Salzburg is the fourth-largest city in Austria and the capital of the federal state of Salzburg. Salzburg’s “Old Town” with its world famous baroque architecture is one of the best-preserved city centres north of the Alps, and was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.
The city is noted for its Alpine setting. It is the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the setting for parts of the musical and film The Sound of Music, which features famous landmarks in Austria, but focuses mainly on Salzburg. Salzburg is also a student city, with three universities.
Salzburg is a city in central Austria, near the German/Bavarian border with a population of some 148,000 in 2005. If you’ve seen the movie The Sound of Music, you may think you know all there is to see in Salzburg.
Admittedly, it’s tough not to burst into song when you’re walking along the Salzach River, or climbing up to the Hohensalzburg fortress which looms over the city. But there’s a lot more to this compact, courtly city than Julie Andrews and Mozart’s birthplace. The city was one of the eight host cities in the 2008 European Football Championships.
Salzburg is on the banks of the Salzach river, at the northern boundary of the Alps. The mountains to Salzburg’s south contrast with the rolling plains to the north. The closest alpine peak – the 1972 m Untersberg – is only a few kilometers from the city center. The Altstadt, or “old town”, is dominated by its baroque towers and churches and the massive Festung Hohensalzburg. This area is surrounded by two smaller mountains, the Mönchsberg and Kapuzinerberg as the green lung of the city. Salzburg is approximately 150 km east of Munich, and 300 km west of Vienna.
Salzburg is the fourth-largest city in Austria (after Vienna,Graz and Linz) and the capital of the federal state of Salzburg. It’s “Old Town”, with its world famous baroque architecture, is one of the best-preserved city centers in the German-speaking world, and was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.
In the city of Salzburg there were several DP Camps following World War II. Among these were Riedenburg, Camp Herzl (Franz-Josefs-Kaserne), Camp Mülln, Bet Bialik, Bet Trumpeldor, and New Palestine. Salzburg was the centre of the American-occupied area in Austria.
On January 27, 2006, the 250th anniversary of the birth of Wolfgang Mozart, all 35 churches of Salzburg rang their bells a little after 8PM (local time) to celebrate the occasion. Major celebrations took place throughout the year.
The best way to get around Salzburg is by foot. There is a network of city buses (StadtBus, with numbers from 1 to 8 (O-Buses, electric) and 20-27 (fuel-powered)). Single trip: €2.00. 24 hour ticket: €5.00. One week ticket: €12.40.), which cover the whole city star-shaped from the center. If you travel by bus make sure you don’t catch any of the last buses.
They’ll take you several miles out of town with your only way back by walking or taxi, should you be fortunate enough to wave one down. With that said if you need to get somewhere late at night it may be best to either take a taxi or walk.
Conveniently, bus tickets can be bought on the bus from the bus driver. However, if you have time, buy the tickets in advance at a “Trafik”, since they are then significantly cheaper. For example, a single trip then costs only €1.50, but you have to buy the tickets in blocks of 5.
The “Lokalbahn” train has a separate train station under the main train station and travels in the direction of Oberndorf and Lamprechtshausen. Tickets can be bought on the train. Another option for exploring areas around the main city (Bad Ischl, Fuschlsee, etc.) are the POST-BUSes. These also leave from the main train station; tickets can be bought from the driver.
Finally, an excellent option is renting a bike. Salzburg has over 100km of bike paths, and this is often faster than bus, car or foot. There are also excellent bike paths on either side of the river which you can follow to either Freilassing (35 minutes), Oberndorf or Hallein (each about an hour one-way).
margin in peak times. In addition to Mozart’s birthplace noted above, other notable places include:
- The whole Old Town of Salzburg was nominated as a World Heritage Site in 1996.
- The baroque architecture including the many churches are world famous.
- The Salzburg Cathedral
- The fortress Hohensalzburg on a hill dominating the old town is one of the largest castles in Europe, with views over Salzburg.
- The Franziskanerchurch
- The St.Peter cemetery
- The Nonnberg Abbey a Benedictine monastery
- The “Residenz” Palace (the magnificent former Prince-Archbishop’s residence)
- Mozart’s Birthplace
- Mozart’s Residence
- The University Church
- The Siegmundstor (or Neutor)
- The Getreidegasse
- Palace of Mirabell with its wide gardens full of flowers
- The palace of Leopoldskron is a rococo palace and a national historic monument in Leopoldskron-Moos, a southern district of the city of Salzburg.
- Hellbrunn with its parks and castles
- Tour companies operate tours of locations used in the film The Sound of Music.
- Within the greater Salzburg area
- The Basilika Maria Plain on the Calvary Hill, a late Baroque church, on the northern edge of Salzburg.
- Salzburger Freilichtmuseum Großgmain, an open-air museum containing old farmhouses/farm buildings from all over the state assembled in historic setting.
- The Schloss Klessheim Palace (today a Casino) was formerly used by Adolf Hitler
- The Berghof, Hitler’s mountain retreat of which only the Eagle’s Nest remains, was in nearby Berchtesgaden
- The Salzkammergut is an area of lakes in the Salzburg state, east of the city and further on into the provinces of Upper Austria and Styria.
- The Untersberg mountain is next to the city, straddling the German-Austrian border, and on a clear day provides panoramic views of the city and the Alps.
- Skiing is an attraction during winter. Salzburg itself has no skiing facilities, but it acts as a gateway to skiing areas to the south. During the winter months its airport receives charter flights from around Europe.
For almost a century, Salzburg has hosted the world famous Salzburg Festival, with operas, concerts, and theater plays in different locations throughout the city. It was founded by Hugo von Hoffmansthal, Max Reinhardt and Richard Strauss in 1920. It takes place in July and August, the most famous piece is the “Jedermann” (”Everyman”) by Hugo v. Hoffmansthal, being conducted in front of the dome every year.
More recently, festivals also take place during Easter time (with mostly Baroque music), and in autumn (Jazz music). The annual Frequency festival (mainly Alternative Rock) with world famous acts takes place only a few kilometres from the center of Salzburg.
The city is serviced by comprehensive rail connections, with frequent east-west trains servicing Vienna, Munich, Innsbruck, and Zürich, including daily high-speed ICE services. The city also acts as a hub for south-bound trains through the Alps into Italy.
Salzburg Airport has scheduled flights to European cities such as Frankfurt, Vienna, London, Amsterdam and Zürich, as well as Hamburg, Dublin and Charleroi. In addition to these, there are numerous charter flights.
In the main city there is a trolleybus and bus system with more than 20 lines, and service every 10 minutes. Salzburg also has an S-Bahn system with four Lines (S1, S2, S3, S11), trains depart from the main station every 30 minutes. Suburb line number S1 reaches the world famous Silent Night chapel in Oberndorf in about 25 minutes.
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