Salzburg is a good looking, vibrant metropolis, a Unesco World Heritage Web site with an astonishingly wealthy cultural heritage.
The birthplace of Mozart, it’s additionally the gateway to the stunning Salzkammergut area, with its fabulous lakes and mountains. Town additionally performs host to one of many world’s best classical music festivals. Whereas it’s marvelously simple to really feel at dwelling right here quickly after you arrive, familiarizing your self with the lay of this Alpine land forward of time will assist you make most of your go to.
Accordingly, listed here are 12 issues each Salzburg native is aware of – and that first-time guests ought to, too.
What to do in Salzburg (together with in winter, when it rains and at evening)
Salzburg has some unmissable museums and sights – Mozart’s Start Home, the DomQuartier (comprising the Cathedral and former Residence of the Prince-Archbishops of Salzburg, with its magnificent state rooms), the Hohensalzburg Fortress and the really great Seventeenth-century Mirabell Palace and Gardens, to call only a few.
However the true star of the present is the town itself: Salzburg has a fantastically preserved previous baroque city middle, which merely oozes ambiance and attraction at each nook. So be sure to enable time to only wander down streets like Goldgasse and Getreidegasse, and alongside the River Salzach. If it rains, duck into a restaurant to take pleasure in some significantly good espresso and heavenly desserts, or spend a while in one in every of Salzburg’s wealthy museums.
Festivals about in Salzburg – the world-famous Salzburg Festival in July and August, after all, but additionally Mozart Week (on and across the nice composer’s birthday each January), the Easter Festival and the Whitsun Festival, Jazz in the City in October, and the large Christmas market in December. It’s also possible to do any variety of day journeys from Salzburg. Hallstatt and the Eagle’s Nest are two of the most well-liked, whereas a slew of different beckon. Particularly, the Salzkammergut area has limitless lakes to swim in and an virtually limitless scope for mountaineering.
How lengthy ought to I spend in Salzburg?
Salzburg is a splendidly attention-grabbing and fulfilling metropolis to spend time in at any time of 12 months. We advocate a minimum of three days on the town to do it justice and expertise it at a relaxed, leisurely tempo. Keep a number of days longer when you plan to discover the area by day journeys.
Is Salzburg costly?
Salzburg is among the dearer cities in Austria, although no more so than many different well-known cities in western Europe, and nonetheless significantly lower than Paris or London. You could find cheaper however nonetheless high-quality lodging when you look outdoors the town middle. Restaurant costs differ (clearly), but you possibly can eat very properly in Salzburg with out breaking the financial institution.
In the event you go to outdoors the excessive season (July or August, coinciding with the Salzburg Competition) you’ll discover lodging costs decline. Entry tickets to museums and different sights are fairly affordable year-round, and some free strolling excursions provide a cost-effective strategy to get to know the town. Shopping for a Salzburg Card is usually one other great way to save cash in Salzburg.
Town middle is small and simple to navigate on foot, so there’s no must fork out on taxi fares; a dependable bus service to and from the airport is sort of low-cost. Once you do must get a neighborhood bus or trolleybus, shopping for tickets from the machine on the bus cease quite from the driving force saves you a bit. Public transport makes standard day journeys from Salzburg simple and fairly low-cost – and don’t overlook that youngsters underneath 6 journey free on trains in Austria, and for half worth as much as the age of 15.
Open rehearsals by the achieved music college students at Mozarteum College are free to attend. It’s also possible to get low-cost tickets when you plan forward. Seats with a barely restricted view for operas on the Salzburg State Theater price lower than €20 (US$20.80), and in January you possibly can attempt to guide standing tickets for live shows on the Salzburg Competition as quickly as reservation requests open.
What to pack for Salzburg
Summer time temperatures in Salzburg are pleasantly heat. Shorts, a skirt or summer time costume, and short-sleeved shirts or T-shirts are the order of the day between June and the September, when the temperature reaches a median excessive of round 20–24°C (68–75°F). You would possibly nonetheless get some cooler days in the summertime, so pack lengthy pants and a light-weight fleece, too.
Having one thing slightly smarter for live shows (together with the Salzburg Competition) will assist you mix in. When visiting church buildings, you shouldn’t put on garments which can be too revealing. Don’t overlook sunscreen, sun shades and a solar hat, notably when you’re doing summer time mountaineering.
