Sightseeing from Salzburg

Greg,

There are a good number of choices, depending on your interests. Have you checked any Guidebooks yet, as they often have good suggestions?

Plan to spend at least a few days seeing Salzburg (the Mozart sites, the Fortress above town), etc. If you're interested in seeing the Eagle's Nest in Berchtesgaden (an easy day trip), check the websites for Bob's Special Tours or Eagles Nest Tours (both are listed in Rick's book).

I would highly recommend at least a day trip to Hallstatt also (better if you can stay a night or two). It's an incredibly beautiful town and touring the Salt Mine above town is very interesting (Hallstatt is actually older than Rome, and they still mine salt there). Bob's Special Tours also offers day trips of Hallstatt and some of the beautiful lakes in the area. I much prefer travelling there by train though, as the view of the town from across the lake is fantastic. That's not possible by car though, as the road is on the same side as the town (although you could take a short trip across on Stephanie to have a look at the view - it's only about €1 each way). There's an old Fort above Hallstatt called Rudolfsturm which has been converted to a restaurant (with patio). Sitting on that patio having lunch and a "cold one" while viewing the scenery is one of my best memories (and one that I hope to repeat soon).

If you decide to travel to Berchtesgaden, there's also the Documentation Centre above town (for those interested in WW-II history). Some of the Bunkers are open to the public and it's an interesting look at history. There's a Salt Mine there also, which you could tour if you don't make it to Hallstatt.

Good luck with your planning!

Take the bus to Bertesgaden, then on to the Konigsee. The Konigsee has a lovely boat trip, mostly German tourists, unlike the trip to Hallstat.

You are traveling to one of my favorite cities- you will love it.I definately recommend a salt mine tour- We have done the one in Hallstatt and the one in Hallein (closer to Salzburg) and prefered Hallein. There is also one in the Berchtesgaden area. Hitler's Easgle Nest is a worthwhile trip on a nice day-not worth it if the mountains are not out (most signs in the area call it Kehlstein.) We love biking in the Salzburg area- if you are a Sound of Music fan, you can bike to several sites- The front of the House (Frohnburg Castle) The back of the house on the lake (Leopoldsron Castle) , and the Gazebo at Helbrunn Castle. There is a great bike trail that runs between downtown Salzburg and Helbrunn Castle and passes Frohnburg. Also, we really enjoyed the Lakes area -St Gilgen, Monsdee (the church used in the Sound of Music wedding is there-but it is also a nice, if touristy town) Near St. Gilgen there is a fun luge ride. I personally think Hallstatt is a little far for a day trip and would recommend spending the night. However, others have done it so... In Salzburg, you will find many sites and wonderful music opportunities. Two of our favorite places to eat: St Paul's Stub n Beer garden (in the old town) and the Augustiner Brewery. All these are covered in Rick Steve's guidebook and I would heartily recommend taking a copy with you. Have a great trip.

Don't forget to stop and have a Bosna in Salzburg. The original Bosna stand is through one of the archways off of Getreidegasse closer to the Monchberg. I prefer the bosnas at the Wurst stand in the Alter Markt at the other end of Getreidegasse. Also, I very much enjoyed going to the top of the Untersburg. It's about 20 minutes by bus (bus #25, I think) and then you take a cable car to the top. Everything was free with the Salzburg Card which we purchased. Otherwise it would have been E19. The view is unbelievable. You can even see into Germany. There is a little pub at the top where you can get yourself a glass of gluwein to warm yourself up. There is definitely a temp change way up there. Other must-sees in Salzburg in my opinion are St. Peter's Cemetery, the Hohensalzburg Fortress (free with Salzburg Card-otherwise E10), Augustinerbrau, the Salzach River Cruise (free with Salzburg Card-E13 otherwise) and just walking around taking in the sights in front of you. The trip to St Gilgen on Wolfgangsee was wonderful too. My son paraglided off the Zwolferhorn as I watched from top. It was fabulous. The pictures were great but not exactly what my eyes saw. I would have liked to take the tour at the Stiegl Brewery (free with Salzburg Card-otherwise E9) but just didn't have the time. There's free public transportation in Zone S with the Salzburg Card as well.

There's lots of great towns around Salzburg to walk around. I'd suggest going to the austria.info website and requesting information on the Salzkammergut region.

