functional and clearly well-liked by a very large number of guests. Check exactly where it sits on the live page, but the evidence here is about as strong as it gets at this price.

35. Hotel Flair — Salzburg · 3★ · 5,849 reviews · from ~£157/night. A three-star with a big review base — nearly six thousand — at £157, which makes it another well-evidenced cheap pick. Modern rooms, reliable standards, and enough feedback to research properly. Check the exact location and the transport into the centre on the live page; at this price in festival week, a cheap hotel you can actually research this thoroughly is worth something.

36. Mercure Salzburg City — Salzburg · 4★ · 1,333 reviews · from ~£160/night. An Accor Mercure four-star at £160 with 1,333 reviews — dependable chain standards, a central-ish "City" position you should confirm on the live page, and the reassurance of a known brand for a family booking. Not exciting, entirely reliable. A safe four-star at the lower end of festival-week pricing.

37. Numa Salzburg Vogelweider — Salzburg · 4★ · 3,361 reviews · from ~£166/night. One of two Numa properties in this guide — Numa runs stylish, self-check-in apartment-hotels aimed at independent travellers — at £166 with 3,361 reviews. The apartment format (kitchenette, contactless entry, no reception desk) suits couples and small families who want space and self-catering over hotel service. It is on the Neustadt side; check the exact street on the live page.

38. Hotel Restaurant Auerhahn — Salzburg · 3★ · 1,244 reviews · from ~£167/night. A traditional family-run three-star with its own restaurant at £167 and 1,244 reviews, in the north-west of the city out towards the autobahn and airport. The in-house restaurant and parking make it a comfortable drivers' base; you will drive or bus into the centre. Honest, old-fashioned value — check the exact location and the transport in on the live page.

39. June Six Salzburg, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel — Salzburg · 4★ · 966 reviews · from ~£167/night. A design four-star under Marriott's Tribute Portfolio badge — the same independent-boutique label as The Passenger higher up — at £167 with 966 reviews. Newer and fresher-feeling than most of this tier, aimed at the style-conscious city-breaker who still wants a Marriott booking behind them. Check the exact location on the live page; at £167 with that badge, a reasonable festival-week booking.

40. Hotel Hofmann — Salzburg · 2★ · 1,238 reviews · from ~£168/night. A small two-star at £168 with 1,238 reviews — the two-star rating means basic and no-frills rather than bad, and the review count is decent. At this price in festival week you are paying for a bed in Salzburg rather than for any luxury. Check the exact location and the transport in on the live page, and compare it directly against the better-reviewed three-stars just below it in price before booking.

41. Amadeo Hotel Schaffenrath — Salzburg · 4★ · 718 reviews · from ~£170/night. A four-star at £170 with 718 reviews, a long-established family hotel in the south of the city with parking and easy access to the southern approach roads. The four-star comfort and drivers' convenience are the draw, and the bus into the old town is short. Solid value if you have a car; check the exact location and the transport in on the live page if you do not.

42. Atel Hotel Lasserhof — Salzburg · 3★ · 2,601 reviews · from ~£171/night. A three-star near the main railway station at £171 with 2,601 reviews, which makes it a practical, well-evidenced base for arrivals and departures — the station puts the Munich and Vienna trains and the airport buses on your doorstep, and the old town is a 15-minute walk or a short bus. Functional rooms rather than characterful ones; check the exact spot on the live page.

43. Das Jedermann Boutiquehotel mit Stadtgarten — Salzburg · 3★ · 3,289 reviews · from ~£176/night. A boutique three-star with a garden near the station at £176 with 3,289 reviews — noticeably more character than the average station-district hotel, with a courtyard garden (the Stadtgarten of the name) and individually styled rooms. That combination of boutique feel, greenery and a walkable-to-centre position makes it one of the nicer cheap bookings in the guide. Confirm the exact location on the live page.

44. Hotel Astoria — Salzburg · 3★ · 3,499 reviews · from ~£177/night. A traditional three-star at £177 with 3,499 reviews, a reliable mid-size city hotel with a good depth of feedback. Check the exact location and the walk or bus into the old town on the live page; the review base makes it a low-risk booking. At £177 in festival week you are paying the season's tax on a solid, unremarkable hotel — fine, if not a bargain.

45. Salzburg Hotel Lilienhof — Salzburg · 3★ · 2,949 reviews · from ~£178/night. A three-star at £178 with 2,949 reviews, a family-run house in an outer district, usually with parking and a garden. Quiet and comfortable, and better suited to drivers and to anyone happy with a short bus into town than to a visitor who wants to step straight out into the old town. Well-reviewed for what it is; check the exact location on the live page.

