Salzburg Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Tour

Excellent way of discovering Salzburg's area

It gives you the chance to first locate the places you want to visit, and then to stop and visit them.

City sightseeing comfort

Safe, secure and comfortable bus for sightseeing Austria. Reasonable cost. Drivers were friendly. Frequent pickup. Audio system good.

Great trip!

The hop-on-hop-off tour had a very clear description of the sites of Salzburg, and was very engaging. I particularly enjoyed going around once and hearing descriptions of each place, and then going around again to hear Sound Of Music specific commentary. We saw some additional sites that had not been included in the Sound of Music tour to complete our time in Salzburg. Note: The tour guides may not be familiar with the movie, and are somewhat unaware where some of the film locations are. We were able to find them anyway.

Great trip

It was a beautiful day. Great staff and very helpful. Amazing tours on two different routes, a free city bus pass too!

A good way to get acquainted

Salzburg Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Tour is a great way to get acquainted with what there is to see in Salzburg. The accompanied recording is very informative and the ability to get on and off the bus when you chose is very helpful.

Not a true Hop on Off

Yellow line is just OK. Not many stops. Blue line is NOT hop on hop off. Takes 2 hours and only runs 3 times a day. Goes way out of Salzburg to Germany on windy mountain roads. Not what we wanted. Take The original Sound of Music tour instead.

Great way to see the most famous landmarks in Salzburg

A well-run and clean tour. You listen through earbuds which the operators provide. The recording lines up with where you are in the tour, so if there is traffic and the driver is delayed, the recording doesn't keep going, instead it keeps pace with the bus. The bus hits the stops exactly on time as listed in the brochure, so if you want to get off and back on, you won't run into the problem of not knowing when the ext bus will arrive which happens often with other tour operators in other cities. I wish there was better visibility from the bus, as it's not panoramic, but that's my only quip. The full tour lasts one hour exactly ( if you don't exit the bus) and starts and finishes at Mirabellplatz 2, 5020 Salzburg, Austria. I definitely recommend it for a quick run through of Salzburg's most famous landmarks, then get a Salzburg day card to use the public transportation if you want to travel throughout the city outside of the tour bus loop.

A must if visiting Salzburg.

A great tour bus to see Salzburg. It does all the main sites and doesn't take very long to do full tour. Bus was very clean. Would do this tour again.

Terrible driver/host

We always like to do a tour like this the first day when we travel to a new city/country to get a lay of the land and see if there’s anywhere we see that we want to go first. The lady driving our bus started off having to raise her voice at me first thing because I didn’t know we had to scan our tickets entering the bus, then rolled her eyes and chucked with others waiting in line. While I sat in my seat I noticed it was a common event that almost everyone had to get a yelling at 😒. Maybe they need to be a little more specific before entering the bus . That started me on the wrong foot. I thought she was a terrible host for my first day in Austria . We listened to headsets and she didn’t have to talk (thank goodness at this point). At one point in our journey when someone walked out in front of us and quite a few of us gasped, she turned around shaking her finger at us telling us not to do that. She acted like she was very annoyed at any interaction anyone had. She surely does not enjoy what she’s doing and should hang her keys up for someone else. If it helps the company, we did the 1 pm tour.

Waste of money

This said it was an hour tour. It were on the bus at most 45 min, and the driver pulled over three times and waited at least 5 min each...more like a 30 min tour. Not a good value at 22,00 euro per person. You listen to a prerecorded guide, that often times did not line up with the area that you were actully driving by. I felt like this was a waste of money.

Worth the experience

We saw areas of Salzburg we would not have seen otherwise as we did not a car. Less music would be appreciated.

Disappointing 4

Sorry but nothing very positive to say. Not at all like the usual Hop oOn Hop Off bus experience we have had previously. Only one bus on the route so after getting off at a stop the next bus was 90 minutes away. And in Salzburg all the main points of interest are pretty much all around the old town so the bus is not really necessary.

Not the best!

Bus driver rushed through the journey, not very interesting route, nice clean coach. Route could have been longer and covered outside the city.

Expensive option if out of season.

Booked in advance and did not know that there is only 1 bus every 1.5 hours in low season so unless you want to hang around for long time you have to stay on for the whole ride. Expensive option. Staff and driver great but not great value.

Dont

Just didn't seem worth the money. The ticket sellers lack of enthusiasm probably didn't enthuse me either. If you do choose this, make sure you are on the drivers side as most of the sights are on that side. Just use public transport instead.

