Salzburg Hbf (Salzburg)

The wonderfully modernised main station in Salzburg is a showpiece of how to preserve a station's beautiful exterior while transforming for the better, the experience of the traveller's which use it.
Which is especially convenient as the station is a key hub on the European rail network, hence it being busy in the middle of the night when multiple night trains are split and reformed so that they can head off in different directions.
Sazlburg Hbf is where the main east-west route across Austria; Bregenz - Innsbruck - Salzburg - Wien, meets the north-south route of Munchen - Salzburg - Villach and on to Slovenia and Croatia.
Salzburg is among the closest cities to Munchen/Munchen, so one of Europe's most frequent international rail routes connects them.

Though Salzburg Hbf is located on the opposite side of the city centre to where the majority of the city's tourist attractions can be found, but the station and the old town area are linked by frequent trolleybuses.

ShowMeTheJourney has anticipated what questions are most often asked about taking trains to and from Salzburg Hbf and answered them below.

If you can't find the information you are seeking, you can ask a question by using the Travel Planning Service

Yes - all of the platforms / tracks can be accessed by both escalators and lifts / elevators.

The old town, tourist heart of Salzburg is some distance from Salzburg Hbf, it is a 15 - 25min walk away.
The pedestrian route is

• 1: Turn left from the main exit on Sudtirioler Platz, and
• 2: Keep walking ahead, following the road under the railway and then walking down a street named RainerstraBe.
• 3: Turn right at the end of RainerstraBe on to MakartPlatz
• 4: Then turn left, ahead will be a bridge over the River Salzach which leads into the old town.

By trolleybus

The public transport option is to take trolleybus lines 3, 5 and 6 from the trolleybus station on Südtiroler Platz, right outside the main exit at Salzburg Hbf.
Then leave the bus at the 'Rathaus' or 'Mozartsteg' stops, which are closest to the tourist heart of the city - Check which stop will suit you best before boarding the bus.

Tickets can be purchased from:

• the Salzburg AG service centre in Salzburg Hbf; Salzburg AG is the city's local transport provider.
• tobacconist shops - including multiple outlets in Salzburg Hbf
• from ticket machines at the trolleybus stops - payment can be made with coins, bank cards and most credit cards
• in the Salzburg AG app

The choice of tickets is:

• SVV hourly ticket for the Salzburg core zone (full price, senior, minimum, youth)
• SVV 24-hour ticket for the Salzburg core zone (full price, senior, minimum, youth)
• MyRegio weekly & monthly tickets (Salzburg City Region)

Tickets can be purchased in advance and validated upon departure.

Salzburg is probably the only city in the world where the only public transport connection between it's airport and city centre is provided by a trolleybus.
Route 2 links the station/bahnhof and flughafen/airport.

When heading to the airport from the station, this line 2 trolleybus stops outside the main exit from Salzburg Hbf on the Südtiroler Platz.
Take the buses heading to 'Walserfeld'.

At the airport take buses heading to 'Obergnigl'.
The buses run every 15 mins and the journey between the airport (flughafen) and main station (hauptbahnhof) will take around 20 mins = - see above for how to purchase tickets.

The route / line 10 links the airport with the old town area.

There are multiple take-away outlets and a full meal service is available at the Restaurant Johann.

Yes, there is a lounge which is located in the passage way beneath the bahnsteige (platforms / tracks).
It can be accessed by holders of 1st class tickets with a minimum value of €15, plus of holders of multiple cards and passes for 1st class travel, including holders of 1st class Eurail and InterRail passes.
Those with 2nd class tickets with a minimum value of €8 can enter on payment of a €10 fee.

Yes there are lockers which can be accessed during all of the station opening hours, though payment is solely by coins.

When planning a trip, finding convenient accommodation can be trickier than working out which train to take.
Hence ShowMeTheJourney has partnered with the innovative accommodation portal, Stay 22, to offer three options for discovering your optimum accommodation:

1: Use the map above to see which hotel rooms and Vrbo rentals, with easy access to Salzburg Hbf, are available.

