Let’s get two things out of the way first: Mozart and Maria von Trapp. People often describe Salzburg in such terms, but there’s so much more to this beautifully faded baroque city. It’s a fanfare of medieval pomp, with blasts of steeples rising to turrets and snow-tipped Alps — and its palace gardens are the envy of Europe.
With old and new sitting side by side, this is a young intellectual city that fizzes with students, festivals, coffeehouse culture and Red Bull (its HQ is here), plus it’s just so darn good to look at or listen to; day or night, you’re carried along on a steady current of basso continuo. New winter flights from Heathrow and Birmingham may see its popularity surge, but for now these are just a few of our favourite things.
Day 1
• Morning: Hohensalzburg Fortress
• Lunch: Balkan Grill Salzburg
• Afternoon: Hellbrunn Palace
• Drink at: Augustiner Bräu Mülln
• Evening: Mirabell Palace
• Eat at: Hubers im Fischerwirt
Day 2
• Morning: Explore the Andräviertel district
• Lunch: Café Wernbacher
• Afternoon: Take a Mozart-themed tour
• Drink at: Café Tomaselli
• Evening: Salzburg Marionette Theatre
• Dinner: Ikarus
What to do
• It’s easy to lose your sense of direction when craning your neck to behold the Hohensalzburg Fortress, a superstructure bankrolled by bloody-minded archbishops for eight centuries (from £9; salzburg-burgen.at). Take the steps from the salt magazine, via the dungeon, to the strategic observation turret to hit today’s travel jackpot, one of the most sublime views in Austria.
• Prince-Archbishop Markus Sittikus is Salzburg’s lesser-known poster boy, but certainly its most fun. As a reflection of social status 400 years ago, he installed an arsenal of trick fountains that fire water from hidden nozzles inside the grottoes and gardens of Hellbrunn Palace — all very Alice in Wonderland, but what a hoot. Take a waterproof (£13; open March-November 2024; hellbrunn.at).
• Sing Do-Re-Mi at Mirabell Palace. Go on, do it. The palace’s pleasure garden, with a hedge theatre, orangery, rose banks, stone dwarfs and pegasus fountain, will never fall from fashion thanks to Julie Andrews and her curtain-wearing clan of von Trapp tykes that joyously sang and danced around it nearly 60 years ago (free entry; salzburg.info). For later, if you fancy, there are string quartets in the grand marble hall of the palace itself (from £33; salzburg-palace-concerts.com).
• There’s lots to recommend in Andräviertel. North of the river and centred around ornamental apartment buildings, this fashionable quarter is both easy to reach from the Altstadt and where those that are Salzburg to the marrow come to eat, drink and play. The area’s sentinel is St Andrew’s Church and the main draw is Schranne market (Thursdays, 5am-1pm; salzburg.info). An essential part of its charm is the quality of produce (jams and hams, bergkäse — mountain cheese — and blooms) and the vendors, who, believe it or not, have to wait up to ten years to land a spot.
• It’d be remiss not to hat-tip Mozart when in his home town. So, ahead of next year’s 40th anniversary of the sumptuous Academy Award-winner Amadeus, head down to No 9 Getreidegasse (Mozart’s Birthplace), cross the sparkling Salzach to the Tanzmeisterhaus (Mozart Residence), then finish with a concerto at the Mozarteum Foundation (combo ticket £17, concerts extra; mozarteum.at). The irony, in a city now hosting 4,500 cultural events each year, is young Wolfie hated the place.
• Among this month’s calendar highlights are terrific puppet-offs at the Salzburg Marionette Theatre. The music — The Magic Flute, perhaps — isn’t played live, but the genius is the sleight of hand of the puppeteers; every subtle flick draws out life. This is string puppetry in the vein of Taylor Swift: fashion forward, hard-working and extravagantly staged (from £22; marionetten.at).
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What to eat and drink
Balkan Grill
What would Austrians do without their humble sausage? In Salzburg the best of the wursts is a Salzburger Bosna, a double pork banger on a grilled sub roll with onions, parsley and curry spice (yes, no mustard). It was introduced to the city in 1949, by way of Bulgaria, and is best enjoyed from this cult hole-in-the-wall (from £4; Getreidegasse 33).