Do NOT waste your money

The worst experience. The driver did not stop at several of the stops. The buses were 20 minutes late. We only got to two locations using the bus and had to pay for an Uber several times. This is a very poorly run company compared to other Hop on tours we have taken.

Not for me

Not much to see here… not like London or Paris. I had 2 days pass.. and an hour is enough. How history of sound of music.. if you are into that.. i guess some information helped.

Great bus ride

Wonderful city to see! Great bus ride to all the sights. Lovely sights to see. Great bus ride. Would recommend this.

Dreadful

We've been on many hop-on-hop-off style bus tours, and this is the worst by a long long way. After having to wait >5 minutes to buy tickets at the kiosk as the unfriendly guy chatted to a friend, the driver's sole aim seemed to be to break the record for driving the route as fast as possible (although she stopped to chat to a friend for a while). High speeds, no slowing to let us see interesting sights or let us match viewpoints with the recorded commentary. Awful, absolutely awful.

Compensation required.

We were not permitted on the bus, no ground agents to help us and the driver did not validate our online tickets. The company won’t respond to us now. We paid money for NO service.

Bizarre experience and the most unprepared and rude driver ever

Hello, I just had the most bizarre and atrocious experience of my life. I am in Salzburg and bought 48hrs of Hop On Hop Off services. I was at Mirabellplatz and took the allegedly last bus that was supposed to leave at 6:05 pm. At the station I asked the driver if i could get inside and he said “of course, get inside, get iniside”. Then the bus got filled with people in suits and departed. They didnt take the ordinary route and insted stopped in the middle of nowhere where all the people in suits left the bus to go to a convention. When I asked him if he was going to stop at the regular stops, including where my hotel is, he started shouting asking if i was “fu@#$% dumb” and then told me, my mother and my son to go “f$%&# ourselves”. And dropped us at the street. That is a very very regrettable behaviour and i wanted to make it public.

Tour stops part of the official secrets act

The equipment is some of the best I have encountered, this being the third hop on hop of I have use in three weeks. How ever for reasons best known to the them they don’t call out the stops,or stop to give any one the opportunity to leave if they want to. I have never encountered this before. It appears you are supposed to follow the map and the audio which of course is not always in sync with locations. When this was mentioned to the driver it was met with hostility that was a bit of surprise for someone in the tourist industry.

Not worth time or money

The bus didn’t stop anywhere interesting and drove so fast it was impossible to take pictures of sights as we passes by. Don’t waste time or money.

Bad experience

Very unfriendly at the terminal. The equipment seems outdated and has problems scanning the bar codes. The operator is swearing and cursing and blaming the company for substandard equipment. Scanning onto the bus does not work either. The bus drivers are generally short or unfriendly some of them with quite racist remarks about the driving of other cars. Overall a very unpleasant experience. Would not use again, any offers from that provider as a matter of fact.

Take the blue line to the salt mines

We do this in every city in Europe we have travelled. Not well done very disappointing. The audio was not the best of educating you. The driver did not stop at every stop. I am always thrilled with these bus tours and tho was my first disappointment. The only benefit was the blue line took you places that would have been more difficult to get to. That was the only benefit

Blue and yellow line yours are different

We bought a ticket through trip advisor but there was no explanation that the blue and yellow tours are different. The yellow line is an hour and is a city tour. The blue line is 2 hours and goes to the countryside and salt mines. You can get off and on and pay separately for a tour of the salt mine or visit the Eagles Nest. We accidentally bought a ticket for both which worked out well but it needs to be much clearer on trip advisor and on the bus company website the you have 2 options.

One time experience

Just take the 24 hour ticket if you want to go and have a short time in hand - it takes around 30-40 mins for the whole trip.

Lovely location, extremely rude and unhelpful driver

First let me say that the bus itself is very comfortable, the commentary is informative and the stops are good for reaching main attractions however that is where the positives cease. Unfortunately, the staff running this service significantly take away from what should be a very enjoyable experience. After a lovely day on the blue line we were returning back to Salzburg (Bus no. S415H) and chatting to some friends that we had made. The driver (Marco) shouted at us to say that we were not allowed to talk and would have to move seats if we wished to speak to one another (there were only 6 people on the bus) so we were not annoying any other guests. The driver was constantly talking very loudly on his phone for the entire duration of the trip which was not only rude but also very unsafe and our friends informed us he was on his phone constantly on their journey out as well. When we asked him any questions he either ignored us or answered very abruptly. He was also a terrible driver and the journey was very uncomfortable - jolting us and throwing us around in our seats which was very concerning especially to me as I was 6 months pregnant at the time. Additionally, the bus does not run very frequently on the blue line so should you wish to get off at any of the stops you are very limited. As this was a special trip for my mum's birthday and to celebrate my pregnancy we were very disappointed by the service we received which took away from a lovely trip and area of beauty.

