Salzburg

From Venice we took a bus to Villach, Austria and then hopped on a train to Salzburg. Total travel time was about 5 hours and we passed some very beautiful scenery along the way. Entering Austria we caught great views of the Alps and small villages on the hillside. We’ve entered Mozart and “The Sound of Music” territory.

We stayed the Mercure Salzburg Kapuzinerberg. This hotel was conveniently located about a 15 minute walk from the Old Town of Salzburg. We were given one of the recently renovated new rooms. The hotel again was quite nice with the room being very spacious. The carpet had a musical design in it and was quite fitting. Breakfast was included and was absolutely great with a large selection of food. They also offered the option to have breakfast delivered to your room, which we did the morning we were leaving.

We determined rather quickly that Salzburg is not a late night city and didn’t find much open after 6pm. We walked along the Salzach River on our way to the Augustiner. The Augustiner was founded in 1621. It’s a beer hall with several different sitting rooms, most were non-smoking. You can also buy food from different vendors in the hallways. Your beer is served from a wooden barrel into a stone mug and you go to one of the rooms, sit on wooden benches, drink beer and socialize with those around you. There were mostly locals present when we arrived on a Friday night and we just sat at one of their tables. Children were also present with their parents.

The next day we walked around Salzburg in the rain. We walked through Mirabellgarten, which was built by archbishop prince Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau for his mistress in 1606. These gardens and its palace are a popular wedding venue and in fact we saw three separate brides while we were there. Some scenes from The Sound of Music were also filmed here.

Along the Salzach River, we found an artisans’ market where you could buy homemade items such as tablecloths, handbags, jewellery, knickknacks, and many other things.

We made our way through the Old Town, stopping at Mozart Plaza and the Salzburg Dom Cathedral. Unfortunately the cathedral was closed because they were setting up for an outdoor concert the next day. We didn’t know this before we arrived in Salzburg, but Austria’s most renowned classical music festival takes place from late July to end of August. We have scheduled our trip a little differently to take in some of the concerts had we known this.

The Hohensalzburg Fortress provides incredible panoramic views of Salzburg. This fortress and castle is situated right in the city atop Festungsberg Mountain. Construction on the fortress began in 1077 and it has quite the rich history to it. We opted to take the funicular up and down because of the rain. Once inside, you can take an audio walking tour, included in the ticket price, which takes you through a few wings of the castle and provides you with descriptions of the various rooms and what they were used for. It was rather informing and worth doing. The rest of the fortress is open for exploring on your own.

With Austria being the home of the famous Von Trapp family and The Sound of Music, we couldn’t help but end our stay in Salzburg with The Sound of Salzburg dinner show. This show was great and included a selection of songs from The Sound of Music as well as Austrian folk songs. It was a great way to finish off our stay here.