01
Left bank — the stage
Domplatz, Residenz, Festung by funicular, then down to St. Peter's and the oldest restaurant in Central Europe, St. Peter Stiftskulinarium.
00 · Salzburg, Austria · 47.80°N 13.04°E · Baroque in B-flat
The city of salt, stone & Mozart.
Where the old salt road climbed out of the lakes and met the Alps. A Baroque stage town under a fortress that was never taken — domes, marble, river-light and a festival that owns the summer.
EST. 696 AD · 424 M ASL
UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE · 1996
UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE · 1996
01 · Editors' picks
All things to do Five things, and then everything else
Hohensalzburg Fortress
One of the largest fully preserved castles in Central Europe — begun 1077, besieged often, taken never. Ride the Festungsbahn up for the Reckturm view over the whole basin.
Read the guide
Getreidegasse & Mozart's birthplace
The medieval canyon of wrought-iron guild signs. No. 9 is the yellow house where Wolfgang Amadeus was born in 1756.
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Mirabell Palace & Gardens
Baroque parterre, the Pegasus fountain and the steps where Maria sang “Do-Re-Mi” — framed perfectly on the fortress.
Read the guide02 · How to plan
Three days, compact and walkable
The Altstadt is small — most of it fits inside the loop of the Salzach. Build outward from the river, then take one day for the lakes.
02
Right bank — Mozart & gardens
Cross the Makartsteg love-lock bridge to Mirabell, the Mozart-Wohnhaus and a slow afternoon along Linzergasse.
03
Out to the Salzkammergut
Day-trip to Hallstatt and the lakes, or the salt mines at Hallein — the salt (Salz) that built the city in the first place.
03 · Browse the guide
Ways into the city
01 · 36 guides
Things to Do
The fortress, Mozart sights, Mirabell, the Baroque Old Town lanes, viewpoints and the squares everything radiates from.
Explore02 · 15 guides
Sound of Music & Music
Mozart's birthplace and residence, fortress and Mirabell concerts, the Festival, and the honest Sound of Music locations.
Explore03 · 13 guides
Where to Stay
Which area to book — Old Town for atmosphere, Mirabell for polish, the station for value, and where to sleep in Festival season.
Explore04 · 22 guides
Food & Drink
Salzburger Nockerl, classic coffeehouses, the original Mozartkugel, beer halls under chestnut trees and the city's best tables.
Explore05 · 25 guides
Day Trips
Hallstatt and the Salzkammergut lakes, the Eagle's Nest, Berchtesgaden, Königssee, Untersberg and Werfen — easy escapes by train or tour.
Explore06 · 17 guides
Itineraries
Ready-made plans — one compact day, a music weekend, a family trip, Festival nights or a slow Salzkammergut week.
Explore07 · 10 guides
Romantic Salzburg
Mirabell at dawn, river walks, candlelit Baroque dinners, fortress concerts and the viewpoints made for two.
Explore08 · 18 guides
Events
The Salzburg Festival, Mozart Week, Easter and Whitsun, the Christmas markets, Advent singing and the city's local fairs.
Explore04 · The lore
White gold, and a fortress that never fell
Salzburg means salt castle. For a thousand years the prince-archbishops grew immensely rich on “white gold” — salt cut from the Dürrnberg and floated down the Salzach. That wealth paid for the marble Dom, the Residenz, and the Italian Baroque skyline you walk through today.
High above it all, Hohensalzburg has loomed since 1077. In more than nine centuries it was besieged but, famously, never taken by force — its one surrender, during the Peasants' War of 1525, came without a fight.
Salz = salt Salzach = the salt river UNESCO since 1996
05 · What's on
Full calendar The Salzburg calendar
MID JUL – LATE AUG
Salzburg Festival
Opera, drama and concerts across the Festspielhäuser; “Jedermann” played open-air on the cathedral square.
LATE SEPTEMBER
Rupertikirtag
The city's biggest folk fair, honouring patron saint Rupert across the Altstadt's squares.
MID NOV – DEC
Christkindlmarkt
One of the oldest Advent markets in the world, on Domplatz and Residenzplatz under the fortress.