The fourth largest city in Austria, Salzburg is smaller than Vienna, but it’s just as charming and well worth an extended visit. Like Vienna, it’s great for music lovers, with two especially important contributions to musical history: (1) The Birthplace and Home of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) and (2) the setting for The Sound of Music, (1965), a musical version of the story of the Von Trapp Family with music by Rodgers and Hammerstein. In Salzburg, Mozart fans can: (1) visit his Birthplace (1756); (2) visit his home, the Mozart-Wohnhaus (from 1773 to 1780); and (3) easily find a live concert featuring his music. Fans of The Sound of Music can visit places crucial to the story of the Von Trapp family and places where many movie scenes were filmed.
Today’s city in the Austrian Alps straddles the Salzach River. And, like many European cities, it too features a castle / fortress on Festungsberg Mountain. The Old Town or Altstadt sits below the fortress along the Salzach River. We’re still traveling along with our best buddies Ann and John. Here are some highlights of our time in Salzburg.
Walking Tour of the Altstadt: We began our stay with a walking tour of the Old Town. Just above we could see the medieval Fortress/ Castle on the mountain, but down in the Altstadt the architecture is beautifully Baroque. There are large piazzas featuring shops, restaurants, statues, and even some entertaining buskers – like the guys below in their pink suit jackets. Of course, there’s a statue of Mozart in Mozart Square.
The View from on High: We found the lift that would take us to top of Monchsburg, one of the five mountains of Salzburg. The lift opens up at the entrance to the Museum of Modern Art AND to beautiful views of Salzburg’s old town. From there, a wooded path leads to the Hohensalzburg Castle about a mile away. The walk is spectacular, with a great overview of the city, looking down on the rooftops, spires and domes of the Old Town, and even to the mountains beyond. We took some great photos along the way.
Hohensalzburg Castle, the 11th Century fortress on the mountain overlooking the city. Built originally for the prince-archbishops of Salzburg, it’s one of the largest medieval castles in Europe. Now it’s primarily a tourist attraction, mostly available and very well preserved.
The Gardens at the Mirabell Palace are large and impressive. Like a large park in the middle of the city, with colorful flowers, statues — both large classical and smaller gnomelike characters – and lots of room to sit and enjoy a lovely, peaceful setting. One evening, we also visited the “Marble Hall” of Mirabell Palace for a concert: Mozart of course.
The Original Sound of Music Tour: This was a great outing. Our host on the bus was most entertaining, with stories about the actors and the filming. And the whole group would sing along as we bussed from place to place within Salzburg and beyond. We visited the Mirabell Palace and the Gardens where the Von Trapp children sang “Do-Re-Mi“ around the Pegasus Fountain. We stopped at the small Lake Leopoldskron to see where the boating scene was filmed. At the gardens of Schloss Hellbrunn, we saw the Gazebo from the film’s scene of the Baron kissing Maria. Driving out of Salzburg we passed by the Nonnberg Abbey, where Maria was a novice at the start of the story.
Next, we drove out to the area of Lake Wolfgang to enjoy the spectacular Alpine landscapes featured in the film. Next was a one-hour stop in Mondsee to grab lunch on our own and visit the lovely Basilika of St. Michael where they filmed the wedding of Maria and Baron Von Trapp. All the way back to Salzburg, we enjoyed more stories, film clips, and sing-alongs. What a great tour for anyone who loves this film, or even musicals in general.
Eating in Salzburg was great fun. Don’t miss the candy shops. A Salzburg favorite is the Mozartkugel made of marzipan with pistachio and nougat and surrounded by dark chocolate. It’s a bite sized ball of sweetness wrapped in tin foil with the image of Mozart (don’t eat the tin foil).
Breakfasting in these Austrian Cafes was also a real treat with delicious pastries and Viennese coffee. Our favorite dinner was at the Augustiner Braustubl, a brewery and biergarten run by the monastery. The food and atmosphere were great, and the brew proved once again that monks are among the world’s best brewmasters.
