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Eight buses a day (hourly in the morning, less frequently mid-afternoon) connect Hallein train station with BAD DURRNBERG , a hillside village immediately above town to the west. Providing a more direct route than the five-kilometre road journey, the Salzbergbahn cable car (oS130/?9.49 return, oS270/?219.71 including entry to the show-mine) is a five-minute walk to the southwest of Hallein town centre. Tours of the local salt mine (daily April-Oct 9am-5pm; Nov-March 11am-3pm; oS100/?7.30) last about ninety minutes and begin with a ride on the Grubenhunt , or underground train, followed by a sound-and-light show introducing the history of the mine, and a descent to lower galleries via a wooden slide - a mode of transport characteristic of Austrian mines, rather akin to sitting astride a large banister and letting yourself go (and explaining why the Arschleder is such a common feature of traditional Austrian mining uniforms). Further highlights include a trip across an underground lake on a wooden raft, and a glimpse of the "Man in the Salt", the well-kept body of a medieval miner preserved on the spot where it was found. It's thought that the Celts of Hallstatt opened up Durrnberg as a centre of salt production some 2500 years ago, partly because their Hallstatt mines were increasingly liable to rock falls and floods, but also due to the excellent transport opportunities afforded by the River Salzach in the valley below. Up until the arrival of the Romans, a Celtic community thrived beside the mine workings, now remembered in the open-air Keltenmuseum (April-Oct daily 9am-5pm; included in mine ticket; oS50/?3.65 on its own) outside the mine entrance. Alongside replicas of Iron Age huts and barns is the reconstruction of a princely grave, showing how the sumptuously clad body of the deceased would have been laid out on a chariot and surrounded by the weapons, drinking flasks and food necessary for a journey to the afterlife. Surrounded by alpine meadows, Bad Durrnberg is also a good spot for walking - a chairlift at the western end of the village ascends to a cafe-restaurant just below the summit of the 1337-metre-high Zinken, which marks the border between Austria and Bavaria.
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