Augustiner Bräu Mülln
The joy of wooden barrels, stone-made pitchers and 400 years of beer culture comes together at the foot of the Mönchsberg inside Austria’s largest tavern. With five vaulted halls and a monstrous 1,400-seat garden, it’s so big there’s an arcade of food vendors to help soak up the suds. Meatloaf with pickles is the belly liner you need (mains from £7; augustinerbier.at).
Hubers im Fischerwirt
Salzburgers love a traditional inn and this one — with grocery, wine bar and cellar, cooking classes and praline workshop — is a classic example. There’s schnitzel, braised ox cheek, veal and bread dumplings for Austria novices, or tasting menus (four courses from £65) for those who want this month’s white truffle harvest grated over everything (mains from £17; fischerwirt-liefering.at).
Café Wernbacher
For coffee and cake, there’s this star turn by the celebrity baker Didi Maier. He’s Salzburg’s Paul Hollywood, but with more strudel, less soggy bottom (from £3; didimaier.at).
Café Tomaselli
“Let’s grab a cup of hot almond milk,” said no one ever. You might think differently when on the terrace of Austria’s oldest coffeehouse, overlooking the clip-clopping hackney coaches of Residenzplatz Square (from £199 for a carriage; 10am-4pm in winter). The “kaffeedames” in white pinafores once served Mozart’s favourite drink, but if that’s not your cuppa there’s a gilded cabinet of handsome gateaux, including fruit strudel, linzertorte and the Tomaselli gateau — a waltz of chocolate and pastry (drinks from £3; tomaselli.at).
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Ikarus
No one in their right mind would open a concept restaurant in an airport hangar but, then again, Red Bull does things differently. The food is special here: Ikarus has two Michelin stars and its menus and resident guest chefs change monthly (six courses from £147; hangar-7.com).
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Where to stay
Meininger Hotel Salzburg
For a convenient cheapie
Just down the road from Salzburg Gnigl train station (six minutes from the Altstadt), this clued-up budget option has options for all. Simple dorms, singles, doubles, family rooms and accessible digs decked out in a tried-and-tested Tyrolian-red gingham scheme, but also plenty of head-turning perks including hire bikes, games room, bar and kitchen (room-only doubles from £58; meininger-hotels.com).
Arcotel Castellani Salzburg
For saints (sort of)
In Salzburg Süd, a ten-minute tram hop from the Altstadt, this canary-yellow hotel was once a solemn priory and retains the soul of its former tenants with a pretty chapel yard and baroque-era church. There’s little hint of that history inside: it brims with sophisticated rooms and suites, with a lovely terrace restaurant out back and swish service — almost heavenly in its own way (room-only doubles from £80; castellani.arcotel.com).
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Hôtel Bristol
For glitz and glamour
First given life in 1619 by Prince-Archbishop Paris Lodron, the so-called “father of the fatherland” in Salzburg, this stately pile has long been the city’s most treasured address. The Hübner family now keeps the keys and the public rooms feel like they’ve used up the city’s entire quota of extraordinary crystal chandeliers, gold polish and old master-style oil paintings (room-only doubles from £287; bristol-salzburg.at).
Getting there
Fly direct with Ryanair from Stansted and Jet2 from Edinburgh. Lufthansa launches a direct route from Heathrow this month, while easyJet has a new one from Birmingham. The airport is two miles from the centre — buses take about 15 minutes (singles £1.75).
Getting around
Salzburg’s centre is easily navigable and a joy to explore on foot. If you want to visit Hellbrunn Palace, it’s a 25-minute bus ride from the city centre, or travel in style on board the Amadeus speedboat as it cruises the Salzach River (£17; salzburghighlights.at).
Mike MacEacheran was a guest of the Salzburg tourist board (salzburg.info)
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What’s your favourite thing to do in Salzburg? Let us know in the comments below
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