Greg,

here is the official homepage of the city of Salzburg:

http://www2.salzburg.info/

have fun looking through it for ideas, and be sure to order some of the free brochures!

There is a lot to see just walking around the center.

My personal favorite is to walk one of the river paths in the evening. Walk out on a bridge and look back at the old city when it is lit up, it's one of the most beutiful sites anywhere.

As long as you're almost there, you can continue to the Augistiner Brewery for some dinner and beer.

If you have a whole day to spare then a trip to the Grossglockner is a must if you like high Alpine scenery.It is expensive if you do a private tour but if you have a car then its possible.

I don't think any of SOM was filmed at Hellbrunn.

Apparently, the Pavilion (Gazebo) which was used in in distance shots in the movie (which was a copy of one at Leopoldskron and was built on a temporary waterfront set for the movie) is now at Hellbrunn. The actual scenes in the Pavilion (16, going on 17 and Must have done something good) were filmed on a sound stage in Hollywood.

We spent a week at Christmas in Salzburg. We best liked daytrips to the Salzkammergut (well covered above) and the Danube Valley.

It is about 1.5 hours drive to St. Florian Abbey south of Linz. From there you can drive along the Danube to Melk Abbey, etc. A road guide, like the Michelin Green Guide, would be helpful to find the kinds of sights that would most like to see. The settled atmosphere of this valley appealed to my sense of history as much as any place in Europe.

Regards, Gary

The outside of Hellbrunn was used in SOM. And the gazebo in the distance shots was actually built for the movie on the grounds of the Meierhof, the former carriage house for the Schloss Leopoldskron, which sits next door. When I was a student at the Meierhof many, many moons ago, the gazebo was still there. Later it was moved to a spot across the lake from the Schloss, and later moved to Hellbrunn.

Hi Everyone,
Thanks so much for all the great tips! We're savoring and noting every single one.

I have 1 question that has been nagging the back of my mind: Is it a good idea to buy the Salzburg card? The main reason I ask is that I see you can purchase daily public transportation passes (24 hrs) for E3,40 or E4,20 if you purchase on a transport vehicle. Also, if the pass is a good deal, is it also good for other necessities such as the lift/trolley to the Hohensalzburg fortress? What all does it encompass?

Thanks again!

Greg

Personally, I thought the Salzburg Card was a great deal. We bought the 48 hour card and feel it was well worth the price for the sights that we saw. Check it out at www.2salzburg.info . Click on "Sights" and then click on "Salzburg Card" for all the discounts and freebies. Figure out what sights you want to see and how much everything costs and then see if it's worth it to you to purchase the card. As Nancy (in Bloomington) knows, I too studied in Salzburg in 1981 and have been back in 2005 and 2008 with each of my (at the time) teenage boys. At the time that I was there, the gazebo was across the lake from the Meierhof because on the grounds it was a distraction the Salzburg Seminar which was in Schloss Leopoldskron and Salzburg College which was in the Meierhof. I'm not sure how public this knowledge is but, both the Schloss and the Meierhof now have rooms frei. They are very pricey but I have to admit, I did splurge one night and stayed in Schloss Leopoldskron in August 2008. I had to. Twenty eight years ago I basically lived next door to that beautiful palace and recently had my last opportunity to stay there. The night was amazing and it will never be forgotten. Check out www.schloss-leopoldskron.com or www.salzburgseminar.org if you're interested.

The outside of Hellbrunn was used in SO

Oh, really. Where?

The building that was used as the Von Trapp family home is called the Frohnburg. Although it is nearly the same color as Hellbrunn, it is not the same place. It must be close, because the lane where Frohnburg apparently sits is called Hellbrunn Alley.

According to the commentary by Robt. Wise on the SOM DVD, they wanted to film the lakeside scenes at Leopoldskron (Frohnburg is not on a lake), but couldn't get permission, so they built an exact duplicate of the waterfront patio on a set nearby, and used it. The scene after the kids and Marie fell out of the boat into the lake, where Marie and the Captain talk, one with the house in the background and one with the lake in the background, were actually filmed at two different locations, in front of Frohnburg and on the lakeside set.