46. Altstadt Hotel Hofwirt Salzburg — Salzburg · 3★ · 15,389 reviews · from ~£185/night. The most-reviewed hotel in this entire guide by a huge margin — over fifteen thousand reviews — at £185. That is an extraordinary evidence base for a booking decision: whatever this hotel is, an enormous number of people have already told you in detail. Despite "Altstadt" in the name it sits on the Neustadt side, a short walk across the river from the old town — check the exact spot on the live page. On the sheer weight of evidence, one of the safest bookings in the post.

47. Hotel Scherer — Salzburg · 4★ · 2,162 reviews · from ~£185/night. A four-star at £185 with 2,162 reviews, a comfortable family-run hotel. Check the exact location and the transport into the centre on the live page. At £185 you are into the upper end of the budget tier, where four-star comfort has to justify the price against more central three-stars — read the recent reviews and compare it against Das Jedermann and the Hofwirt before choosing.

48. NH Collection Salzburg City — Salzburg · 4★ · 3,055 reviews · from ~£187/night. The upper-tier NH Collection brand — a step above standard NH — at £187 with 3,055 reviews, a smart, business-standard four-star with a central "City" position you should confirm on the live page. At the top of the budget tier this is four-star chain money for a four-star chain room, which is a fair if unexciting deal in festival week. A safe family or business booking.

49. Numa Salzburg Mozart — Salzburg · 3★ · 133 reviews · from ~£189/night. The most expensive room in the budget tier at £189 and one of the thinnest review bases in it — just 133 reviews — because it is new. The second Numa property here: stylish, self-check-in apartment-style rooms aimed at independent travellers, this one carrying the Mozart name for a central position you should confirm on the live page. New means fresh rooms and teething problems in equal measure; read the reviews and compare it against the far better-evidenced options below it in price before booking.

From-prices were sampled for late August, during the Salzburg Festival, and will move with your dates — in most cases downwards. The cheapest rooms are also the first to go in festival week and around the Christmas markets. See all Salzburg stays or search flights to SZG.

The Honest Price Picture: When Salzburg Costs What

This deserves its own section, because it is the single most useful thing in this guide.

The 49 rates above were sampled for late August, which is very close to the worst week of the year to buy a Salzburg hotel room. Here is why. Salzburg has two enormous demand spikes, and both are cultural rather than seasonal-weather events, which means you can plan around them.

The first and biggest is the Salzburg Festival (Salzburger Festspiele), one of the most important classical music and opera festivals in the world. It runs for around five weeks from late July into the end of August and brings a wealthy international audience that books the best hotels months in advance and holds rates at their annual peak. Our sample falls squarely inside it. The second is the Christmas market season: the Christkindlmarkt on Domplatz and Residenzplatz runs through Advent, roughly mid or late November to Christmas, and drives a sharp second spike, especially on December weekends and around New Year. Layer school holidays, Easter and the winter ski-season traffic through the airport on top, and the picture is of a small city that sells out repeatedly for cultural reasons.

That is the whole story. A baroque town of Salzburg's size does not naturally sustain £187 median summer room rates — it sustains them for the weeks the festival and the markets are on, and then it does not.

What the curve looks like across the year:

The practical takeaway is simple and it is worth more than any single hotel recommendation in this post. If the numbers above have put you off, do not conclude that Salzburg is unaffordable. Conclude that late August is expensive. The single most effective thing you can do to cut your hotel bill is to move your dates out of the festival weeks and the Advent markets — a week in June, September or late October is the same city, the same hotels and often a strikingly different price. Put your real dates into any hotel link in this guide and look at what comes back; for a lot of readers the same room in a different month is a completely different conversation.

Compare live Salzburg hotel prices or search UK flights to Salzburg (SZG).

Where to Stay in Salzburg: Choosing Your Base

Salzburg is small, and split by the Salzach. Almost everything a first-time visitor wants sits within a compact core either side of the river, so the choice of base is really a choice between paying for the old town, paying a little less to be across the river from it, or paying least to be a bus ride out. Here is the honest breakdown.

