Unique Things to Do in and around Salzburg

Steeped in a fabulously wealthy cultural past, the picturesque Austrian metropolis of Salzburg is brimming with particular matters to peer and do.

Water capabilities at Schloss Hellbrunn (Photo: Charlie Dave through Flickr / CC BY 2.0)

The metropolis’s historical past is maximum deeply interlinked with classical track, with famed composer Mozart having been born right here. Geographically, it is split via way of means of the Salzach River, with medieval and baroque homes of the pedestrianised Altstadt (Old City) burrowed under steep hills on its left financial institution and the nineteenth-century Neustadt (New City) on its right. On each facets of this boundary, site visitors will locate no cease of attractions, and right here’s our select of the nice.

Visit a beautiful united states residence

Who stated aristocrats don’t have a experience of humour? In the early seventeenth century, Markus Sittikus, the archbishop of Salzburg, had the concept of remodeling the enormous gardens of Schloss Hellbrunn, his grand summer time season playhouse, into an area of mirth and merriment – for him, at least. With the palace constructed over herbal springs, the archbishop determined to outfit the gardens with fountains that could sporadically shoot water at unwitting visitors. With a few constructed into visitors’ seats, you'll consider the comical results. Hellbrunn stays nearly absolutely unchanged almost four hundred years later, entire with trick fountains in conjunction with an extraordinary Mechanical Theatre, introduced in 1750, and showing a bustling baroque city with two hundred transferring figures, repeating their clockwork motions to water-powered organ track.

Fürstenweg 37 / Mon-Sun 9am-5pm

In a rustic now no longer quick of awesome houses and palaces, Schloss Mirabell is one of the finest, attracting massive numbers of site visitors every 12 months. It changed into as soon as frequented via way of means of Mozart and his own circle of relatives, who used the palace as suggestion for developing track, at the same time as its baroque delight gardens additionally featured closely withinside the mythical film The Sound of Music. To this present day the palace draws heaps of enthusiasts who come to witness in which the Von Trapp Family have become immortalised at the silver screen. There’s additionally an on-webweb page theatre which, in the course of summertime, serves because the venue for folk-historical past occasions and different unique occasions.

Mirabellplatz HOURS Mon-Sun 8am-6pm

The beautifull-landscaped grounds at Schloss Mirabell (Photo: Pixelteufel through Flickr / CC BY 2.0)

Explore Mozart’s former houses

Of all of the metropolis’s Mozart-associated landmarks, possibly the maximum resonant is Hagenauer Haus, the residence wherein he changed into born on 27 January 1756. Now one of the maximum often visited museums everywhere withinside the international, no different region makes the man or woman in the back of the artist Wolfgang Amadé Mozart and his track as palpable because the webweb page wherein he entered the international – earlier than converting it forever. While exploring the museum’s 3 testimonies of exhibition space, site visitors study info of Mozart’s lifestyles – the home instances wherein he grew up, while he started out to play track, who had been his buddies and patrons, his dating together along with his own circle of relatives, his ardour for opera, and plenty greater.

Another former house of the brilliant Amadeus, the Tanzmeisterhaus, may be observed at the Markatplatz and has additionally been transformed right into a museum. Where Mozart lived as a younger man, from age 17 to 24, the constructing is likewise referred to as the Dancing Master’s House. It changed into destroyed in the course of the bombing raids of the Second World War, earlier than in the end being rebuilt in 1996. Today it shows a massive variety of artefacts devoted to the composer’s lifestyles, making sure the spirit of Mozart nevertheless burns brightly for folks that want to hold celebrating his extraordinary lifestyles and career.

Join a personal meals excursion

Complementing Salzburg’s awesome cultural historical past is a wealthy culinary scene that further dates lower back centuries. One of the nice methods to find out this foodie panorama is via way of means of becoming a member of the form of organised excursion run via way of means of Salzburg-Experience, a famend neighborhood business enterprise that organises themed Salzburg tours. Among them is the Private Salzburg Food Tour, in the course of which your pick institution of own circle of relatives or buddies could be proven across the nice cultural webweb sites of the Old Town, preventing off for proper meals tastings in numerous indoor eateries and markets. Along the manner your professional manual will regale you with testimonies and historic heritage approximately the metropolis’s meals way of life. Tours result in a fantastic neighborhood eating place or espresso residence.

Guests on a Salzburg foodie excursion peruse fruit at a market (Photo: Salzburg-Experience)

Take a ride out to a rural paradise

The hotel vicinity of Salzkammergut is a famous day-ride vacation spot for site visitors to Salzburg. Stretching eastwards from Salzburg alongside the Austrian Alpine Foreland and the Northern Limestone Alps, extending to the peaks of the Dachstein Mountains, it oozes herbal splendor and charm, with its severa lakes flanked via way of means of quite small cities and villages. Some are surrounded via way of means of rolling hills, others via way of means of tall mountains, and lots of nevertheless keep in mind the honour of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, with their historic homes boasting ornate façades. The vicinity continues to be famous with Europe’s aristocrats and moneyed elite, lots of them proudly owning hideaways some distance off the traveler trail. Whether basking withinside the solar via way of means of the lakes or trekking secluded trails, the Salzkammergut captivates all who visit.