2: Or click on these cherry-picked properties, offered by Stay 22 partner Booking.com, which are by Salzburg Hbf and have been selected on the basis of high guest ratings:

H+ Hotel Salzburg

Austria Trend Hotel Europa Salzburg

Cocoon Salzburg

arte Hotel Salzburg

Hotel Zum Hirschen Salzburg

3: Or see what's available with Stay 22's accommodation partners; which include, Expedia, Hotels.com and Trivago - by clicking the large button below.
Stay 22 will 'shuffle' the booking services so that you can be automatically directed to its partner that currently has the optimum availability at this location.

SVV is the transport authority which manages the sale of public transport tickets in the länder / state of Salzburg, which includes Bad Gastein, Radstadt and Zell-am-See.
A key thing worth knowing when booking tickets between Salzburg and other locations within the länder, is that SVV seemingly doesn't release second class tickets for sale until around a month ahead of the travel date.

The tickets are sold on the OBB, national rail, website...

...but notice that the abbreviation of the transport authority is included on the ticket details.

However, because OBB takes responsibility for selling first class tickets, it's possible to look up journeys more than a month ahead when travelling between Salzburg and locations within the länder / state.
Though if you do so:

• for departures and connections by the express train services, EC, IC, RJ, or RJX, you will only find first class tickets;
• for departures and connections by the local (S-Bahn) and regional (REX) train services, you will see 'tickets are not available', because these trains don't include first class.
  It doesn't mean that second class tickets for the express trains and all of the tickets to travel by the REX trains have sold out, instead it's because the tickets haven't yet been released for sale.
  So if you want to book second class tickets in advance for journeys wholly within Salzburg or Vorarlberg, you will need to look up the journeys no more than a month ahead.

Also the terms for how these SVV tickets are sold and how they can be used, differ from the discounted Sparschiene tickets that OBB makes available for the longer-distance journeys.
The key differences are:

• The tickets aren't discounted, so you won't save by booking online in advance.
• The tickets can be cancelled and therefore refunded up to before the travel date.
• 'Single Trip' tickets are cheaper, but you need to travel by the specific departures you select when making a booking.
• 'Standard Tickets' allow you to travel by any departure on your travel date.
• 'Day Tickets' give the freedom to travel in second class on multiple train journeys within the region on your travel date, so they can also be used for return journeys; they tend to be twice the price of 'Single Trip' tickets, but give the freedom to be not tied to taking specific trains!

The main entrance to Salzburg Hbf is on Südtiroler Platz by the trolleybus station; Salzburg doesn’t have a metro/U-Bahn, so the trolleybus is the main public transport network in Salzburg.

From the main entrance hall in Salzburg Hbf, a wide passage way leads under the bahnsteigen (platforms/tracks) which gives access to the trains.
The trains depart from an upper level, but there are easy to navigate stairs, escalators and lifts up to each platform/track/bahnsteig.

Finding Your Train at Salzburg central station:

You can use the electronic indicators to find out which bahnsteige your train will be departing from.
If it isn’t yet listed yet on the electronic screens, use the yellow 'Abfahrt; departure sheets.

Though don’t head to the platforms/bahnsteig too soon.
You’re better off waiting for a train in one of the cafés on the lower Südtiroler Platz level - or in the 1st class lounge if you have a 1st class ticket/rail pass.

Another electronic indicator on the platform will give details of the next train to depart.

Boarding Your Train:

The platforms/bahnsteig are zoned and on each of them is an electronic display - showing which carriage/coach of each train will be located in each zone when the train is at the platform.
So if you have a reservation or will be travelling 1st class, you can use it to work out where to wait on the platform/track/bahnsteig for easy boarding.

If you don't have a reservation, it can be a good idea to work which zone your train will be using, which is furthest from the entrance.
Do this and you'll have less competition when choosing your pick of the available seats.

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