← Wörthersee Marathon·3 nights

Salzburg: Three Nights Across the Mountains

One long train ride from the Carinthian lake to Salzburg, then a flat old town, a fortress reached by funicular and three nights on one booking.

Duration3 nights
TransitDirect train from Klagenfurt Hbf to Salzburg Hbf, about three hours
DepartsKlagenfurt Hauptbahnhof

After the Wörthersee Marathon: Salzburg

The Route: Klagenfurt → Salzburg → Salzburg Airport (or onward) Logistics: Direct train from Klagenfurt Hbf to Salzburg Hbf, about three hours according to journey planners. One hotel for three nights. Check the timetable, since frequency varies. Marathon Month: September Duration: 3 nights

Klagenfurt Hbf ──(about 3 hrs by train)──> Salzburg Hbf ──(bus / walk)──> Old town hotel
                                                                │
                                                 Salzburg Airport ◄─(bus / taxi)─┘

A three-hour train ride is a long time after a marathon, but it is the best kind of long: you sit, a window gives you the Alps and nobody asks you to stand. Salzburg is the reward, and three nights make it worth the ride. Spend the first afternoon arriving and sitting in a café, keep the sights that need legs for the second day, and leave slowly on the third.

September in Salzburg: the festival crowds of high summer have gone. Pack a rain layer. Opening hours for the main sights shift with the season, so check each website before you set off.

Getting there

Trains run from Klagenfurt Hauptbahnhof to Salzburg Hauptbahnhof in about 2 hours 54 minutes on the main route, according to a journey aggregator, which also shows a slower route via Freilassing. The frequency listed is inconsistent, so check the ÖBB timetable at oebb.at for the day, and book a seat reservation if you are carrying luggage. From Salzburg Hbf, a bus or a walk of about 20 to 25 minutes reaches the old town; ask your hotel which suits your luggage.

Nights one to three: Salzburg

Choose one hotel. The Hotel Goldener Hirsch stands on Getreidegasse in the heart of the old town, and the Motel One Salzburg-Mirabell sits by the Mirabell Gardens, a plain, central budget option. Check availability and breakfast hours for your dates.

The old town is a compact, flat grid on the Salzach, which makes it kind to sore legs. Getreidegasse is the famous shopping street, and Mozart's birthplace stands on it. The Mirabell Gardens are a formal park across the river, reached on level paths.

The Hohensalzburg Fortress stands above the city, and a funicular climbs to it, so a runner does not have to. Check festung-hohensalzburg.at for opening hours and ticket prices before you plan the day. Expect stairs once you are inside.

Keep the walking short on the first day. A slow loop of the old town on the flat takes about an hour, and a stop at a café will do the rest.

Where to eat

Stiftskeller St. Peter, beside the abbey, is a long-established restaurant in the old town. Opening days and kitchen hours vary, so telephone before you go and book for the evening.

Getting to Salzburg Airport

Salzburg Airport lies a few kilometres west of the old town. Take a bus or a taxi from the centre, and check the bus timetable the evening before your flight. If you are travelling onward by train, the journey from Salzburg Hbf to Vienna and to Munich runs on the main lines, and the timetable at oebb.at will show departures.