Salzburg is sort of a movie set. Reclining on the foot of wooded cliffs on the banks of a turquoise river, its baroque-gone-mad Altstadt wings you thru a millennium of historical past, with its jewel field of church buildings, abbeys and domes. In every single place you go, you’re pressured to lookup in marvel: on the whopping hilltop fortress, at lavishly gilded palaces and live performance halls the place Mozart as soon as carried out, at mountains peeking up on the horizon the place Maria (Julie Andrews) had her twirling The Sound of Music debut.
You possibly can pinch your self, but it surely’s all fabulously actual. Simply don’t anticipate to have these streets to your self – the phrase’s out that Salzburg has acquired all of it occurring. That stated, there are methods to seek out peace on this metropolis – whether or not it’s nuns chanting Gregorian chorales at dawn or a delicate cable automobile journey up a mountain the place the Alps open up like a pop-up e book. Learn on for our high issues to do in Salzburg.
Hear nuns sing at dawn
As daybreak breaks over the Alps, hoof it up the steep steps of the Nonnbergstiege to succeed in Stift Nonnberg by 6.45am to listen to the hairs-on-end sound of nuns chanting Gregorian chorales at certainly one of Europe’s oldest working abbeys. Based by St Rupert, patron saint of Salzburg manner again in 715 AD, the Benedictine abbey is off-limits aside from its rib-vaulted church, the place you possibly can glimpse Romanesque frescoes.
If it looks like déjà-vu up right here, it’s no shock: you most likely have seen nuns waltzing to mass at this abbey earlier than in The Sound of Music. And if you happen to’re not an early riser, don’t fear as you possibly can hear their uplifting tune once more at 5.15pm on weekdays, 5pm on Saturdays and 4.30pm on Sundays.
See the town from on excessive
Brief however spectacular, the stroll from Nonnberg to Festung Hohensalzburg alongside the Hohe Weg (Festungsgasse) lifts spirits immediately and offers an important overview of the town, with dress-circle views over the rooftops, spires and domes of the baroque Altstadt to the forested mountains past. Strolling up right here, far above the hum of the town and toll of church bells is admittedly fairly one thing. Spherical out your stroll with a romp across the ramparts, lavish staterooms and museums on the 900-year-old clifftop fortress.
Drink up on the Augustiner Bräustübl
It’s Oktoberfest three hundred and sixty five days a 12 months on the Augustiner Bräustübl, an offshoot of the Munich-run brewery that’s Germany’s oldest, relationship to 1328. With its vaulted taverns and huge 1400-seat beer backyard arrange beneath the shade of chestnut bushes, this monk-founded brewery on the foot of Mönchsberg has given Salzburger rollicking good instances since 1621. Fill your tankard on the lobby pump and go to the Schmankerlgang (deli stands) for hearty, beer-swigging grub like Stelzen (ham hock), pork stomach and pretzels as large as your head. Beers swing from mildly hoppy lagers to amber-hued wheat beers. You’ll discover fewer vacationers and a extra genuine vibe right here than at different beer halls within the Altstadt.
Sing alongside to The Sound of Music
Come on, you already know you wish to… You don’t should be a die-hard fan of The Sound of Music or be capable to hit the octave-leaping excessive notes like Julie Andrews to wish to hop on a motorcycle and belt out a number of songs pedaling between movie places with Fräulein Maria’s Bicycle Excursions. Do-Re-Mi, Sixteen Occurring Seventeen, So Lengthy, Farewell – all of the classics are within the combine on this half-day bike tour that rolls from palace to plaza, park to abbey. Excursions run from April to October – get in fast in summer season as they’re crazily in style.
Climb each mountain
Or possibly simply the one… Puckering up on the German border, 1973m Untersberg delivers a correct hit of mountain surroundings on the fringes of the town. Stippled with wildflowers, the craggy summit is laced with mountaineering trails that open up sensational views of Salzburg, the Rositten Valley and the Tyrolean, Salzburg and Bavarian Alpine ranges. Paragliders launch themselves from the height in summer season (pay attention out for the whoosh), whereas in winter, there’s mild snowboarding up right here.
From the highest station of the cable automobile, you possibly can wander straightforward trails to lookouts like Geiereck (1805m) and Salzburg Hochthron (1853m), or trek a few hours throughout a karst plateau to the Schellenberg Ice Cave over the border in Bavaria. Both manner, convey sturdy boots and a fleece or jacket, as temperatures are considerably cooler up right here than down within the valley.
Get an artwork repair at Mönchsberg
With wooded cliffs rising above Salzburg like a theater curtain, 504m Mönchsberg (Monk Mountain) is known as after the Benedictine monks of St Peter’s Abbey. And the views? Properly, they’re fairly heavenly, too, framing the fortress-topped Altstadt. Strike out on foot alongside trails weaving by means of meadows and woodland to Augustiner Bräustübl and also you’ll see all the way in which to the Austrian and Bavarian Alps on cloudless days.