The Altstadt (left bank) is the postcard and the priciest place to sleep. This is the UNESCO-listed baroque old town under the Hohensalzburg Fortress: the cathedral and Residenzplatz, Getreidegasse with Mozart's birthplace, the DomQuartier, the churches and the squares. Staying inside it buys you the district at seven in the morning and again late in the evening, before and after the day crowds — genuinely the best version of Salzburg. The costs are real: the hotel stock is small and heavily boutique, so it prices at the very top and sells out first; most of the quarter is pedestrianised, so you cannot drive to the door; and in festival season it is at capacity. Altstadthotel Kasererbräu is the clearest old-town pick in this guide, with Am Neutor a genuinely central budget option on its western edge.

The Neustadt (right bank) is the practical, better-value centre. This is the right-bank half of the historic core, built around Mirabell Palace and Gardens — the ones every Sound of Music tour photographs — with the Mozart Residence, the Kapuzinerberg hill above and a good spread of restaurants. It holds a lot of the city's mid-range and four-star hotels and it is only a short walk across the Makartsteg footbridge to the old town. For most visitors who want to be central without paying Altstadt prices, this is the sweet spot: Hotel Sacher, Hotel Bristol, the Sheraton Grand, both IMLAUER hotels, Dorint City-Hotel and the well-reviewed Altstadt Hotel Hofwirt all sit on this side.

The station district (Hauptbahnhof) to the north is where the affordable, useful hotels cluster. It is not pretty, but it is genuinely practical: the Munich and Vienna trains arrive here, the airport buses stop here, and the old town is a 15 to 20 minute walk or a couple of stops on the frequent buses. For a budget-conscious visitor without a car, this is the most sensible base in the city. H+ Hotel, Atel Hotel Lasserhof, Das Jedermann, Mercure Salzburg City and NH Collection Salzburg City are the picks here.

The northern and western outer districts — Lehen, Itzling, Liefering, Maxglan and the airport belt — are cheaper again and built around drivers. Rooms are larger, parking is easy and the rates are the lowest in the guide, but you trade a walkable centre for a bus or a short drive in. Hotel Turnerwirt, B&B Hotel Salzburg-Nord, Hotel Lehenerhof, Hotel Kohlpeter, Hotel Restaurant Auerhahn and the Leonardo Hotel Salzburg Airport live out here. Treat the airport ones as flight-night hotels; the closer-in northern ones work as budget bases if you accept the commute.

The southern approaches — Nonntal, Aigen, Herrnau and out along the Alpenstraße — are leafier and a little out, with the same drivers'-base logic and easy access to the lakes and mountains to the south. ARCOTEL Castellani (a former monastery with a garden), Austria Classic Hotel Hölle and Amadeo Hotel Schaffenrath sit on this side, and they suit a trip that mixes the city with day trips into the Salzkammergut and Berchtesgaden.

The short version: for a first trip, base yourself in the Altstadt or the Neustadt and walk everywhere. For the same city at a lower price, take the station district and ride the bus in. Only go to the outer districts and the airport if you are driving, on a tight budget, or catching an early flight — and check the walk or the bus time on the live page before you book, because it is the single thing that decides whether a low number is a bargain or a daily chore.

Beyond the Hotel: What to See in Salzburg

Start where the city shows off. The Altstadt is one of the best-preserved baroque city centres north of the Alps, and its heart is the great open square-sequence of Domplatz, Residenzplatz and Kapitelplatz around the Salzburg Cathedral (Dom) — a vast early-baroque church with a marble façade and an interior built for the archbishops who ran Salzburg as an independent church-state for centuries. The DomQuartier museum route links the cathedral, the Residenz state rooms and the abbey galleries in one ticket and is the best single way to understand why this small city is so grand. A few streets over, Getreidegasse is the famous shopping lane — narrow, tall, hung with wrought-iron guild signs even over the modern chain stores — and at number 9 is Mozart's Birthplace (Geburtshaus), the yellow building where Wolfgang Amadeus was born in 1756 and now a museum.

Then go up. The Hohensalzburg Fortress is the enormous white castle on the Festungsberg that dominates every view of the city, one of the largest fully preserved medieval fortresses in Europe. You can walk up the steep path in 15 to 20 minutes or take the FestungsBahn funicular from Festungsgasse, and the reward is the definitive view over the baroque rooftops to the Alps. Inside are state rooms, a couple of museums and the medieval fortress kitchens. Across the river, the Kapuzinerberg and the smaller Mönchsberg give quieter, greener walks with their own viewpoints — the Mönchsberg has the Museum der Moderne and a lift up from the old town if you would rather not climb.