A boat traverses a lake at Salzkammergut (Photo: OLD STYRIA through Flickr)

Discover a international - elegance museum

Salzburg’s wealthy legacy of arts and way of life may be visible throughout the metropolis, however nowhere greater so than on the DomQuartier UNESCO World Heritage Site, an expansive Baroque architectural complicated containing a cathedral, an Abbey and 5 separate museums. Housed inside one in all them – the well-known Dom Museum – is the Kunst und Wunderkammer, a lovingly-restored series as soon as belonging to the Archbishops Max Gandolf von Kuenburg und Guidobald von Thun. Here, site visitors will discover a massive collection of intriguing, esoteric objects which includes crammed animals, fossils, medical gadgets and rock crystal grinding works, all nestled inside their authentic shelves and arousing interest amongst all who see them.

DomQuartier, Residenzplatz Mon-Sun 10am-5pm

In an age of selfie sticks and virtual cameras, the traditional ‘panoramic painting’ appears incredibly antiquated. In Salzburg, however, site visitors are available in their droves to study a masterclass of the genre, imparting a completely unique perception into ordinary lifestyles withinside the metropolis centuries ago. Nestled withinside the Old City, the Panorama Museum is domestic to a massive form of huge-scale artwork via way of means of Hubert Sattler, a extensively-travelled painter who captured uncommon perspectives of towns and landscapes in the course of the nineteenth century. But the museum’s centrepiece enchantment is a massive round painting – 26 metres in circumference – supplying Salzburg and its environs in all in their bygone glory.

Residenzplatz Mon-Sun 9am-5pm

A vacationer to the Panorama Museum (Photo: missy through Flickr / CC BY-ND 2.0)

Enjoy a track and cooking elegance combination excursion

In Salzburg, it’s now no longer simply the hills which are alive with the sound of track, however the whole metropolis, with severa landmarks making sure this musical legacy maintains to burn brightly. Visitors can faucet into this historical past and additionally revel in a completely unique culinary revel in with the Music Tour & Edelweiss Cooking Class combination package. Run via way of means of Panorama Tours, visitors comply with the lines of the Trapp Family, preventing off at well-known filming places at the same time as your manual entertains you with heritage testimonies approximately the making of one of the maximum well-known musicals ever. Later you’ll be part of the 1.5-hour Edelweiss cooking elegance in which you’ll learn the way make your personal apple strudel, in addition to Salzburg’s iconic dessert “Salzburger Nockerl”, an ethereal and mild soufflé representing the 3 mountains surrounding the metropolis.

Attend a fun-filled pageant

Every summer time season, the Salzburg Festival transforms the metropolis into one massive stage, drawing round a quarter-of-a-million site visitors from across the globe. Established in 1920, the pageant has grown to come to be an internationally-acclaimed exhibit of way of life, offering a extensive inventive application that spans opera, drama and live shows and consists of the whole thing from contemporary-day works and classical interpretations to avant-garde experimentation. Among the primary highlights every 12 months is the once a year overall performance of the play Jedermann via way of means of Hugo von Hofmannsthal, founding father of the Salzburg Festival.

While Salzburg’s historical past of excessive way of life is in no way much less than captivating, a hint of respite is likewise a terrific thing. Step ahead Winterfest, which has earned worldwide renown withinside the present day circus international and is now the most important pageant for contemporary-day circus artistry withinside the German-talking region. Around 30,000 site visitors descend at the metropolis each iciness to be captivated via way of means of fascinating acrobatics. There’s additionally mild poetry and weird tales, in conjunction with an interesting fringe application and a big choice of mouth-watering culinary opportunities.

Dine in Europe’s oldest eating place

Nestled withinside the coronary heart of Salzburg’s Old Town withinside the monastery partitions of St. Peter’s Archabbey, St. Peter Stiftskulinarium is extensively claimed to be Europe’s oldest eating place, relationship lower back over 1,two hundred years. As one may also expect, its partitions have masses of testimonies to tell, which includes the time it changed into compelled to shut because of Napoleon’s invasion. Spread throughout eleven awesome eating rooms, it has hosted endless dignitaries over the years, which includes cardinals, kings, and, in greater contemporary-day times, former US President Bill Clinton and Hollywood icon Clint Eastwood. Today it's far maximum often frequented via way of means of vacationers drawn via way of means of its fabled history – now no longer to say its incredible brasserie-fashion meals. The eating place additionally hosts weekly Mozart-themed dinners with body of workers and musicians completely kitted out in duration costumes.

Sankt-Peter-Bezirk Mon-Sun eleven.30am-11pm

The front to St. Peter Stiftskulinarium eating place (Photo: Trishhhh through Flickr / CC BY 2.0)

Check out a captivating delivery series

An airport hangar might now no longer basically function on a listing of advocated traveler attractions – however that is no normal airport hangar. Owned via way of means of the founding father of strength drink business enterprise “Red Bull”, Dietrich Mateschitz, Hangar-7 is positioned at Salzburg Airport and is domestic to the billionaire’s personal automobile series, offering aeroplanes, helicopters and racing cars. Housed below a hanging glass dome, the webweb page draws huge numbers of site visitors every 12 months who come to surprise at its alluring homage to delivery. The hangar additionally hosts everyday artwork exhibitions and there’s a excessive-cease eating place and bar regions right here too.

Salzburg Airport Mon-Sun 9am-10pm