Walking Tour of Salzburg

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This morning we went back and had breakfast at the same place we’d eaten dinner at the night before, mostly because it was close to our hotel. Not the best choice, as their breakfast selection was kind of small. I ended up having the “student’s breakfast” which was two rolls with butter, jam and nutella. Not very exciting.

After breakfast we walked across the nearest bridge and walked along the Salzach River toward the Aldstadt area. After making a few wrong turns we made our way to Mozartplatz to the information center to pick up our Salzburg Cards. If you go to Salzburg, these are definitely worth the money. They include admission to all the major attractions and also give you access to all public transportation.

Salzburg is a very walkable city. Our walking tour started in Mozartplatz and included, in order:

1) Salzburg Cathedral- 17th century baroque cathedral and sight of Mozart's baptism (Mozart was also the organist here for two years), definitely worth taking a look inside for its organ alone

2) Residenz Gallery (the State Rooms are closed in August and were replaced by a modern art exhibit… we only saw the pieces outside and skipped the rest as there was an additional charge for admission).

3) Michaelskirche (St. Michael’s Church)- recognizable by its pink facade, this is the oldest church in Salzburg, dating back to at least 813AD.

4) The Funicular to Festung Hohensalzburg (High Salzburg Fortress)- first constructed in 1077 under Archbiship Gebhard von Helfenstein and expanded in size over the years, the fortress' main use was for military and strategic purposes, but was also used at one time as a prison, among other things. The funicular was built in 1892.

5) St. Peter’s Cemetery, Catacombs, and Church- The church, built in the 1100's and redecorated in the Roccoco style in the 1700's, is interesting but far from the highlight here. We spent most of our time wandering around the cemetery and catacombs. The cemetery rents its plots and collects payment every 10 years. If the family doesn't pay, the body gets tossed (niche, right?). Mozart's sister Nannerl is buried here (guess her family is still paying... ).

6) Franziskanerkirche (Franciscan Church)- one of the oldest churches in Salzburg, Gothic interior and interesting ceiling structure inside

7) Altes Rathaus- medieval building and former city hall, today it holds shops and offices

8) Getreidegasse - historic shopping street famous for its wrought-iron shop signs guild

9) Mozart’s birthplace- located at Getreidegasse 9, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on the third floor on January 27, 1756. The Mozart family lived here from 1747 to 1773.

10) Stop for gelato at Café Getreidgasse

11) Cruise on the Salzach River- nice relaxing way to end the day (and give our feet a break!), it's included with the Salzburg Card and lasts about 45 minutes. Great views of the city! There's another version of the cruise that will take you to Schloss Hellbrunn, but we are doing that tomorrow by bus instead since there are also some other things out that direction we plan to see (cable car and zoo).

After the cruise we walked across the bridge and peeked inside the Hotel Sacher before walking back through Mirabell Gardens toward our hotel. We stopped for dinner at Wernbacher where I had risotto and Trumer Pils bier before calling it a night.

Tomorrow is day two in Salzburg!

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Photos

View of Salzburg Cathedral
Seen over St. Peter's Cemetery

Festung Hohensalzburg
Torture masks