The Mozart industry is real, and worth navigating with your eyes open. Mozart was born here, and the city has built a substantial visitor economy on it: the Birthplace on Getreidegasse and the Mozart Residence (Wohnhaus) across the river are both genuine museums worth doing, the Mozartkugel chocolate is sold on every corner (the original hand-made version comes from Café Fürst in the old town; the shiny foil-wrapped ones everywhere else are the mass-market spin-off), and Mozart concerts run year-round. It is touristy, and it is also the actual biography of the actual composer — take the two museums and as much or as little of the chocolate and the concerts as you like.

The Sound of Music is the other industry, and here honesty helps. The 1965 film was shot in and around Salzburg, and the bus tours to Mirabell Gardens, Schloss Leopoldskron, Hellbrunn (the gazebo), Nonnberg Abbey and Mondsee church are enormously popular with international visitors — for a great many people it is the reason they came, and if you love the film you will love the tour. The honest local footnote is that the film is barely known among Salzburgers — many have never seen it — and the whole phenomenon is a visitor thing, not a local one. None of that makes it less fun if it is your thing; it just means you lose nothing by skipping it and seeing the same lovely places on foot if it is not.

On the edges of the city, two things are worth the short trip. Hellbrunn Palace, just south, is a 17th-century pleasure palace famous for its Wasserspiele — the trick fountains an archbishop built to soak his dinner guests, still working and still soaking visitors, which makes it the best family hit in Salzburg on a hot day. And Schloss Mirabell back in the centre has the gardens that are free to wander and glorious in summer. Further out, the working salt mines at Hallein (Salzwelten) — salt is the "Salz" in Salzburg and the source of its historic wealth — take you underground on miners' slides, and the Untersberg cable car from St. Leonhard lifts you to around 1,800 metres for an enormous view over the city and into Bavaria (take warm layers; the summit is far colder than the valley).

And the lakes. The Salzkammergut lake district begins just east of the city, and it is one of the best reasons to base yourself here: Wolfgangsee, Mondsee and Fuschlsee are all within about 30 to 50 minutes, and Hallstatt, the impossibly photogenic lakeside village, is a full day out (around 1 hour 15 to 1 hour 30 each way). Go to Hallstatt early — it is tiny and gets extremely crowded by mid-morning in summer. Just over the German border, Berchtesgaden, the Königssee and the Eagle's Nest make another popular day trip.

The food is a genuine pleasure, not an afterthought. Seek out Salzburger Nockerl, the city's signature dessert — a huge sweet baked soufflé in three peaks meant to echo the hills, big enough to share — along with Wiener Schnitzel, Tafelspitz (boiled beef) and Kasnocken (Austrian cheese dumplings). The Augustiner Bräustübl, a vast monastery-run beer hall where you pour your own from wooden barrels and bring food from the stalls, is an experience in its own right and much loved by locals. And Café Sacher does the famous Sachertorte if you want the full old-Salzburg café ritual.

Getting Around Salzburg

Walking is the answer for the centre. Salzburg is one of the most walkable small cities in Europe: the old town, the fortress hill, Mirabell Gardens and most of the sights sit within a compact core either side of the Salzach, and you can cross the whole historic centre on foot in 20 to 25 minutes. Once you are based centrally you will barely use public transport at all. Good shoes and a light waterproof matter more than any travel pass.

The bus network (Obus) — Salzburg runs a clean, frequent electric trolleybus system — covers everywhere the walk does not, and it is what you use to reach the outer hotels, the airport and the edges of the city. Buy a single ticket from the machine or driver, or a 24-hour ticket if you are staying out of the centre and riding in daily; tickets are cheaper bought in advance from a Tabak-Trafik kiosk than from the driver. There is no metro or tram — the bus is the system.

From the airport, Salzburg Airport (SZG) is only about 4 kilometres west of the centre, so it is a quick, cheap trip: city buses 2 and 10 run from outside the terminal to the main station and the edge of the old town in around 20 minutes for the price of a normal ticket, and a taxi takes 10 to 15 minutes. If you have flown into Munich instead, direct airport-to-Salzburg buses and the train via Munich Hauptbahnhof both take around 1 hour 30 to 2 hours — a genuinely easy connection that many UK visitors use.

By rail, Salzburg Hauptbahnhof is a major stop on the Munich–Vienna line: fast trains reach Munich in around 1 hour 30 to 1 hour 50 and Vienna on the railjet in about 2 hours 20, which makes both cities easy add-ons or arrival points. Do not hire a car for the city itself — the centre is walkable, much of the old town is pedestrianised or restricted, and parking is pushed into paid garages on the edge. Hire a car only for the lakes and mountains, remember that Austrian motorways require a toll vignette (buy it at the border or online) that Germany does not, and consider picking the car up on the day you leave town rather than paying to park it unused during your city days. Austria drives on the right.

