Last week went to Austria for a week holiday and stayed in a kinder hotel. One of the day trips we did from the hotel was to nearby Salzburg. You’ve probably heard of it as it’s the birthplace of Mozart as well as the location of the Von Trapp family from the Sound of Music. The highlight of the city for me was the Hohensalzburg castle, which sits up on a hill overlooking the city. You can hike up or take the very fast funicular (I think you can guess which option we chose!) and you get some great views from the top!
Inside the castle they have several displays including a kind of strange and somewhat spooky puppet exhibit room.
The Von Trapp family puppets.
Besides the puppets the castle is full of history exhibits about the castle itself, as well as the city from it’s origins up through World War One. There was a lot of really interesting information and displays, especially if you’re into war history! Outside the castle there are some shops and few restaurants, one of which has a very nice view. It was a bit early for lunch so we didn’t eat there, but if you try it let me know how it is!
Back down the hill in the city we walked around and saw the famous St Peter’s Cemetery, which is the oldest cemetery in Salzburg and right next to the St Peter’s Abby. The cemetery is kept up really well with flowers every where and is one of the main tourist sites in the city.
After some wondering around we saw Mozart’s birthplace and ate lunch at Cafe Mozart, which sounds really touristy but was actually pretty good! We didn’t go inside the museum because it was very crowded and all the reviews said it was overpriced and not impressive. Instead we took some pictures of the outside and then continued our journey around town. We walked across the river to the very lovely Mirabell gardens. The gardens are free to the public and very nice- definitely worth a stroll through! They were also the filming location for some scenes in the Sound of Music movie.
View of the town from the river.
What town is complete without a lock bridge?!
And in case you forgot- there’s no kangaroos in Austria!
Salzburg is a really nice city and not too big to walk around for a day. We probably could have spent another day or two going to all the museums and churches, but one day was plenty to get a nice overview. Since we went at the end of September we also caught the fall festival that was going on with plenty of craft booths, food, rides and beer tents so there was a very festive attitude to the city! If you go with kids it seemed stroller friendly enough, although there a lot of stairs in the castle so you would have to leave your stroller outside and carry.