Perfect way to see city in two days

This hop on hop off was great. Can’t be done in one day. Way too much to see. The audio was good- provided great info on the sites

Disappointed, poor value for money

This was probably the worst hop on hop off bus tour we have ever done, and we've done quite a few! And at €54 for 2 was not worth the money. To start with it was a single decker, not an open top double decker as most tend to be. Having said that it was comfortable and air conditioned, but that's about the only positives I can find! We went to Mirabell Gardens to get on at the first stop and had to actively search for someone selling tickets. Once purchased a bus arrived immediately and we got on board. The driver didn't even wait for my husband to sit down and in his rush, didn't spot the overhead rail and banged his head, so not a good start. By the time we got settled and plugged in our headphones we had missed the first 2 stops! The leaflet that you're given doesn't tell you what sights are at each stop, and the print is so small that it's difficult to read. We got off at 3 stops, and actually, another positive, the time table at each stop was accurate and the bus did arrive on time. Apart from the 1st driver, the rest were very nice. Our last stop was to go and see the castle and nunnery. We got off at what we thought was the right stop as we had seen there was a funicular, but once we found out, having walked uphill and steps already, it wasn't operational! We did get a far as the nunnery but had to miss the castle as I was recovering from surgery. It wasn't until later when back in the old town that we saw a working funicular up to the castle! We got back to Mirabell Gardens around 4.45 and intended to get on to another at 5.00 to do the bits we'd missed at the beginning but there were no more buses. That was partly us misreading the timetable so read carefully! Finally, the commentary wasn't very good, it gave some of the history but didn't really point out any interesting landmarks. I'd say don't bother. We'd already paid €4.50 for a bus ticket to get us to the town and that was valid all day, wish we'd just used that ticket on regular buses.

Salzburg City Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Tou

PLEASE do not waste your time or money. We unfortunately had a HORRIBLE driver who was so very rude to passengers who tried to ask him questions as he did not even acknowledge them. The information as another reviewer put it was "LIMITED" to say the least. Instead go to the St. Peter's area and soak in the ambiance there. We've never had this experience in any other city and that is why we opted to do it.

Worst experience of our three week trip through Europe

I have just had a terrible experience with Hop On Hop Off in Salzburg Austria on April 27 at 12:05p. We spent eur54.00 for 2 adults on the yellow line. We did not get on a single time. When we tried to get on stop 4, we waited almost an hour (from 3 to 4) and when the bus came, it did not even slow down. We did not want to wait another half hour, so walked to the train station. By the time we walked back to the selling kiosk, they were closed. They have not responded to numerous ways of reaching them. I do not want to spend good money chasing a refund because of the international calls from USA. If they are actually owned by Gray Line, what an embarrassment this franchise is to them.

I love hop-on-hop-off buses but this one is fair

Not bad but not great either: Good stuff: comfortable, well-kept bus, pleasant, informative audio guide, beautiful scenes, additional pass to all public transportation included Downsides: windows have stickers all over, obstructing view, no second floor, open-air seating, driving is jerky and fast (like a sports car) making photos impossible, audio guide includes obvious advertising of other attractions and tours - would be nice to have more history and less promotion, headset clear sound but doesn't stay well in ear

It was not the greatest. ...

It was not the greatest. We hopped on mid way and did not have headphones. The driver did not check our tickets. It is not needed if you are within walking distance to Old Town.

Hop on hop off bus

Comfortable buses but commentary very limited. Frequency of buses poor - we waited an hour and 45 minutes for the next bus after getting off at Schloss Leopoldskron so we could take some photos. Could do with short wait times as various places of interest along te route to allow for photo opportunities.

Enough

Bad experience. Times alista canceled, audio not working, bus broke down and driver loud, had other places. With no problems, this one bad,

Ticket buying inconvenient, your delightful

We were not able to buy tickets from the driver and had to make our way to a ticket office in an unfamiliar city. Very discouraging. The tour itself was delightful.