Two money habits worth building. First, unlike North America, VAT is already in the price on menus and shelves, so the number you see is broadly the number you pay — the only extra on a hotel bill is a small per-person city tourist tax of a couple of euros a night, which some hotels fold into the rate and others add at checkout. Second, tipping is modest: round up the bill or add 5 to 10 per cent for good service in restaurants, told to the server as you pay rather than left on the table, round up a taxi fare, and leave a euro or two for a porter. Nobody here works for tips the way they do in the United States.

Explore more of Austria and the Alps

If you are building a wider trip, our other city guides follow the same format — every hotel verified, every price live and honestly labelled:

• Best Hotels in Vienna for Every Budget — the Austrian capital, about 2 hours 20 from Salzburg on the fast railjet train and the natural pairing on a first Austria trip.
• Best Hotels in Munich for Every Budget — just over the German border and only about 1 hour 30 away by train, the airport most UK visitors actually use to reach Salzburg.

Salzburg Hotels FAQs

Why do the Salzburg hotel prices in this guide look so high? Because they were sampled for late August, which is close to the most expensive stretch of the Salzburg year. Late summer is peak tourist season and it overlaps the Salzburg Festival, the huge classical music and opera festival that runs from late July through August and fills the city's hotels for five straight weeks. The 49 hotels here run from about £99 at the airport Leonardo to £1,421 a night at the Hotel Sacher, the middle of this sample sits around £160, and the median across the wider Salzburg summer search we pulled for the same dates was closer to £187. Search the same hotels for a week in March, May, late October or November and you will very likely see materially lower numbers. Nothing in this guide should be read as saying Salzburg is a cheap city to sleep in.

Which months are cheapest for Salzburg hotels? Roughly November before the Christmas markets open, then January, February and March once the New Year peak has passed, and again in late April and early May. Those are the windows when the festival crowds are gone, the day-trippers are elsewhere and hotels discount to fill rooms. Avoid late July and August for the Salzburg Festival, the four weeks of Advent when the Christkindlmarkt runs, the days around New Year, and Easter. Late spring and early autumn are the best all-round compromise: mild weather, everything open and rates well below the summer peak.

Do UK passport holders need a visa for Austria? No. Austria is in the Schengen Area and UK passport holders can visit for up to 90 days in any 180-day period without a visa for tourism. Two things are changing at the border, though, and you should check the current position before you travel rather than trust a guide written months earlier: the EU's Entry/Exit System (EES), which registers non-EU visitors with fingerprints and a photo instead of a passport stamp, and ETIAS, a paid online travel authorisation that will eventually be required in advance. Both have had their start dates moved more than once. Check the official UK government travel advice for Austria for the live rules before you book flights.

What currency is used in Salzburg? The euro (EUR). Every price in this guide is a rough sterling conversion because that is what UK readers compare against, and the exact figure moves with the exchange rate. Cards and contactless are accepted almost everywhere a visitor goes, though Austria is more cash-friendly than the UK — some smaller guesthouses, bakeries, market stalls and mountain huts still prefer cash, so carry a little. Prices on the shelf include VAT, so the number you see is broadly the number you pay, unlike North America.

Are there direct flights from the UK to Salzburg? Sometimes, and mostly in winter. Salzburg Airport (SZG) has a strong seasonal ski-season schedule with direct flights from several UK airports between roughly December and March — this is a major gateway for the Austrian Alps — plus a thinner summer schedule. Outside those windows the direct options can dry up, and the usual answer is to fly to Munich, which is only about 1 hour 30 minutes from Salzburg by train, car or direct airport bus, or to Vienna and take the fast railjet train, about 2 hours 20 minutes. Check live routes for your dates rather than assuming a direct flight exists.

How much does a budget hotel cost per night in Salzburg? Between about £124 and £189 a night for the 35 properties in the most affordable tier of this guide, on late-August dates, with a median around £157. That is not cheap by any normal definition, and it is important to be straight about it: these are the least expensive rooms in an expensive, festival-week sample, not bargains. Not a single hotel in the budget tier comes in below £120 on these dates. On spring, autumn or winter dates the same rooms are frequently a good deal less, so put your own dates into any hotel link before you judge.

