---
title: "Train stations in Salzburg: which one to use and how to plan your trip"
date: 2026-06-21
author: "Johan E. Johansson"
featured_image: "https://everyrail.com/wp-content/uploads/salzburg.jpg"
categories:
  - name: "Destinations"
    url: "/destinations.md"
---

# Train stations in Salzburg: which one to use and how to plan your trip

Salzburg has more than one train station on paper, but for almost every visitor the only one that matters is Salzburg Hauptbahnhof (Hbf). It handles every long-distance train into and out of the city, and it is the simplest place to start, change, or finish a rail journey here. The other entries on a Salzburg booking page are S-Bahn commuter stops that rarely make sense for a visitor with luggage.

There are sensible reasons to choose a different stop. Staying near the airport, attending a match at the Red Bull Arena, or sleeping on the western edge of the old town can each push you to a specific S-Bahn halt instead. The rest of this guide covers when those exceptions apply, what to expect at Hbf, and how to plan a journey from Salzburg with confidence.

## How many train stations does Salzburg have?

Several, in name. One, in practice. Salzburg Hbf handles every Railjet, ICE, EuroCity, Nightjet, and intercity service that calls in the city. Around it sits the Salzburg S-Bahn network, which has five lines and roughly 64 stations spread across the city and the surrounding region. Most of those are residential commuter halts.

The S-Bahn stations a visitor might rationally consider are Salzburg Taxham Europark, Salzburg Mulln-Altstadt, Salzburg Aiglhof, and Salzburg Sud. Beneath the forecourt of Hbf, the Salzburger Lokalbahn (lines S1 and S11) has its own underground terminus, often signed as Salzburg Lokalbahnhof. That platform is part of the same building as the main station, not a separate stop somewhere else in town.

If you are arriving from Vienna, Munich, Innsbruck, or anywhere else by long-distance train, your ticket will read “Salzburg Hbf” or simply “Salzburg”, and you should not need to think about the rest.

## Salzburg Hauptbahnhof: the station almost everyone uses

Salzburg Hbf sits at Sudtiroler Platz, just north of the river Salzach and about a kilometre and a half from the historic old town. It is a through station, first opened in 1860 and rebuilt between 2008 and 2014, with nine mainline through platforms numbered from the western, city-facing side of the tracks.

The operators using Hbf are a mix of Austrian, German, and private companies. ÖBB (Austrian Federal Railways) runs the bulk of long-distance services, including Railjet, Railjet Express, EuroCity, InterCity, and Nightjet. DB (Deutsche Bahn) brings ICE trains in from Frankfurt, Stuttgart, and Munich. Westbahn operates double-deck trains on the Vienna corridor and has its own ticket office at the station. Bavarian regional operator BRB (Meridian) runs cross-border services from Munich via Rosenheim, and ÖBB plus Salzburg AG handle the S-Bahn and Lokalbahn lines.

Inside, the station is straightforward. A wide ground-level passageway runs under all nine tracks, lined with shops, ticket offices, lifts, and escalators up to each platform. There are no ticket gates or barriers anywhere. Departure boards in the main hall and the passageway show platforms and real-time updates. Look at the screens before you climb.

## The other train stations in Salzburg (and when they matter)

Most of the Salzburg S-Bahn network exists for residents commuting in from the suburbs and surrounding villages. Four stops have a genuine traveller use case.

### Salzburg Taxham Europark

This is the closest S-Bahn stop to Salzburg W. A. Mozart Airport. The terminal sits about a kilometre away and is reached by a short bus link, not a covered walkway. Taxham Europark is also next to the Europark shopping mall and the Red Bull Arena, so it makes sense if you are staying in an airport hotel, shopping at the mall, or attending a football match. For everyone else, Hbf remains the better starting point, and the city buses from the airport go directly there.

### Salzburg Mulln-Altstadt

Despite the name, this stop sits at the western edge of the historic centre rather than inside it. It is useful if your hotel is on the Mulln or Riedenburg side, around the Monchsberg, or if you have business at the Paracelsus Private Medical University or Salzburg State Hospital. From Hbf you can reach it in a few minutes on the S2.

