Salzburg and the Austrian Alps

Salzburg is an absolutely elegant and romantic city, filled with classic Baroque architecture, and divided by the stunning Salzach River.

It’s also surrounded by the beauty of the Austrian Alps and in close proximity to many picturesque lakes.In fact, for its beauty, the Old Town was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site.The city is incredibly musical as well. It was even the birthplace of famed composer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

There is even a famous chocolate named after him called a Mozartkugel, made with pistachio, marzipan and dark chocolate. On that note, Salzburg is somewhat of a confection lovers’ paradise, as I found multiple chocolate shops in town, like this one, Zotter Schoko-Laden, which had unique flavors like banana, lavender, and saffron.The legacy of Mozart and the passion for harmonious sound still lives on in Salzburg, as they host nightly opera performances in the city. I didn’t get the chance to attend a show, but I was able to catch a free performance of Swan Lake instead. Hah! 😛

And last, but certainly not least, the city was the filming location for, “The Sound of Music.” As such, one of the first things I did in Salzburg was take the Original Sound of Music Tour offered by Panorama Tours.The tour bus met in Salzburg at the entrance of Mirabell Palace. The song “Do-Re-Mi” was filmed in their gardens. Of course, as luck would have it, when I got on the tour bus, I sat down next to a girl from West Allis, Wisconsin. She’s currently teaching English in southern Spain. 😀Our first stop on the tour was Leopoldskron Palace where they filmed the boat scene when the children fell into the lake.  We also drove by the palace gates where Maria stood on her first day at the Captain’s house. Next up it was Hellbrunn Palace to see the gazebo where they filmed the song, “Sixteen Going On Seventeen.” At this point we had an hour-long drive to the Salzburg Lake District. Luckily they served alcohol on the bus during our ride, and our guide played the “Sound of Music” soundtrack for us to sing. 😀

On our ride we also stopped by the scenic Lake Fuschl and Lake Wolfgang in St. Giligen for a photo op. Our last stop for the day was in the quaint town of Mondsee, where Maria and Baron von Trapp were married. We went inside the wedding chapel, Basilica St. Michael, which is filled with Gothic statues and has a pretty pastel ceiling that reminded me of a painted Easter egg. 🙂 I even managed to snag a few postcards at their gift shop.At this point we headed to a charming bakery in town for an Austrian classic, hot apple strudel.The buttery strudel pastry was served with heavenly vanilla cream sauce. I’m not a big sweets fan, but it was OK to share. 😉Anyway, we returned back to Salzburg in the afternoon where I ended up wandering the city streets with an Australian girl from my hostel.

We ended the evening atop the Hohensalzburg Fortress, which offered a spectacular view of the city. The next day I decided to go for a hike up Kapuzinerberg Hill. The path was incredibly wooded, and provided scenic city views along the way.The path led me to Franziskischlössl Salzburg, a small 17th century fortress.At that point I was freezing my tush off and decided to head back down the hill. 🙂

Accommodation: While in Salzburg I stayed at Yoho Hostel. The hostel had very stylish dorms, clean showers, and they also showed “The Sound of Music” movie every night. I made sure to stock up a few appropriate snacks for showtime. 😛

The hostel also included a free ‘apple strudel shot’ to welcome guests.

Lastly the hostel gave me a discount on the Sound of Music Tour. The tour normally costs 42 Euro, but I only paid 37 Euro and they even included hostel pick-up. 🙂

Cost: 21 USD/night

Getting there: To get to Salzburg from Vienna, I took the Westbahn train. The journey took 2.5 hours, and I pre-bought my tickets online with Flixbus for only 20 USD.

Well, that wraps up my time in Austria. Up next I’ll be going on another big adventure. Stay tuned for the itinerary. Until then. 😀