The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music

Salzburg is just a little over two hours from Vienna via train so off we went. Their famous music festival runs from July 19 to August 31 which means we avoided some of the crowds! Salzburg offers the Salzburg Card for 24/48/72 hours and grants free access to about 30 sights, discounts on others and free public transportation. We bought the 48 hour pass but honestly didn’t see all the sights as it was extremely hot (32C/94F) and we’re not the “must see everything in a place” kind of travelers…leave something for next visit. 

We had tickets to listen to Mozart in Mirabell Palace so we decided to use our Salzburg Card discount for the Hop-on/Hop-off to get the lay of the land. To be honest, I wouldn’t recommend their HOHO as it is like a Greyhound bus and not open on top plus the tour goes out of the Old Town. I will say we both agreed though that the quality of the audio guide was by far the clearest and most accurate as far as talking about places when we were actually in front of them. Not too many pics from the tour as the reflection from the window didn't make for good photos.

Kids heading to the garden for a concert

Fortress Hohensalzburg

Salzburg is probably the only major town in Austria without a plague monument because once a week, they used to wash the streets from water from the Alm River Canal.  Looks like they're still serious about keeping the streets clean but now with a pressure washer.

The HOHO ended at Mirabellplatz so we walked around the gardens and listened to a high school band while waiting for our Mozart at Mirabell concert. Sadly, the concert did not happen and I’ll have to get us a refund but we did get to see the room where it was supposed to take place.  These are the gardens where Maria and the kids sang "Do Re Mi" in The Sound of Music.  

Beyond the Mirabell Gardens is the Salzburg Dwarf Garden.  This garden has been around since the 17th century.

Marble Hall in Mirabell Palace where we were supposed to attend the concert

St. Andrä Catholic Church

 

We popped into S’Kloane Brauhaus for a slice 

of apple strudel before heading back to hotel. 

The next morning we caught the bus (definitely got our money’s worth out of Salzburg Card on public transit alone!) to head to the funicular up to Fortress Hohensalzburg but first we stopped at Kaffee Alchemie for a coffee and split the best cinnamon roll we’ve ever had!  If you’re ever in Salzburg, definitely stop in as they were so friendly (the owner reminded us to drink a lot of water because it was going to be hot) and everything was delicious. 

The funicular was included in our Salzburg Card or if you’re feeling energetic you can walk the 20-25 minutes up the hill versus the one minute ride. Once up at the top, the temperature dropped at least 15 degrees and the wind was blowing…a much welcomed change as it was already 86F at 11:00am.  The views were spectacular on all sides…one side was Salzburg and one side were the Alps!

There are two restaurants at the top of the fortress so we decided to have a Salzburger Nockerln and enjoy the view. The nockerln is made up of egg yolks, egg whites, some sugar and fruit. We decided since it had so many eggs (protein) and berries (antioxidants) it was a healthy options 😂. 

Once down the hill, we visited St. Peter’s Abbey and Cemetery. In Salzburg, as in many European cities, the cemetery plots are rented and not owned. Every ten years the family member on record receives a bill and as long as they pay, you get to stay. If no one pays, the remains are carefully removed, labeled and placed in the catacombs and the next tenant can move in. There were a couple chapels at the abbey and then the main church. 

Judging from the number of confessionals in St. Peter’s, I’m guess the folks of Salzburg spend a fair amount of time here 😂

Salzburg is definitely a city of churches as everywhere we turned there seemed to be another one.  The prince-archbishops of the 16th century namely Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau were so impressed with the opulence of Rome they wanted to turn Salzburg into the Rome of the North so maybe that’s part of the reason for all the churches. 

The Salzburg Cathedral is a beautiful Baroque style church. It is one of the discount sights with the Salzburg Card and worth a visit.  Rather than having the stations of the cross along the wall, they are painted above the arches along the sides of the church. 

This was the home church of Mozart and where he was baptized in the baptismal font. 

After spending the morning and early afternoon wandering around town, we started walking towards Augustiner Bräu Mülln for beer and sausage.  Did I mention how hot it was?! We decided to grab a cab instead of walking the mile and we are so glad we did as our driver was great and the walk would have been in full sun. He told us this was a very good biergarten and one of his favorites. Clearly he wasn’t the only one that thought so as we arrived at 2:40pm and there was a line of locals awaiting their 3:00pm opening. 

Once inside, you just grab a seat anywhere and a server will come take your beer order or you can go inside and get your own. They have a few food vendors along the side but if you want käserkrainer (sausage stuffed with cheese) like we did, head upstairs to a lot more vendors.  

If you opt to get your own beer, you head inside and pre-pay for either a small (1/2 liter) or large (liter), grab your stein, rinse it out and hand it to the bartender.  To my surprise and delight, the beer was ice cold making it the perfect complement for our käserkrainer and sauerkraut. 

Parking lot at biergarten 

The Salzburg Marionette Theatre is on the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage and we were lucky enough to get tickets. We saw an adaptation of Mozart’s The Magic Flute and it was quite impressive. The marionettes looked nothing like the puppets we’ve seen in the past. 

On our final morning, we headed back into Old Town to have a pastry and coffee at Cafe Fürst and to try a Salzburger Mozartkugel as this is where they were first made. The Salzburger Mozartkugel was first made in 1884 by Paul Fürst and today, his great-great grandson still follows his recipe and method.  We had a Sachertorte slice and Großer Einspänner (double espresso with whipped cream) followed by a Mozartkugel. Everything was quite tasty. We noticed a fellow diner reading a paper on a newspaper holder (old school for sure) and then saw several at the front of the cafe.

We had a little time to visit the Christmas Museum (also part of the Salzburg Card) which was very interesting but unfortunately did not allow photos. 

Before heading back to the hotel to get our bags and go to the train station, we had time for one more coffee (definitely getting used to the coffeehouse culture in Austria). LuLu opted for an Americana while I had a Kaffee Mozart (an Einspänner with a shot of Mozart liquor…white chocolate liquor). It really is quite fun to people watch while enjoying a cup of coffee. 

One of the charming things we noticed about Salzburg were the signs above stores.  

We enjoyed our short visit to Salzburg but said next time we return, it will be when the temps are a little cooler…thank goodness our hotel had a super powerful air conditioner!

Not sure if this will work on a laptop or Android, but this is the link to my Apple Map Guide of Salzburg.