Positively convey a refillable water bottle: the faucet water is okay to drink, so there’s no want to purchase disposable plastic ones. A swimsuit is unquestionably a good suggestion in the summertime, as Salzburg and the encircling area provide an enormous variety of locations to swim, from beautiful lakes to glowing rivers. Salzburg will get fairly a little bit of rainfall all year long, together with in the summertime, so that you gained’t remorse bringing a light-weight, packable waterproof jacket or small umbrella. Winters are chilly in Salzburg, so pack heat gloves and a hat, a winter jacket and an additional fleece layer. With loads of snow on the bottom within the winter months, heat, waterproof boots are all the time a good suggestion. Plus, a very good pair of mountaineering boots gives you the choice of performing some winter walks or snowshoeing within the surrounding hills and mountains.
Does Salzburg get snow?
Sure. On the sting of the Alps, winters are chilly, snowy – and magical. The primary snow usually arrives in November (you possibly can anticipate it in October within the surrounding mountains), turning into heavier in December and persevering with by to the top of March. You would possibly even get some snow as late as April. January and February are the coldest months, with temperatures round or extra doubtless a number of levels under freezing.
Reserving tickets for the Salzburg Competition
An annual custom since 1920, the Salzburg Competition is the town’s largest cultural occasion, in addition to one of many world’s best classical-music festivals. Because it’s additionally extraordinarily standard, you must guide tickets as far upfront as attainable.
Whereas bookings for pageant tickets open in January, tickets gained’t be confirmed till early April. There isn’t any assure till this level that you simply’ve really acquired tickets, since pageant patrons have precedence, with all different tickets allotted after that. (Be aware that you simply gained’t must pay till your tickets are confirmed.) Early April can be when direct ticket gross sales open – a minimum of, for these few seats nonetheless accessible.
Ticket costs may be extraordinarily excessive, however yow will discover cheaper ones when you search for standing tickets or ones with a barely restricted view – although these are inclined to promote out quick. Lodging in Salzburg through the pageant (mid July to the top of August) additionally tends to be booked out or come at a premium – once more, guide as far upfront as attainable.
get from the airport to the town middle by bus
Buses 2 and 10 run each 10 or 20 minutes between the airport and Salzburg Hauptbahnhof. The journey time is round 20 minutes, and the fare (€2.50/$2.60) is way lower than you’d pay for a taxi. Simply stroll out of the principle airport doorways, go straight throughout the automobile park and the bus cease is in your proper. Purchase tickets from the machine or from the driving force.
Ideas for utilizing the Salzburg S-Bahn
Salzburg’s S-Bahn rail community is the quickest strategy to take longer journeys throughout the town (for brief journeys, strolling or taking a bus is extra handy). There are 4 strains plus one extension that cowl the town and its suburbs and even spill over the border into Germany. Trains are inclined to run each hour, with low-entry doorways for wheelchair customers; you possibly can even take bikes on them (for an additional cost). Purchase tickets from machines on the station.
catch a bus or trolleybus in Salzburg
Salzburg is roofed by a complete community of bus and trolleybus routes, most of which run each 10 minutes or so through the day and evenings. Shopping for tickets from the ticket machines at bus stops is cheaper than shopping for them from the driving force (€2.10/$2.20 versus €3/$3.15 for a single grownup fare), or you should purchase a 24-hour ticket (which you’ll must stamp on the bus in your preliminary journey). Bus and trolleybus journeys are additionally coated by the Salzburg Card.
Discovering your means round Salzburg Hauptbahnhof
Most guests to Salzburg will use the Hauptbahnhof (major railway station) in some unspecified time in the future throughout their keep. You’ll discover an ÖBB (Austrian Railways) workplace the place you should purchase tickets, in addition to ticket machines, an ATM, bogs, a few cafes and a really helpful Spar grocery store. Escalators lead as much as the platforms from the concourse, and there are lifts for step-free entry.
The station has two major exits – one opening onto Südtiroler Platz, the place you’ll discover the native bus and trolleybus station, the opposite main onto Lastenstraße, from the place it’s a 20-minute stroll to the previous city.
