Salzburg

We visited Salzburg in March of 2010 for one day and loved it, it was my mother's favorite place in the 6 countries we visited. Make sure to stroll down the geitreidgasse with it's amazing wrought iron signs. See Mirabella park, the fortress and the Christmas in Salzburg shop,

In addition to the Mirabell palace gardens, the fortress (Hohensalzburg), and the Getreidegasse, check out Augustinerbrau for an authentic beer hall experience. Salzburg cathedral (the Dom) is impressive, too. Mozart's birthplace is there, too.

Staying in the Altstadt would probably be the best experience, but you can find more reasonably priced accommodations within a short commute. In 2009, I stayed at Hotel Rupertus, in Freilassing, Germany, across the river from Salzburg. It's a ½ mile walk to the Freilassing Bahnhof, from which it's an 8-12 min, €2,20 trip to the Salzburg Hbf or 50 min to Berchtesgaden. Rupertus is also a short block from the bus stop - 15 min, €2,10, to a stop near the Altstadt. Despite the outside not looking like a hotel, inside it's modern, clean, and comfortable, with attached bath. Breakfast in the morning was typical German with plenty of variety. It's one of the many places in Germany not shown on Tripadvisor or any of their booking associates, but I can recommend it highly. You can email him in English, which he speaks very well.

Thanks to both Brendon and Nancy!

Hi Jim,
We were in Salzburg in October and thought that the Salzburg Card (http://www.salzburg.info/en/sights/salzburg_card) was a good value and a way to see many of the city sites. It included public transportation as well. We took the cable-car to Untersberg, visited Mozart's Birthplace and Residence, the Stiegl Brewery, and the Hohensalzburg Fortress. There are other sites included as well. We really enjoyed our stay and the Bloberger Hof a little outside the city center.

Others have mentioned all sites to see. A hotel suggestion would be the Hotel Weisse Taube in Old Town. Delightful place to stay, great location, good breakfast and recommended by RS. We also stayed at Hotel Sacher located on the river just across from Old Town which is a beautiful hotel, although on the high end. We enjoy staying in Old Town as it is more convenient and we enjoy walking around at night. Don't forget to try a hot chocolate or chocolates at Demel on the square. And if you enjoy dessert, Nockerlin is wonderful and only available in Salzburg!!

Consider visiting (1) the Mozart Wohnhaus (within a block of the front of the Sacher Hotel); (2) Schloss Mirabell, which is on Rainerstrasse (the street that runs from the rail station down to Linzergasse) and which hosts concerts; (3) the Museum of Modern Art, which is high on the hill above the old town.

Jim, I stayed in This Hotel in the "old town" section of Salzburg and really enjoyed the location. It was a convenient walking distance to the river and the main sights, and there were lots of restaurants available in that area. I quite enjoyed visiting the Hohensalzburg Castle and ended up spending longer there than I had planned. The view of the city from there is fantastic! During my visit to Salzburg, I also took a day tour with This firm to Berchtesgaden, which included the town and the Obersalzberg Dokumentation Centre and Bunkers. The Eagle's Nest wasn't open at that time of year unfortunately. Happy travels!

For those who want to go for the day to Berchtesgaden, Regionalverkehr Oberbayern (RVO) runs a bus, the Watzmann Express, from Salzburg to the Hauptbahnhof in Berchtesgaden. During the week, there are 12 buses daily from around 6 AM leaving from in front of the Hbf. The bus makes more stops in Salzburg, such as Mirabelle and near the old town, on it's way out. With an RVO Tagesticket (day pass), for €9/p, you get not only round trip from Salzburg, but unlimited use of all the buses in Berchtesgaden (except the spezial mountain bus to the Eagles' Nest). Because the bus runs through Austria, Bayern-Tickets cannot be used. These buses go from the Hbf to Königssee, the Salt Works and Watzmann Therme, and to the Dokumentation Center at the base of Kehlstein, start up point to the Eagles' Nest. The last bus to Salzburg leaves Berchtesgaden at 6:15 PM. If you want to stay in Berchtesgaden later, do the whole (RT) trip by train via Freilassing with a €29 Bayern-Ticket. The last train leaves Berchtesgaden at around 10 PM. The Bayern-Ticket also includes use of all the RVO buses in Berchtesgaden.