The Sound of Salzburg

Salzburg is one of the quaintest cities I’ve ever seen, nestled into cliff walls with a huge fortress looming over it. You don’t need much time here, but it’s one of coolest little places to see. Day 1, we simply explored. It’s not a very big place, so we spent time in all the plazas, taking everything in. This is famously where the Sound Of Music was filmed, so we actually went on a walking Sound of Music tour to see where all the film locations were. There are guided tours for this or you can google the spots and do it yourself. It was a pretty fun experience, with palaces, gardens, and parks all being on the list.

Salzburg is also the birthplace of Mozart, which also provides some really fun things to do. You can see his birthplace down the popular street, Getreidegrasse, where there are also a ton of shops and restaurants. We explored, shopped, and sampled food here and at the Residenzplatz, one of the more famous plazas. There is lots of live music and performers in these plazas that are fun to watch. This day, we also visited the Salzburg Cathedral. While it’s not unlike other cathedrals in old Europe, it’s still astounding in its architecture and artwork. We had dinner at a little corner cafe near the fortress, then returned to our hotel. Things in Salzburg close relatively early (like, 7pm) as it is a much quieter little town than most other European cities that boast big nightlife.

Fortress Hohensalzburg is probably the main thing to do and see in Salzburg, as it is the prominent feature of the city. You can hike up to it, or take a cable car to the top of the fortress for amazing views of the city as well as tours of the castle. The history of how and when it was built is incredible, and the views of the city and river below are to die for. We had coffee and brunch at the top of the fortress to better soak in the views. We spent a few hours in the first half of the day there. The Salzburg catacombs are close by, and accessible to tourists as well. We walked through them after seeing the fortress, which was super cool, yet eerie. Another part of culture and history that we in the US never really had, so it was fun to see.

After a quick coffee and breakfast, we headed back to Mozart’s birthplace, inside which they have a small museum dedicated to the late composer. You can see the room occupied by the family, many artifacts and momentous of his (violins, music he wrote, etc), and more. You can arrange your own tour or self guide and it’s easy to do inside of an hour.
Salzburg was only one leg of our trip, so midday on the 3rd day we headed to our next destination.