If up to date artwork rocks your boat, you’ll be in your aspect on the Museum der Moderne, a strikingly minimalist rectangular constructed from domestically quarried Untersberg marble and plonked ceremoniously on high of the hill. You possibly can race up right here within the carry or take your time and stroll from Festung Hohensalzburg. The gallery has an excellent roster of Twentieth- and Twenty first-century artwork exhibitions. Exterior you possibly can glimpse sculptures like American artist James Turrell’s Blue Pearl – Skyspace, an elliptical cylinder open to the sky that displays the altering weathers, moods, lights and colours of the mountain.
Really feel the Mozart groove at Schloss Mirabell
When you love Mozart however not the considered sharing his symphonies with a ton of different vacationers, give the kitschy Mozart dinners a skip and head to Schloss Mirabell as a substitute. This fantasy Seventeenth-century palace holds intimate chamber-music live shows in its Marmorsaal (Marble Corridor), a lavish confection of stucco, marble and frescoes. Internationally acclaimed ensembles and soloists carry out works by Mozart and different much-feted composers like Vivaldi, Haydn and Beethoven. Live shows are held at 8pm day by day (besides Friday and Monday). Tickets are like gold mud in summer season, so e book properly forward.
Marvel at puppetry magic at Salzburger Marionettentheater
You don’t should be 5 years previous to really feel a way of marvel on the Unesco World Heritage Salzburger Marionettentheater, the place the crimson curtain has risen on a miniature stage since 1913. The theater is simply as opulent as a full-size one, with its stucco decoration and chandeliers, the element in costumes and backdrops is exceptional, and the puppeteers are among the many most expert of their variety (belief us, you’ll barely discover the strings as these marionettes dance, swoop and fly by means of the air).
The repertoire star is The Sound of Music, with a life-sized Mom Superior and a marionette-packed finale. Different enchanting productions embrace Mozart’s The Magic Flute and Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker. All have multilingual subtitles.
Swan across the gardens of Schloss Mirabell
Schloss Mirabell palace is the belle of the baroque ball in Salzburg, constructed by Prince-Archbishop Wolf Dietrich to woo his mistress Salome Alt in 1606. However it’s the gardens that basically blow you away. Archbishop Johann Ernst von Thun labored his green-fingered magic on them in 1690, going loopy with fountains and muses, parterres and rose gardens, all of the whereas ensuring that the gaze was continually drawn as much as high-on-a-hill Festung Hohensalzburg.
As you wander, maintain a watch out for the Tänzerin (dancer) sculpture – a terrific spot to {photograph} the gardens with the fortress within the background. The Sound of Music followers will after all recognise the Pegasus statue, the steps and the gnomes of the Zwerglgarten (Dwarf Backyard), the place the little von Trapps realized to sing Do-Re-Mi.
Cycle the banks of the Salzach
Unfurling from metropolis to meadow and mountain, the banks of the Salzach River are a pleasure to cycle, particularly when the town heaves in summer season. Seize your self a bike and pedal south, with views of the Altstadt’s riot of domes and spires slowly fading as you go the Volksgarten park.
Going for a pedal right here means that you can give the town crowds the slip for a spell. Carry a picnic and make a day of it, maybe stopping to see the grand summer season palace and trick fountains at Schloss Hellbrunn or, if the solar’s out, persevering with south to Waldbad Anif. Swimming, canoeing, or wakeboarding within the refreshing turquoise waters of this forest-rimmed lake is a peaceable method to whereas away a summer season afternoon.
Saunter alongside Steingasse
The baroque Altstadt on the left financial institution of the Salzach River will get all of the fuss and sure, it’s extremely lovely, but it surely’s additionally nerve-fraying when the vacationer lots descend in summer season. For our cash, the loveliest lane in Salzburg is Steingasse on the alternative aspect of the milky-green river. Laborious although it’s to consider at the moment, this slender lane was the principle north-south route between the town and Italy within the Center Ages, its cobbles polished easy by many a horse’s hoof and wagon wheel. Salt from close by mines was transported from right here to Europe and past.
Now it’s the form of lane that sends Instagrammers into raptures, with its gently curving medieval townhouses in mushy fresco colours, at their most photogenic within the morning daylight or lantern-lit within the blue nightfall. Look out for the plaque at No.9 to well-known previous resident Joseph Mohr, who penned the lyrics to the carol Silent Night time simply after the top of the Napoleonic Wars.
Dig into conventional Austrian grub at Bärenwirt
There are loads of fancy eating places in Salzburg, with value tags to match, however generally all you need is schnitzel as large as a boot, cooked to golden perfection and a aspect order of historical past. You’ll discover exactly this at Bärenwirt, a heat, woody, looking lodge-style tavern that has been juggling the pans since 1663. The inn forgoes all of the new-fangled meals tendencies in favor of fine old style, gut-busting dishes like Bierbraten (beer roast) with lashings of dumplings and sauerkraut, beef goulash and Kasnocken (mini cheese dumplings with fried onions). If the climate is variety, snag a desk on the terrace for a view of the Salzach River.
