Salzburg can really feel terribly grand, with its parade of palaces and squares, the place the prince-archbishops as soon as wafted round and horse-drawn carriages clip-clop previous evoking the glory days of the Hapsburg Empire. So it comes as a (very nice) shock that you may see a lot of the town with out spending a single cent.
Mozart symphonies, skipping Marias (as in The Sound of Music), gorgeously manicured parks, public artwork, abbeys, cathedral live shows, jazz jam classes and wild canal swims – time your go to proper and you’ll tank up on tradition and the outside in Salzburg for nothing. And, frankly, you’ll have a a lot better time than in case you’d caught to the standard tick-and-click vacationer path. Right here’s our information to seeing the town without spending a dime.
Get your Mozart and Maria repair
You’ll be able to’t transfer for Mozart and Maria in Salzburg. And whereas it’s tempting to take an official tour of the composer’s hood and The Sound of Music movie areas, you may see a lot with out spending a single cent.
Piece collectively your individual self-guided strolling tour – GPSMYCITY has a free Mozart Walking Tour to get you began, which covers biggies like Mozartplatz, Residenz, the place he gave his first court docket live performance on the tender age of six, and the Dom the place he was baptized in 1756.
If The Sound of Music is extra your model (and, let’s face it, who doesn’t love a very good mountain and yodeling nun), you may simply devise your individual tour of the movie areas. Prime of your listing needs to be stops like Benedictine convent Stift Nonnberg, the place the nuns waltzed on their solution to mass, Residenzplatz the place a fountain-splashing Maria belts out “I Have Confidence” and the fortress-facing Mirabell gardens the place she teaches the youngsters to sing “Do-Re-Mi”.
Spend time outside
With uplifting views of the Alps and an incredibly turquoise river operating proper by way of it, Salzburg is simply as a lot in regards to the outside because the city. Its gardens are fabulous and free, from the sculpture-dotted parterres, rose gardens and leafy arbors of Schloss Mirabell (by the way one of the best vantage level for pictures of the fortress-topped Altstadt) to the Volksgarten, with its summer time lido and seashore.
Lease a motorcycle and you’ll pedal gleefully alongside the riverbanks, mountains looming on horizon, on the 4.5km path to Schloss Hellbrunn, the place it’s free to romp across the sculpture-strewn palace gardens, and sing your coronary heart out at The Sound of Music pavilion of “Sixteen Occurring Seventeen” fame.
See the town from on excessive
Salzburg is at its most heart-stoppingly stunning from above. Some of the memorable methods to see the town away from the vacationer lots is to hike above its skyline of chic rooftops, spires and domes. Puff up the Nonnbergstiege to Stift Nonnberg for an on-high stroll to Festung Hohensalzburg, with dress-circle views of the Alstadt.
You’ll be able to simply commit a day to wandering the 540m peak of Mönchsberg, whose cliffs rise above the town like theater curtains. The mountain (locals used to larger issues name it a “hill”) is wooded and criss-crossed by strolling trails. A extremely scenic hike leads 4km from Stift Nonnberg to the historic monastery-founded brewery Augustiner Bräustübl, the place you may relaxation up with a chilly foamy one underneath the chestnut timber.
Over the river on the Proper Financial institution is the forested, 640m-high hump of Kapuzinerberg, which frames the Altstadt like a postcard. Paths twist previous Means of the Cross chapels to the Capuchin abbey on the prime. Regardless of the wonderful views, it’s not often busy – therefore the explanation it’s nonetheless dwelling to a colony of nimble-footed chamois, which you may spot in case you’re fortunate (and quiet).
Go for a canal swim
Flowing by way of the town because the Center Ages, with its community of hidden underground waterways, Salzburg’s Almkanal gives a splash of historical past. In summer time, you may cycle or stroll to Schloss Leopoldskron (the palatial backdrop for the lake scene in The Sound of Music) for a bracing swim within the canal’s chilly turquoise waters. When you occur to have a board useful, you may be a part of surfers to journey the canal’s wave simply north of Weidenstrasse bridge.
