Attractions in Salzburg
Salzburg is a city full of attractions. For those who love classical music, Salzburg can best be described as a giant spinach where it sprinkles cultural goodies wherever you go.
In addition to Mozart and fine culture, it is the architectural masterpieces that characterize Salzburg. Few cities in Austria can offer equally beautiful churches and palaces, squares and Baroque architecture.
Castle Mirabell
Coming from the station, the first major (literally) attraction will be Schloss Mirabell. It is located in the new town, but is from 1606. The Schloss Mirabell was renovated and rebuilt into the palace we see today in the 1720s. Although many frescoes were destroyed by fire in 1818, it is enough to look at, both inside and out.
As famous as the palace itself is the castle garden. The garden gnomes (or gnomes) are both fun and scary and scattered around a separate area in the very beautiful planted park. There are several different monuments in addition to the gnomes, not least the Pegasus fountain next to the palace, installed in 1913.
The address is Mirabellplatz 4.
Mozart’s birthplace
Salzburg is probably best known for being the birthplace of Mozart. So get up early if you want to avoid queuing at this museum. Here in “Mozart’s House” you will see many funny and thoughtful props and pictures of the world’s perhaps greatest composer of all time.
Mozart’s birthplace is in the Old Town, specifically Getreidegasse 9. Open all days from 0900 to 1730. Opening hours are usually extended by a couple of hours in high season, ie July and August.
Mozart’s residence
After his childhood in Getreidegasse 9, Mozart moved to Makartplatz 8 in 1773. He lived here until he moved to Vienna. The house is now a Mozart Museum that shows fragments of Mozart’s daily life.
Several times a month, dinner shows and concerts are held in Mozart’s residence. There may be something to bring with you if it suits your time when you are in Salzburg.
Hohensalzburg Fortress
When you leave the station area towards the Old Town, it is often the Hohensalzburg fortress that attracts attention. The fort or fortification, if you will, was built as early as 1077. The fort was further enlarged (and fortified) in the 1400s, and with its 250 meters in length and 150 meters in width is the largest fully preserved castle fortress in Europe.
As a curiosity, we can mention that Hohensalzburg was a prison for prisoners of war from Italy during World War I. As a tourist today you are just as happy to take the cable car up to the fortress. If you want to save money, you use the apostles’ horses.
The address is Mönchsberg 34, but you can see it from virtually every team in town. Open from 0930 to 1700 (1800 in high season).
Salzburg Cathedral
Salzburg Cathedral can be found on the Cathedral Square (or Domplatz) and is originally a building dating back to 767. Like most stately European church buildings, the Cathedral of Salzburg has been destroyed or exposed to accidents and disasters a number of times. And of course rebuilt just as many times. The cathedral was also hit by bombs during World War II.
Salzburg Cathedral is the place where you will find the baptismal font where Mozart was baptized. The interior is of course fantastic as it should and should be. And the cathedral is also included in the original “Sound of Music tour” held in Salzburg.
St. Peter’s Church
The Benedictines had a monastery in Salzburg, founded by St Rupert back in the year 696. Today you will find a Romanesque architectural church from 1147. The interior of Stiftskirche St. Peter is Late Baroque.
St Peter’s Church St. Peter has a chapel where the remains of Ether Johann von Staupitz are located. He was a personal friend of Martin Luther.
And there are (of course) Mozart concerts here during the summer festival in August. The address is Sankt-Peter-Bezirk 1.
Petersfriedhof
Oddly enough, cemeteries can be an attraction. So also with the cemetery of Stiftskirche St. Peter. This is the oldest cemetery in Salzburg and dates back to the Benedictine monastery around the year 700.
Mozart’s sister (Nannerl) and Johann Michael Haydn are among the celebrities buried here. And rich people (and celebrities) were buried here as late as 2011. The cemetery was otherwise the place where the Trapp family in The Sound of Music hid from the Nazis.
Museum of Modern Art
A break from all that Baroque and romantic music, is a visit to the Museum of Modern Art. The museum has just as well split into two locations. But the main building, which partially overlooks the Old Town, offers 3,000 square meters of exhibition on four floors.
Here you will find works by artists such as Klimt, Manzu, Ernst Ludwig, and Fritz Wortuba and many more. For Norwegians, many are pleased to see Edvard Munch, as much as the French enjoy Gauguin and Toulouse-Lautrec.
The address is Mönchsberg 32, and the opening hours are normally from 1000 to 1800. Attention! Closed Mondays and extended opening hours Wednesdays.
Tourist in Salzburg
Let the following be clear. Salzburg is a great city to be a tourist in. Let it also be clear that if you visit Salzburg in the summer months you must share the city with endless numbers of other tourists from all over the world.
The old town of Salzburg does not extend over large areas, so that a fairly diverse person can easily catch all the sights on foot. It also includes walking tours from the station area of Neustadt to the Old Town and discovery tours of Park Kapuzinerberg. However, are there problems with the apostle’s horses so white that there are plenty of city buses and that they have frequent departures.
Day 1 in Salzburg
On the way from the station we first take a tour of the Schloss Mirabell. It meets you with its wonderful landscaping including the many garden gardens. It is no wonder that you are now visiting one of the most important recording sites for the musical “The Sound of Music”. The address is Mirabellplatz and it is only 400 meters from the train station.
After the monuments, flowers and palaces are photographed and admired, we propose that the trip continues towards the historic center of Altstadt. It is basically impossible to go wrong, but if you still need a landmark, then you will see huge Festung Hohensalzburg throne on a ridge behind the old town, and through this set the direction you should go.
When you reach the Salzach River there are two to three alternative bridges available. You have the Mozartsteg and Makartsteg walkways, the latter known for their innumerable love locks, that is, you lock a padlock with a love statement and throw the key. And you have the big bridge and the traffic jam Staatsbrücke.
Before taking the bridge to the historic center, take a trip to the house where Mozart lived as an adult. The address is Makartplatz 8. The house was called “Dance Master`s house, but is now only called Mozart’s Residence. Here you can buy a ticket that also includes a visit to Mozart’s birthplace, known as the Mozart Museum.
If you take the trip over the Staatsbrücke bridge you will in principle arrive right at Mozart’s birthplace. And this house will visit all tourists in Salzburg. It is therefore okay to make the visit as early as possible, before the queues extend far into the street. Mozart’s birthplace opens at 0900 and is easily recognizable on its bright yellow facade. The address is Getreidegasse 9.
Getreidegasse is a pedestrian street, but equally one of the main streets of the Old Town. Here it is teeming with shops and cafes. It extends from Town Hall Square in the east, (Rathausplatz) to the Catholic Church in the west. After a visit to the Mozart Museum, head west to the outer edge of the Old Town. Be sure to take a break with some food and drink along the way.
When you are at the end of the Catholic Church, make the return trip by turning up the Bürgerspitalgasse and walking the Hofstallgasse or the smaller parallel street passing the Universitätsplatz. These roads lead you straight to the cathedral, the cable car to Festung Hohensalzburg, Chapterplatz and a number of other sights. In this area it is easy to spend hours admiring attractions.
On the way home we go via Residentplatz and the street Goldgasse. Residentplatz has a huge fountain as the centerpiece and Goldgasse offers great souvenir shops, antique shops and restaurants.
If you are not too hungry we suggest you go Goldgasse all the way to Alter Markt. And from there across the river to the venerable Hotel Sacher. Not only do they serve the world-renowned Sacher cake, which is sure to satisfy you more than a large portion of dinner, but they have delicious wines and delicious light meals (and great dishes, of course) at their cafe and restaurant. Not cheap, but not a deterrent either.