To start things off on the right foot, let me just apologize for something. I don’t actually know if there is a Sally selling salt by the salt mines near Salzburg – I just thought that if that Sally by the sea shore were ever to move to Salzburg, her new occupation would most likely be a salt seller. So, please, excuse my slight fiction. I swear that there will be no more deception in today’s post. Honest.
Now, on to the mine!
It’s not every day that you can call your friend and say, “Hey Hal, I just spent the last 90 minutes getting an underground guided tour of the oldest mine in the world.” In fact, I’d venture to say that very few of you have ever even thought about making that call to someone. However, you can make that call next month if you follow these two simple steps…
- Hop on a plane to Salzburg, Austria
- Visit the Hallein Salt Mine, less than 30 minutes away
Simple, right? Well, Step 1 may not be a flash decision but, once you decide to head to Salzburg, it’s a no-brainer to head to Hallein to check out its mines of “white gold” (salt, that is, not actual white gold…sorry to disappoint).
The Hallein Salt Mine is the oldest mine in the world that is still open to visitors. Take a trip to the mine and you’ll be walking through corridors that have been worked for over 7,000 years (since before the Celtics!).
You get to don some very fashionable white coveralls to protect your clothes and, after sliding down a very cool 140-foot wooden slide to the depths of the mine, you can take a ferry across the beautiful underground lake before calling it a day.
This could just be the most fun you’ll have in Salzburg. Here’s a fun video (in German) about the tour.
What other unusual attractions do you recommend in Austria?
Let us know in the comments below.