Posted by Karbo
We left Munich for Salzburg on Halloween. We didn't realize it was a long weekend and ended up having to stand on the train. We're glad things worked out the way they did though, because we met a new friend, Jess, during the ride. :)
We left Munich for Salzburg on Halloween. We didn't realize it was a long weekend and ended up having to stand on the train. We're glad things worked out the way they did though, because we met a new friend, Jess, during the ride. :)
Salzburg is a quiet town at night so after we arrived we spent our first night walking around Old Town. Our first impression was that Salzburg's Old Town is really, really pretty. Everything is picturesque and clean!
On our first full day in Salzburg, we bought the Salzburg Card. The card gives you free/reduced admission to attractions around Salzburg as well as free unlimited travel on the public transit network. We thought the card was a good deal since the city is so compact it's not difficult to hit up a lot of attractions each day.
We "hiked" up the Festungsberg to Hohensalzburg Castle, which is a fortress that sits atop one of the two city hills of Salzburg. I say "hiked" because when I asked the lady at the Tourism Centre about the hiking trails, she laughed and told me kindly that a hike meant we were planning to go up the Austrian Alps. Going up the Festungsberg was more of a leisurely stroll.
After enjoying our panoramic view of Salzburg, we went back down the hill and took a bus to Schloss Hellbrunn (schloss = palace...try saying it quickly 3x). Schloss Hellbrunn was built as a pleasure palace and is home to the famous trick fountains. We weren't expecting much from the trick fountains but we're glad we went! We'd just recommend going in the summer as there's a good chance you'll get wet during the tour!
We took a break at Cafe Tomaselli, which is the oldest cafe in Salzburg. We'd been warned that it was a tourist trap and we were prepared for what we got: high prices and bad service. But it was still pretty cool to sip our coffees where Mozart used to be a regular!
We went for dinner with Jess at Gasthaus Zwettler's Stiftskeller. It's a busy restaurant right in the middle of Old Town. We recommend it!
On the 2nd we got up bright and early to check out the Salzburg Museum. There wasn't as much info on the history of Salzburg as we expected but they had a special exhibit on the Salzburg Marionette Theatre that was very nicely put together.
We went to the Salzburg Museum right when it opened so that we could meet up with Clara for brunch. Clara currently lives in Geneva working for the Red Cross and she made the trip out to Salzburg to spend the weekend with us. =)
We had brunch at 220GRAD, which had been recommended to us as the spot where the locals go. It was definitely a popular spot and we had to wait for almost an hour for our table.
We had brunch at 220GRAD, which had been recommended to us as the spot where the locals go. It was definitely a popular spot and we had to wait for almost an hour for our table.
Salzburg really promotes itself as the birthplace of Mozart and the home of The Sound of Music so after brunch we used our Salzburg Cards to go to Mozart's Birthplace and Mozart's Residence. There were some interesting artifacts such as Mozart's violin, piano, sheet music, and correspondence. Overall, though, we were underwhelmed with both museums.
We met up with Jess and her friends for dinner at the Steinlechner. There was lots of beer and German food and some of the waiters wore very short lederhosen. We had a great time and agree that this is one of the best things about travelling - meeting new people everywhere we go.