What is the most expensive hotel in this guide? Hotel Sacher Salzburg, at around £1,421 a night on the dates we sampled — the riverside grande dame with the famous café, and comfortably the priciest room in the post. Behind it come Hotel Bristol Salzburg at about £810 and the Sheraton Grand Salzburg at about £489. Notably, two four-star hotels — the IMLAUER HOTEL PITTER at about £406 and IMLAUER Palais Mirabell at about £334 — cost more in this sample than the cheapest five-star, the HYPERION at about £301, which tells you how much festival-week demand distorts the normal price ladder. The full range across all 49 hotels is roughly £99 to £1,421.

What is the cheapest hotel in this guide? On these dates it is the Leonardo Hotel Salzburg Airport at about £99, which sits in the mid-range list rather than the budget tier only because it is a full four-star chain hotel — the catch is that it is by the airport, west of the city, rather than in the centre. The cheapest hotel in the budget tier proper is Hotel Pass Lueg at about £124. Below £130 you are also looking at The Passenger at about £126 and Gästehaus Reiter at about £129. Read each entry for the trade-off, because at this end of the Salzburg market the low price usually buys a location a bus ride out.

Which area should I stay in for a first visit to Salzburg? The Altstadt, the old town on the left bank of the Salzach, or the Neustadt directly across the river. The Altstadt is the UNESCO-listed core — the cathedral, the fortress above, Getreidegasse, Mozart's birthplace — and staying inside it means you walk out of your hotel into the postcard. It is also the priciest and the most limited on hotel stock, and cars are largely kept out. The Neustadt on the right bank holds Mirabell Palace and Gardens, the Mozart Residence and a lot of the mid-range hotels, and it is a five to ten minute walk across a footbridge to the Altstadt. For a first visit, base yourself on either side of the river within the ring and you can leave the map in your pocket.

Is it worth staying in the Altstadt (old town)? If atmosphere is what you are buying, yes. The Altstadt is one of the best-preserved baroque city centres north of the Alps, and being inside it early in the morning before the coach parties arrive, or late in the evening after they leave, is the version of Salzburg people fall in love with. The trade-offs are real: hotel stock is small and heavily boutique so it prices at the very top and sells out first, most of the district is pedestrianised so you cannot drive to the door, and in festival season the whole quarter is at capacity. If your budget is tight, sleep across the river in the Neustadt and walk in.

What is the Neustadt (right bank) like as a base? Practical, central and generally better value than the Altstadt. The Neustadt is the right-bank half of the historic centre, built around Mirabell Palace and its gardens — the ones every Sound of Music tour photographs — with the Mozart Residence, the Kapuzinerberg hill and a good spread of restaurants. It holds a lot of the city's mid-range and four-star hotels, several of them in this guide, and it is only a short walk across the Salzach on the Makartsteg footbridge to the old town. For most visitors who want to be central without paying Altstadt prices, this is the sweet spot.

Where are the cheaper hotels in Salzburg? Away from the two historic banks. The most affordable rooms cluster around the main railway station (Hauptbahnhof) in the north, out along the arterial roads to the north and south of the centre, and in the airport belt to the west. The station area is the most useful of these for a visitor without a car, because it is a 15 to 20 minute walk or a couple of stops on the frequent buses into the old town, and it is where the trains from Munich and Vienna arrive. The airport and outer-road hotels are cheaper again but assume you will bus or drive in. There is no genuinely cheap corner inside the historic centre itself.

Is the Salzburg Festival why the hotels are so expensive? In late July and August, largely yes. The Salzburger Festspiele is one of the most important classical music and opera festivals in the world, it runs for around five weeks from late July into the end of August, and it brings a wealthy international audience that books the best hotels months ahead and holds rates at their annual peak. Our sample falls squarely in that window, which is a big part of why the numbers look the way they do. If you are not coming for the festival, the single most effective thing you can do to cut your hotel bill is to avoid those five weeks — a week in June or September is a different city at a different price.

When are the Christmas markets, and do they push prices up? The Salzburg Christkindlmarkt runs through Advent, roughly from mid or late November until around Christmas, with the main market on Domplatz and Residenzplatz in front of the cathedral and several smaller ones across the city. It is genuinely lovely and it is the second big demand spike of the year after the summer festival, so weekend hotel rates in December climb and the best-placed hotels sell out. The days around New Year are dear too. If you want the markets without the peak, come on a weekday in the first half of December rather than a weekend close to Christmas.