### Salzburg Aiglhof

Another western-suburb stop, opened in 2009 to serve PMU and the Landeskrankenhaus. It is rarely useful unless you have a specific medical or university appointment.

### Salzburg Sud

A small S-Bahn stop on the south side of the city, occasionally relevant if you are staying in Anif or visiting the area around Schloss Hellbrunn. Most travellers ignore it.

Other names you might see on a booking page, such as Salzburg Liefering, Itzling, Gnigl, or Parsch, are residential commuter halts. They are not designed for visitors with luggage and do not serve any obvious sight. Skip them.

## Salzburg Lokalbahnhof: part of Hbf, not a separate station

The Salzburger Lokalbahn (the S1 to Lamprechtshausen and the S11 to Trimmelkam) does not leave from the main platforms. Since 1996, both lines have departed from an underground terminus directly beneath the Hbf forecourt at Sudtiroler Platz. Some booking sites label this platform as Salzburg Lokalbahnhof, which makes it look like a separate stop somewhere else in the city. It is not.

If you are changing from a long-distance Railjet onto an S1, the transfer is a short walk underground. Plan it as a connection inside the same station, not a city journey, and you will not waste time looking for a different building.

## Getting between Salzburg Hbf and the old town

The station looks close to the old town on a map. With luggage, the walk is longer than it appears. Mozart’s birthplace at Getreidegasse 9 is roughly 1.6 km from Hbf, about a 21-minute walk down Rainerstrasse and through Mirabellgarten. Fortress Hohensalzburg, on the hill at the southern end of the historic core, is about 2.3 km away, closer to 31 minutes on foot once you add the climb.

Three options usually make sense:

- **Walk** if you are travelling light and the weather is fine. The route through Mirabellgarten is pleasant and well signed.
- **Take a city bus or trolleybus** with luggage. The forecourt of Hbf is a major terminus for the StadtBus and trolleybus network, and many lines run to or near the old town. Within the city core, S-Bahn rides sit in the same Salzburger Verkehrsverbund (SVV) fare zone as the buses, so a single city ticket covers both.
- **Take a taxi** at night or when you are carrying a lot. Taxis are usually plentiful outside Hbf, but they are not cheap.

Match the option to the load you are carrying, rather than assuming the station is closer to the old town than it really is.

## Getting between Salzburg Airport and the train station

Salzburg W. A. Mozart Airport has no rail station of its own. There is no airport express train. The standard link between the airport and Salzburg Hbf is by city bus, with a typical journey of around 20 minutes depending on traffic. Check the current line numbers and timetable on the local Salzburg transport site before you travel, as routes are renumbered from time to time.

Taxham Europark, the closest S-Bahn stop to the airport, sits about a kilometre from the terminal and is reached by a short walk or a connecting city bus. Using it makes sense in one specific case: when your hotel or onward destination is near the airport, the Europark mall, or the Red Bull Arena. For the rest of us, the bus to Hbf is simpler and the onward train tickets will be easier to book from there.

A taxi from the airport to the city centre is a fast paid fallback when you are running late, travelling with small children, or arriving with mountains of luggage.

## Long-distance services from Salzburg Hbf

Salzburg sits on the main east-west spine of Austrian rail, where the Western Railway from Vienna meets the cross-border lines into Bavaria and the Salzburg-Tyrol Railway south to Worgl. That makes Hbf a busy long-distance station with a useful mix of operators.

CorridorOperatorsTypical journey time (orientation)Salzburg to ViennaÖBB Railjet / RJX, Westbahn, occasional ICE2h 30m to 3hSalzburg to MunichÖBB Railjet, DB ICE, EC, BRB Meridian1h 30m to 2hSalzburg to InnsbruckÖBB Railjet (via the German Corner through Rosenheim and Kufstein)1h 50m to 2h 10mSalzburg to LinzÖBB Railjet, ICEaround 1hSalzburg to Zurich / BregenzÖBB Railjetlonger cross-border ride; check the exact trainSalzburg to Frankfurt / StuttgartDB ICE 62several hoursSalzburg to Italy (Venice, Florence, Rome, Milan)ÖBB Nightjet sleepersovernight; routes change by seasonTreat the times as planning orientation, not a promise for any single departure. Engineering work, German Corner detours, and seasonal timetable changes can shift them. Open the booking engine for your exact train to see the real journey time for the date you want.