Swan round a palace
Schloss Mirabell is fantasy Salzburg in a regal nutshell. Prince-Archbishop Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau had the palace in-built 1606 to woo his beautiful mistress, Salome Alt, who went on to bear him 15 youngsters. Within the 18th century, Hapsburg “starchitect” Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt labored his baroque magic right here and you’ll take a peek at his handiwork without spending a dime each time the palace is open. The scene-stealer is the Marmorsaal (Marble Corridor), a riotous feast of marble, carved and gilded stucco and weighty chandeliers.
The marble Engeltreppe (Angel Staircase) sweeping as much as the corridor is festooned with playful, plump-cheeked cherubs. Legend has it that you’ll be blessed with success in your marriage in case you slap one on the underside…
Marvel at holy wonders
One look on the spires and domes encrusting Salzburg’s skyline tells you that it is a place constructed excessive and mighty on religion. And one solution to actually really feel the town’s spirit is by devising your individual mini tour of its locations of worship. Kick off at Salzburg’s cathedral, or Dom, the cherry on the Altstadt’s historic cake. It’s free to see this masterpiece of baroque artwork, with its immense copper dome, nave adorned with Arsenio Mascagni’s ceiling frescos recounting the Ardour of Christ, and bronze font the place Mozart and Silent Evening lyricist Joseph Mohr had been baptized.
Catch the cathedral at its most atmospheric by attending 10am Sunday mass, when the organ is cranked into motion for a free live performance of Mozart’s sacred music. The composer was as soon as an organist right here.
From right here, it’s simply a few minutes’ stroll to Stift St Peter – based by a Frankish missionary known as Rupert round 700 AD, that is the oldest abbey-church and monastery advanced within the German-speaking world. It’s free to go to the church, which bombards you with baroque decoration, together with eye-catching altarpieces by Martin Johann Schmidt. Among the many cemetery’s filigree wrought-iron crosses, you’ll discover the graves of Austrian classical composer Michael Haydn (1737–1806), opera singer Richard Mayr (1877–1935) and Salzburg confectioner Paul Fürst (1856–1941).
By far probably the most atmospheric free issues you are able to do in Salzburg is to stroll up the Nonnbergstiege to Stift Nonnberg because the rising solar lights up the town’s rooftops and the hair’s-on-end sound of nuns singing Gregorian chants drifts out of the 1300-year-old Benedictine convent.
Discover public artwork
Artwork isn’t just confined to museums in Salzburg. Bridging the hole between tradition and the outside and shining a light-weight on typically neglected areas of the town, there’s a wealthy stash of public art dotted throughout city, which received’t value you a factor to admire.
The Walk of Modern Art needs to be excessive in your agenda, spotlighting specifically commissioned installations and sculptures which have Salzburg’s cultural id as a typical thread. Right here attention-grabbers embrace James Turrell’s exposed-to-the-elements Skyspace atop Mönchsberg, Stephan Balkenhol’s large man-on-a-golden-globe Sphaera on Kapitelplatz, and Anselm Kiefer’s winged guide stack The Language of Birds at Chiemseehof.
Within the hotter months, roam the well-worn cobbles of Steingasse, the primary commerce path to Italy within the Center Ages, to achieve Schloss Arenberg. Constructed for the lordly prince-archbishops within the 14th century, the palace’s stunning grounds conceal the Würth Sculpture Garden, brimming with modern, thought-provoking artworks.
Really feel the festive groove
As a vivacious, music-loving, culture-mad metropolis, Salzburg has a jam-packed calendar of occasions, a few of that are free. In summer time, brass bands reverberate by way of the Altstadt when Vielklang involves city, and Kapitelplatz will get crowds into the swing of the Salzburg Pageant displaying opera without spending a dime on a big screen. Kapitelplatz can also be the castle-crowned backdrop without spending a dime film nights at Sternenkino, held over two weeks from late June to early July.
Mid October brings Jazz & The City, with jazz acts – from rising stars to huge names – hitting venues all around the metropolis, from baroque church buildings to beer halls. However in case you can’t make it then, you may catch free jam classes each Tuesday at Jazzit.