Longer hours would be great!

We were disappointed that the bus service ended so early. Unfortunately, by the time we got to Salzburg, we only had a few hours to utilize the bus. We took it one stop before getting off to walk around Old Town. It was raining pretty hard so we wanted to get back on to ride around town (and stay dry). At 4:00, we waited for nearly 45 minutes for the bus to show up. It never came and we were soaked, having to take an Uber back to our hotel. We paid $48 to ride the bus for less than 5 minutes.

Must do for a first timer

Great way to learn about the city. You can go at your own pace. Get access to key points and landmarks

The bar code and narration- a problem

When presenting our voucher, the man accepting tickets said he would only accept it if the voucher (ticket) only had a bar code. We scrolled, pushed all the choices, but couldn’t find the bar code. He tried it too, not finding the bar code. He said that he had this same problem with a customer yesterday and also was annoyed. We were ready to buy additional tickets, since we couldn’t find the code until he came across how to download it. It worked, but we worked on finding the code for a good 30 minutes. Once getting on the crowded bus with very little leg room, we listened to the audio, but seemed to miss the landmarks being explained since it was located either on the other side of the bus or by the time we understood what the landmark was, the bus passed it. We took a Hop on Hop off bus years ago, and recalled the same problem. The ticket (bar code) experience was a pain and we felt like we missed more than half of the beautiful sites of Salzburg since the audio explained them as we passed them by. We won’t take another Hop on Hop off bus, in any city.

Meh

I’ve always loved Hop On Hop Off Tours but this was a disappointment. Employees cold. We took the city tour (yellow line). There was more Sound of Music soundtrack than information. No one told us about headphones. We figured it out soon enough but no info provided. We finally just got off. The “tour” was largely uninteresting especially for a city that has been around for millennia.

The sites of Salzburg

The hop on hop off bus gives a good tour of the city so that the visitor will know how to plan their visit and how to get to the places they would like to explore.

Not worth the time or €

Not a very good bus tour. The worst I've been on. Poor audio, sparse commentary, hard to find bus stops. Save your money, avoid.

Nice and relaxing ride

I wanted to see places considered by locals as highlights of Salzburg. I have read reviews and had no extra expectations and it end up I was lucky. Bus driver was nice and helping, I didn't wait any minutes longer, I had nice weather, listening music and hearing all the stories about Sound of music perfectly well. It was easy relaxing fun 😊

Fun and Easy!

We love these tours and try to do them in every city we visit. This tour was great. We saw everything we wanted to see. I use a walker and it was easy to get on and off and the drivers were always helpful. This was a great way to see the sites!! Get a Salzburg card too- totally worth the money!!

Very nice bus tour

Very nice bus tour. The driver even added additional comintary about the area. We would do it again the next time we come to this area.

Grayline bus tour

As I waited for reply my email to cancel this ticket but I don't see reply till 9.30 am Salzburg time. Your hope on hope off tour is not up to Mark & waste of time and money. All Bus stop has no proper stop no sign . 10 am bus leaves at 10.30 as booking agent keeps selling tickets filling bus. 11.16 am bus came at 11.42 at stop no.6 Half bus stop driver does not stop. I wanted to get down stop 8 & driver didn't stop took me to stop 1 & wasted my time to go back at stop 8. You should have proper signage for stop no & hop on hop off sign not flyer pasted on stop. Also your map is tiny words & hard to read even local people I asked having problems to read. It's totally waste my money. Your agent forced me to scan ticket. Will not use grayline in future. Your tour company is totally unprofessional. Will advise tourist to take Salzburg card & not your bus.

Wasted money

A bus with a double decker will give a clearer view, bus was just driving through and fast one can’t really see or capture anything

Whizz stop tour around salzburg

With this tour, we saw lots of hidden treasures of salzburg one wouldn’t normally visit plus a lot of information about the filming of ‘The sound of music’. Well worth the price.

very little information given

Just a very disappointing loop around the area (yellow line). I usually love the Hop-On-Hop-Off buses I have taken in the past but not this one. It played more music than give information. The positive was that you can pick it up at the train station (stop #12) coming into Salzburg. So that will help you get your bearing if you haven't been there before. Also, as an aside, the train station is very walkable from town. We walked back to the train station versus taking the hop-on-hop-off back. I would have liked it a lot more had they given more historical information.