Is the Sound of Music tour worth doing? It depends entirely on who you are. The 1965 film was shot in and around Salzburg, and the bus tours that visit Mirabell Gardens, Leopoldskron and Hellbrunn palaces, the gazebo and Nonnberg Abbey are enormously popular with international visitors — for a lot of people it is the reason they came. It is worth being honest about the local side of it, though: the film is barely known among Salzburgers, many have never seen it, and the whole phenomenon is a visitor thing rather than a local one. If you love the film, do the tour and enjoy it. If you do not, you lose nothing by skipping it and seeing the same places on foot.

Do I need a car in Salzburg? No, and it is a mild nuisance to have one. The historic centre is small, flat along the river and made for walking, the bus network covers everywhere else a visitor goes, and much of the old town is pedestrianised or restricted, with parking pushed into paid garages on the edge. Keep a car only if you are touring the lakes and mountains around the city — the Salzkammergut, Hallstatt, Berchtesgaden — and even then consider picking it up on the day you leave town rather than parking it unused for your city days. Austria drives on the right and motorways need a toll vignette.

How do I get from Salzburg Airport into the city? Salzburg Airport (SZG) is only about 4 kilometres west of the centre, so it is a quick trip. City buses — the 2 and the 10 — run from directly outside the terminal to the main station and the edge of the old town in around 20 minutes for the price of a normal ticket, which is much cheaper than a taxi. Taxis take 10 to 15 minutes and are the easy option late at night or with luggage and children. If you have flown into Munich instead, the direct airport-to-Salzburg buses and the train via Munich Hauptbahnhof both take around 1 hour 30 to 2 hours.

Is Salzburg walkable? Very. It is one of the most walkable small cities in Europe: the UNESCO old town, the fortress hill, Mirabell Gardens and most of the sights sit within a compact core either side of the Salzach, and you can cross the whole historic centre on foot in 20 to 25 minutes. The one climb is up to the Hohensalzburg Fortress, and even that has a funicular if you would rather not walk it. Good shoes matter more than any transport pass — most visitors barely use the buses once they are based centrally.

How many days do I need in Salzburg? Two full days covers the city itself comfortably. Day one for the Altstadt — the cathedral, Residenzplatz, Getreidegasse and Mozart's birthplace, then the funicular up to the Hohensalzburg Fortress for the view. Day two for the right bank — Mirabell Palace and Gardens, the Mozart Residence, a walk up the Kapuzinerberg — plus Hellbrunn Palace and its trick fountains on the southern edge. A third and fourth day are easily filled with day trips: the lakes of the Salzkammergut, Hallstatt, the Untersberg cable car or the salt mines. Many people visit Salzburg as a single day trip from Munich, which sees the highlights but misses the early-morning and evening old town.

Can I do a day trip to Hallstatt or the lakes from Salzburg? Yes, and it is one of the best reasons to base yourself here. The Salzkammergut lake district begins just east of the city: the Wolfgangsee, Mondsee (whose church features in the Sound of Music wedding scene) and Fuschlsee are all within about 30 to 50 minutes by car or bus. Hallstatt, the much-photographed lakeside village, is farther — around 1 hour 15 to 1 hour 30 each way by car, or a longer bus-and-boat or train-and-ferry combination — so it makes a full day rather than a half. Go early, because Hallstatt in particular is small and gets extremely crowded by mid-morning in summer.

Can I visit the salt mines or the Untersberg? Both, and both are excellent half-days. Salzburg means 'salt castle' and salt is why the city is rich — the working show mines at Hallein (Salzwelten), about 20 minutes south, take you underground on miners' slides and across an underground lake, and are a reliable hit with children. The Untersberg, the great massif that looms over the city to the south, has a cable car from St. Leonhard that lifts you to around 1,800 metres for an enormous view over the city and into Bavaria; take warm layers because the summit is much colder than the valley. Berchtesgaden and the Eagle's Nest, just over the German border, are a longer but popular day out.

Is Munich a good way to reach Salzburg? It is often the best way. Munich Airport has far more UK connections than Salzburg, especially outside the winter ski season, and Salzburg is only about 1 hour 30 minutes away — there are direct trains from Munich Hauptbahnhof (around 1 hour 30 to 1 hour 50), direct express buses, and an easy drive on the A8 autobahn. Plenty of UK visitors fly into Munich, spend a night or two there, then continue to Salzburg by train, and the two cities pair naturally on one trip. If you go by car, remember Austria requires a motorway vignette and Germany does not.