Bike and e-bike leases in Salzburg
Salzburg is a superb metropolis to discover by bike. Cycle lanes abound (however not on all streets), with devoted cycle paths alongside each side of the Salzach and elsewhere. There’s a listing of charging stations for e-bikes on the Salzburg Tourist Office website. You’ll be able to hire a motorbike or e-bike at a number of locations, together with aVelo.
Is Salzburg an accessible metropolis?
Accessibility in Salzburg is usually excellent. Most buses have low-entry doorways and a ramp for wheelchair customers, and at Salzburg Hauptbahnhof platforms may be accessed by elevator. Obtain the free SalzburgMobil app (for iOS or Android), which has dwell bus instances in addition to indications concerning wheelchair entry. Site visitors ranges are low inside the previous city itself, and whereas cobblestones are pretty widespread they are typically comparatively unobtrusive.
A lot of Salzburg’s museums present step-free entry and are accessible to wheelchair customers – although the historic Mozart’s Start Home shouldn’t be amongst them, sadly. The Vacationer Workplace web site has a listing of wheelchair-accessible hotels.
What to put on on the Salzburg Competition
Formal costume isn’t required for the Salzburg Competition, however many individuals do costume up for performances – so bringing one thing to put on which feels slightly extra swank than shorts and a T-shirt may be a good suggestion when you’ve been fortunate sufficient to get tickets.
Do I must tip in Salzburg?
It’s regular to depart a tip in eating places and cafes in Salzburg and elsewhere in Austria; actually, not doing so would possibly indicate you have been dissatisfied with the service not directly. Whereas how a lot you wish to go away is as much as you, 10% is an effective rule of thumb.
Do you have to get a Salzburg Card?
A Salzburg Card contains free entry to museums and different sights within the metropolis, in addition to free use of buses and trolleybuses (although not the S-Bahn), and is available in durations of 24, 48 and 72 hours. Some lodges provide packages that embrace a three-night keep and 72-hour Salzburg Card – one thing price contemplating once you’re trying the place to remain. You should purchase the cardboard on-line, obtain a digital model in your cellphone and begin utilizing it as quickly as you arrive, or choose up a plastic model on the resort reception or from vacationer info workplaces.
Day journeys to Hallstatt and throughout the Salzkammergut
One of the standard day journeys from Salzburg is a go to to the picture-perfect (and Unesco-listed) lakeside city of Hallstatt and its historic salt mine. It’s simple sufficient to do on public transport, however standard sufficient that the next suggestions will most likely show helpful. The 150 bus to Unhealthy Ischl leaves from Salzburg Hauptbahnhof. Whereas you should purchase your ticket from the driving force, it’s price getting your tickets on-line, which suggests you’ll nonetheless get on the bus even when it’s full (which it typically is).
At Unhealthy Ischl, take a practice going south towards Hallstatt and Obertraun. Hallstatt station is on the alternative facet of the lake from the city itself, and connects to a small passenger ferry to the village. There’s a ticket workplace and ticket machines for trains on the station in Unhealthy Ischl; at Hallstatt practice station there’s only a machine, typically with a queue. Because you face a high-quality when you get on the practice with no ticket, it’s most secure to purchase your practice tickets forward of time.
Although Hallstatt is deservedly standard, there are actually dozens of different beautiful locations in Salzkammergut which you may get to only as simply from Salzburg, whether or not for a swim in a lake, a rewarding hike or epic mountain views.
Is Salzburg secure?
Austria has one of many lowest crime charges on this planet, and Salzburg is a really secure metropolis to journey in. Nonetheless, use frequent sense and take precautions as you’d in every other metropolis. Don’t go away luggage open or unattended, keep away from leaving your pockets or digicam on the desk at a restaurant and so forth.
In case of an emergency…
We hope you by no means must seek the advice of this part. However when you do want emergency companies wherever in Austria, name 112 (the European Emergency Quantity, which you too can name from a locked cellphone). An operator will then direct you to the related emergency service.
It’s also possible to name the emergency service you require immediately: the police by dialing 133, an ambulance at 144, an emergency physician at 141, hearth companies at 122, mountain rescue at 140 and visitors emergencies at 120.
