What to see in Salzburg

The RS Vienna, Salzburg, Tyrol guidebook is a good start in terms of listing and prioritizing town highlights. I enjoyed just walking around Old Town and the Hohensalzburg Fortress, Salzburg Cathedral and market square environs. If music is important and you don't think it's too pedestrian, we enjoyed the Mozart Dinner Concert and I don't usually go out of my way to hear opera.

We did what Edgar did except for the evening Mozart dinner event. We did Salzburg as a side trip from Berchtesgadener and there wasn't a bus late enough for our return to sstay for a concert.

"... there wasn't a bus late enough for our return to sstay for a concert."

True, the last bus (Watzmann Express) leaves Salzburg around 6 pm, but the last train back is at 10:30.

There is a very nice park for walking above the Hohensalzburg fortress - also a nice little restaurant up[ there some place. Plus a hotel that serves tortes (fancy place, picture of Tom Cruise on the wall as a former guest).

Barbara,
You mentioned the Mozart house and birthplace. For music afficionados, those are a must and won't take long. In one of the museums (but it might have been in Vienna instead of Salzburg) they had the actual violin he played when he was, like, 7 years old. Touching.

I very much enjoyed the Mozart Gebursthaus, lovely displays and I'm one of those people who really likes the "they were born right here in this very room!" kind of thing. The whole area around it is full of charming shops and I had an excellent lunch at Tri Angel, not sure of the street name but on the back side of the Mozart street. I didn't see the other house that Mozart lived in, but that would make a nice accompaniment for you.

I agree with all the above posts,you might add Mirabell Gardens and Hellbrunn Castle which is a ten minute car ride.
Mike

I endorse all of the above but would add the following:

-If you can swing Salzburger Festspiele prices, it's worth catching a performance (though I'm not sure what ticket availability is at this point -- all the Jedermann shows for August are sold out according to the website).

-If you are a fan of both music and the Sound of Music, I highly recommend a guided tour of the Festival Halls. It's fairly inexpensive (€6 for an adult) and was one of my very favorite things I did in Salzburg. Tours are at 2 pm daily (more frequent during the Festspiel, as I recall) and sold at the ticket office at the Großes Festspielhaus 15 minutes before the tour (look for the column with the mask close to the iron gate; the ticket office is right beside the gate)). The tour is bilingual -- both German and English -- and lasts around 60 minutes. It includes a visit to the Felsenreitschule (Summer Riding School), the location of the von Trapp family performance at the end of SOM. But the tour includes so much more -- ceiling paintings celebrating the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, murals that Hitler tried to get rid of, opportunities to see sets being built and scenes being rehearsed.

--The Marionette Theater is pretty amazing. Performances include opera, SOM (the only English performance), and more kid-oriented productions (e.g., Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs). For productions in German, very basic English subtitles that allow for the plot to be followed are projected onto the wall (not word-for-word subtitles).

--For obscure things that may be of interest, check out the book 111 Places in Salzburg that You Shouldn't Miss.

--If interested in Jewish history, check out "Salzburg and the Jews: A Historical Walking Tour, available on Amazon.

If you're not going any further into the Alps, the trip just outside Salzburg to Untersberg cable car (covered by the Salzburg Card) can give an amazing view across the mountains.

Hi,

"...about the Mozart house and his birthplace." In Salzburg are two Mozart houses. If you're walking from the train station, you'll see the first one with "Mozarts Wohnhaus" across the front. Worth seeing, a bit touristy (maybe that's to be expected), then you cross this small bridge, and you'll see the other one with Mozarts Geburtshaus across the front. It is much more crowded, larger than the Wohnhaus. Both are museums.

And if you want to pursue the Mozart linage, Mozart's mother Anna Maria Walburga Pertl was born in the near by St. Gilgen village. Even though Mozart never lived in St. Gilgen, its a pretty village. The SOM tour visits St. Gilgen.

I know that these dinners are aimed at tourists, but heck that's what I was and I enjoyed it. The "it" being a dinner and music at St. Peter's Stiftskeller. I also went to the church service at the cathedral and there was more wonderful music. Also, while I didn't get to one, there are concerts in the Fortress every day.

Pam

A Sound of Music tour. 50th anniversary.
You know you want to do it. You'll be singing on the bus before you know it.
And it's okay to sing on the bus, we won't even tell anyone you did it.
Back at the palace, when you're dancing around the fountain, just don't fall into it.

We thought the Salzburg Card we bought at the TI was one of the best values we have come across in a long while. Rates vary by duration and transportation is included. We sat down and plotted our 3 days around the Card, saw many things we had planned on seeing and many others we hadn't, and made out like bandits. Untersberg and Hellbrun alone, and easily combined in one journey, practically paid for the entire card. We travel hard and long, so YMMV. Safe travels!

If you want to get some exercise rent a bike and ride the trail that follows the river. The trail is level and you get some wonderful views.