A few habits help. Match the operator to the corridor before you book: Westbahn for cheap one-way Vienna-Salzburg fares on flexible dates, ÖBB Railjet for pass-holders and through tickets, DB ICE for direct services from Germany, BRB Meridian for cheaper Munich regional rides. For Italy, the ÖBB Nightjet network is the only direct option from Salzburg, and the cheapest sleepers and couchettes sell out long before the seats do.

## Tickets, passes, and reservations at Salzburg Hbf

Hbf has three separate ticket offices in the underground passageway, plus self-service machines. The right one depends on which company runs your train.

- **ÖBB** ticket office: for Railjet, RJX, EuroCity, InterCity, REX, S-Bahn, and Nightjet, and for most international tickets.
- **Westbahn** ticket office: for Vienna-Salzburg fares on Westbahn trains only.
- **DB** self-service machines: for ICE tickets from Salzburg into Germany, and for products like the Bayern-Ticket for regional travel in Bavaria.
- **SVV** city/regional tickets: for buses and S-Bahn travel within the Salzburg fare zone. A 24-hour city ticket covers both, which saves you from buying separately for a short S-Bahn hop.

Reservations behave differently from one operator to the next. On ÖBB Railjet, a seat reservation is optional for many fares and recommended for busy departures. On Nightjet it is always required and always paid, whatever your ticket or pass. Westbahn runs open seating with no compulsory reservation. DB ICE allows an optional seat booking, sensible on summer Friday evenings or around public holidays.

If you are using an Interrail or Eurail Pass, the picture changes slightly. ÖBB long-distance trains accept the pass for the day’s travel, but any Nightjet still needs a separate paid reservation. DB ICE accepts the pass for the journey and charges extra only if you reserve a seat. Westbahn generally does not accept Interrail or Eurail global passes, though the rules around national or specific pass variants change from time to time. Check the latest pass conditions before relying on Westbahn for a pass journey.

## Practical facilities at Salzburg Hbf

The 2008 to 2014 rebuild left Salzburg Hbf one of the easier mainline stations in central Europe to use.

- **Luggage lockers** are in the underground passageway near platforms 6 and 7. They are useful if you want to drop bags before a few hours in the old town.
- **Food and supplies:** a Spar minimarket is in the passageway, just past the steps up to platform 1. A larger EuroSpar sits in the Forum 1 mall on the square outside. The main hall has a cafe-bar, the Anker bakery is near platform 8, and there is a Burger King in the historic station building. For a sit-down meal, the station restaurant Johan serves Viennese classics; the brewpub Die Weisse is about 15 minutes’ walk away.
- **Free WiFi:** select the network OEBB-station.
- **ÖBB first-class lounge:** between the escalators to platforms 2 and 3 and platforms 4 and 5. Open 05:45 to 22:00 Monday to Friday and 06:30 to 22:00 at weekends. Access is restricted to first-class tickets, sleeping-car tickets, and first-class Interrail or Eurail passes. There is one exception for DB Sparpreis and Flexpreis first-class fares, which the lounge accepts; first-class Super Sparpreis fares are not eligible.
- **Local transport hub:** the forecourt is a major terminus for the StadtBus and Salzburg trolleybus network, so connections by bus from the station are fast and frequent.

If you have a long wait, the underground passageway is a comfortable place to spend it. If you have an early Nightjet to Italy, stock up at Spar before boarding, because catering on board is limited.

## Final station planning checklist

Before you book a Salzburg arrival or departure:

- Confirm the booking page says “Salzburg Hbf” or “Salzburg”, not “Salzburg Lokalbahnhof” or a minor S-Bahn stop, unless you have a clear reason.
- Match the operator to the corridor, then the ticket office at Hbf to the operator.
- If your route includes a Nightjet, reserve the sleeper or couchette as soon as the date is fixed.
- Allow more time than the map suggests for the walk between Hbf and the old town, or take a city bus.
- For airport arrivals, expect a bus to Hbf rather than a train.

Salzburg’s station story is small once you see the structure: one main station for everything that matters, a handful of S-Bahn stops with specific roles, and a clear set of operator rules to plan around.