Do I need to speak German in Salzburg? No. German is the official language and the local dialect is Austrian rather than the textbook German you may have learned, but Salzburg is a major international tourist city and English is widely spoken in hotels, restaurants, shops and at the sights. A few words go a long way socially — Grüß Gott is the standard Austrian hello, danke is thank you — and using them is appreciated, but you will never be stuck. Menus and signs in the tourist core are very often bilingual.

Is Salzburg safe for tourists? Yes. Salzburg is a small, prosperous and very safe city by any international standard, and the overwhelming majority of visitors have an entirely uneventful trip. The realistic risks are the ordinary ones of any busy tourist destination: pickpocketing in the most crowded parts of the old town and at the station in high season, and slips on wet cobbles or winter ice. Use normal city sense with bags and phones in crowds, take care on the steep paths up to the fortress and the Kapuzinerberg in the wet, and check the current UK Foreign Office travel advice for Austria before you go.

How much should I tip in Salzburg? Modestly, and less than in North America. In restaurants and cafés the convention is to round up the bill or add roughly 5 to 10 per cent for good service, told to the server as you pay rather than left on the table — you state the total you want to pay when you hand over the money or card. Round up a taxi fare, leave a euro or two for a hotel porter, and a couple of euros a day for housekeeping if you wish. Service is not run on tips the way it is in the United States, so there is no need to over-think it.

Is the tap water safe to drink in Salzburg? Yes — it is excellent, and you should drink it. Salzburg's tap water comes largely from protected alpine and groundwater sources and is high quality straight from the tap, so there is no need to buy bottled water for your room. Public drinking fountains around the city run clean mountain water too. Carry a refillable bottle and you will save money and plastic; asking for tap water — Leitungswasser — in a restaurant is fine, though a small charge is not unheard of.

Do Salzburg hotels add taxes and fees on top of the rate? A little. Austrian VAT is already included in the quoted room rate, so unlike North America the headline price is close to the real price. On top of it, the city levies a small local tourist or accommodation tax per person per night — a couple of euros a night — which some hotels include in the rate and others add at checkout. A few properties charge separately for parking or breakfast. It is minor compared with the taxes stacked onto a North American hotel bill, but check the total on the live page rather than the headline rate before you compare two hotels.

Is Salzburg good for families? It is a manageable and rewarding family city. The centre is compact and walkable, the fortress with its funicular and museums is a reliable hit, the Hellbrunn trick fountains are built to soak children on a hot day, the Haus der Natur museum is genuinely good in any weather, and the salt mines and Untersberg cable car sit a short trip away. The one honest caveat is hotel stock: family rooms in the historic centre are limited and pricey in summer, so families often do best in the mid-range and budget hotels near the station or the outer roads, where rooms are larger and cheaper and the bus in is short.

What should I eat in Salzburg? A few local things are worth seeking out. Salzburger Nockerl is the city's signature dessert — a huge, sweet baked soufflé in three peaks meant to echo the hills around the city, big enough to share. Wiener Schnitzel, Tafelspitz (boiled beef) and Kasnocken (Austrian cheese dumplings) anchor the savoury side, and the Augustiner Bräustübl, a vast monastery-run beer hall, is an experience in itself. On the sweet side the Mozartkugel — a pistachio-marzipan and nougat chocolate ball — is everywhere; the original hand-made version comes from Café Fürst in the old town, while the foil-wrapped ones in every shop are the mass-market spin-off. Café Sacher does the famous Sachertorte.

Are the star ratings in this guide official? Treat them as supplier-declared rather than a formal government grading. Austria does operate a hotel classification scheme, but the star figures shown here come from our accommodation data and are a rough guide, not an audited grade — which matters most at the bottom of the list. Several strong entries in the affordable tier carry no star rating at all because they are apartment, pension or boutique stays that have not sought a classification, and a couple of the best-reviewed budget hotels are unrated for exactly that reason. Review counts are a far better guide to reliability than stars, which is why every entry here shows both.

How do I book these exact hotels at the prices shown? Every hotel name in this guide links to its own live page on JetMeAway, where you set your dates and see the real rate for those nights. The from-prices here were sampled for late August, during the Salzburg Festival, which is close to the most expensive period of the Salzburg year, so almost any other set of dates will return a different and usually lower number. We take an affiliate commission from the provider — we never add a mark-up or a booking fee to your price.

Compare live Salzburg hotel prices or search UK flights to Salzburg (SZG).