Salzburg is a UNESCO World Heritage City and it’s easy to see why. The Old City is compact, level, cobbled and traffic free, so it’s easy and pleasant to explore on foot. There is a hop-on-hop-off bus to explore the surrounding area and horse and carriages for gallivanting around the Altstadt (Old City). Towering above everything is the impressive Hohensalzburg Fortress, home of the Prince Archbishops of Salzburg, but there’s a funicular to the top so no need to hike, unless you want to.
I had lunch in the Blaue Gans (Blue Goose) the oldest (1350) guest house in Salzburg and discovered that a Wiener Schnitzel has to be veal, otherwise its just a schnitzel. For desert I tried the exotic Salzburg speciality – Nockerl, this marvellous sweet soufflé is usually served representing the mountains around Salzburg.
Salzburg is full of wonderful medieval and Baroque buildings and its streets and alleyways are a joy to stroll through. But its greatest fame is being the birthplace of Mozart and the setting for the Sound of Music; so at least one of these is top of the list for most visitors.
I visited the Mozart House, where he was born and is now an excellent small museum. In the evening I attended a Mozart dinner/concert in St Peter’s Stiftskeller that claims to be the oldest restaurant in Salzburg (803). It was a fabulous evening, held in a grand Baroque ballroom, with excellent musicians in period costume and good food, served during interludes, from eighteenth century recipes – creating a great ambience and a real sense of occasion.
A Salzburg card was one of my best buys at 26 euro as it saved at least 60 euro on entrance fees but it also enables me to swan passed large queues which was especially valuable on the funicular to the Hohensalzburg fortress.
The city is utterly captivating and there’s so much to see and do but it also has a wonderful ambience, which is a joy to just sit around and absorb.
The following morning I joined a Sound of Music tour.
For more information on Salzburg, visit www.salzburg.info/en
• Read InterRailing is for Seniors too! – Trip 1: London to Warsaw
• Read InterRailing is for Seniors too! – Trip 2: Warsaw
• Read InterRailing is for Seniors too! – Trip 3: Warsaw to Krakow
• Read InterRailing is for Seniors too! – Trip 4: The night train to Vienna
• Read InterRailing is for Seniors too! – Trip 5: Vienna
• Read InterRailing is for Seniors too! – Trip 6: Vienna to Salzburg
• Read InterRailing is for Seniors too! – Trip 8: Salzburg – Sound of Music tour
• Read InterRailing is for Seniors too! – Trip 9: Salzburg-Brussels-London
• Read about the benefits of the InterRail Pass and my top ten tips
