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Published: June 19th 2019
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Salzburg, a beautiful place at the feet of the alps, is the perfect place to visit coming from Vienna, Munich or Prague while traveling central Europe. Salzburg is famous as the birthplace of Mozart and for the Sound of Music but we found that it has much more to offer than that.
Did you know that there is the biggest classic music festival in the world happening in Salzburg? Or that Salzburg was independent and not a part of Austria until 1816? There is so much history, beautiful scenery, stunning art and interesting churches we would recommend the city to anyone.
Why Salzburg is perfect for a day trip? Traveling Europe you will take buses and trains. Arriving to the Salzburg train station all the sights are walking distance. There is a high density of places to visit but you can reach them all on foot. The word Burg in the word Salzburg means fortress. The whole city was a fortress therefore space was limited. But Salz means salt and salt was the reason the archbishops ruling over Salzburg were rich. That’s why there is such a density of historically important and fancy buildings.
What are the must sees and dos in Salzburg? There is Mozarts birthplace and Mirabell castle. There is the Hohensalzburg fortress and the Salzburg cathedral. The concert Hall and the archbishops residences. We learnt that there are 20 churches in the small old town and seven active monasteries. Sounds like a lot for just a day. You can do it and we will explain how.
How to explore the old town of Salzburg? We have done a free walking tour of Salzburg with our tour guide Gerhard and the route we took seemed to be the best way to explore the city. We started at the Mirabell gardens, crossed the bridge to Getreidegasse where we saw Mozart’s birthplace, visited the Salzburg University, the market square and the concert hall where the world famous festival takes place.
We visited Saint Peters abbey and the cemetery, looked at the Salzburg Cathedral and the square with the golden ball. Gerhard recommended going to the fortress Hohensalzburg after closing time which was an excellent tip. After the official closing time the gate remains open for another hour.
From the square with the golden ball we walked around the cathedral and reached the main square, Residenzplatz. After that we got some interesting information and finished out walk in front of the Mozart statue.
We followed the recommendations and walked along the Mönchsberg mountain before entering the fortress after closing time. On Mönchsberg mountain there are many views which we loved. The views are excellent for taking pictures.
What to eat in Salzburg? We found out that food in the rest of Austria and in Bavaria is very similar to the food in Salzburg. One recommendation we got for traditional Salzburg food was a dish called Bosna. You will find Bosna at a sausage stand. It’s like a hot dog with curry powder and raw onion. Invented by a Bulgarian guy in the Augustiner brewery it is not a typical dish for Austrian cuisine. The Bulgarian inventor of Bosna gave it a strange name that the people from Salzburg could not remember. That’s the reason they named it after a random eastern European country. Bosna is the Bosnian name for the country Bosnia. Bosna would be one of the few dishes you can only find in Salzburg and not in the rest of Austria so try it while you are there.
Another recommendation we have for you is the Augustiner brewery. The Augustiner brewery is the biggest beer hall in Austria. You should try their beer if you like beer but there is also a food court. They offer a variety of Austrian dishes you can try. Our favourite was the traditional meatloaf “Leberkäse”. Only for vegetarians it’s difficult, and it seems like this is true to all of Austria.
What’s the best time to visit Salzburg? We would recommend to visit Salzburg in April, May or June. In July and August the Salzburg festival is on and the city is much more crowded and expensive. After the Salzburg festival we have heard that the autumn colors are amazing. However the days are already short and the weather becomes unstable. Therefore our favourite time is spring. You could also visit in winter. If you go to Salzburg in December, it will be cold but you can experience authentic Austrian Christmas markets.
What’s the best way to explore Salzburg? Free Walking Tours exist in many cities in Europe nowadays. The concept is that you join a tour and at the end you pay what you want. €5,- or €10,- seems appropriate. The free walking tour Salzburg was one of our favorite tour on the journey. Gerhard, our guide showed us the city of Salzburg in 1,5 hours and enabled us to further explore by giving a lot of recommendation on what to do and where to go. Our tour started at 9am and so we had the rest of the day to see the city.
To check the free walking tour schedule you can visit the website
freewalkingtoursalzburg.com .
Conclusion Salzburg is a must if you are traveling in the area. From Munich, Vienna or Prague it is easy to reach by bus or by train. Other than the aforementioned cities, Salzburg is small. You can see all the major sights in a day. What we loved were the views from the mountains surrounding the cities, the food in the Augustiner beer hall and the overview we on the free walking tour.
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