I agree that the Salzburg Card is an excellent deal, and I always get one when I go to Salzburg!
http://www2.salzburg.info/sehenswertes_281.htm
Free single admission to all the city's attractions
Free use of public transport throughout the city, incl. fortress funicular, panorama boat & cable car Untersberg
Attractive discounts for cultural events
Discounts for various tours and excursions

www.schloss-leopoldskron.com has a private picture album from the filming of the Sound of Music. Translate to English at the top of the page and then click on Sound of Music. It shows some of the scenes that were filmed at Leopoldskron/Meierhof and also Fronburg, Salzurg Zentrum, Mondsee, and Rossfeld.

Diane- I'm not sure how this thread got so off track, but I love the web site with the pics. I first saw SOM as a young girl and made a decision right then that I would someday go to Salzburg. It took me many years, but I have been back several times.

Hallstatt is only a 79 km (1+ hrs) drive from Salzburg and the route is very attractive. We found it a nice, comfortable day trip by car.

http://www.viamichelin.com

Regards, Gary

Gary and Ron are both right . . while Hallstadt is not far away from Salzburg in distance, there are some big mountain ranges between the two. It's a pain to get there by train, but by car it makes for a really cool, beautiful drive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTG25jo-KTo

Wow, Corinna, thanks for posting that! It brought back lots of happy memories.

Thank you, Nancy :-)) I was hoping somebody would enjoy it.
I went to school in Salzburg for many years. Besides my native Wachau region, Salzburg is one of my favorite places in the world :-)) I go as often as I can. There is a reason it was just named the third beautiful city by Conde Nast.

A friend of mine is coming in March to visit me (her first trip overseas), and I am planning a surprise trip to Salzburg with her :-))

Connie-It did get a little off track, didn't it. Hope you get back to Salzburg even more. It's just such a wonderful place to be. I'm hoping to get back again some day as well. Hopefully with the husband this time.

Corrina-Thanks for the YouTube clip. I love, love, loved it!

We enjoyed the salt mine tours in Berchtesgaden.

DOn't know if anyone suggested this yet, but go to St.Gilgen. It was absolutely beautiful and we even went in the water (July). I understand Hallstatt is wonderful, too, but it seemed to be quite a trip and hours to get to for a day and a waste of time traveling since there are other lakes closer by. St. Gilgen was an hour by post bus which we picked up right in town. It may have been that our Salzburg card entitled us to free bus fare to St. Gilgen, but you better check it out first. Have a wonderful time!

... oh, also, if you are there on a Sunday, go to the main church (again, forgetting the name; in Rick's book). They had a live orchestra and choir! Also, must see the marionette theater. We made advance reservations before we left home and saw their performance of Sound of Music. What a hoot! And all in English. I'm sure I'll think of more, but we loved Salzburg. Are you getting to Innsbruck? Only a short train hop, we spent several days there. Rick doesn't seem to wild about it, but we loved everything about it. If you do, rent a bike and take a trip to Melk. The ride is beautiful about an hour along the river, and Melk is a delightful small village. Also, you must get to Crystal World (Kristalwalten) - Swarovski's home base and one of the most exciting art / performance galleries I have ever seen. Plus the opportunity to buy something straight from Swarovski in their enormous shop at the end of the gallery tour.

Me again. I almost forgot about the lantern hike in Innsbruck. Go their Website and see if you can arrange a Lantern Hike up into the mountains to a little lodge where we sang and drank and just had fun, then hiked back down by lantern light.
Oh, and it's free!

Doreen you missed out by skipping Hallstatt. IMHO it's one of the most beautiful and interesting places in the world. Salzburg is a great place for bike riding (the ride to Hellbrunn is very nice). We've taken the train to Hallstatt (spending the night is a treat), but on our last trip we rented a car just for a day, and drove to several of the lakes, and had lunch in Hallstatt. It was really wonderful!

In Salzburg itself I'd recommend walking around Mönchberg - that's where the main fortress worth a visit is - and the hill is enjoyable for a stroll. Also, to get a bit more out of the main touristy section Kapuzinerberg is good for a hike and views and St. Sebastian cemetery is quite nice.
I haven't experienced this myself, but along with Hallstatt, which has already been mentioned, I have heard good things about Werfen for a daytrip - the fortress there and the giant ice caves. In any case, the train ride (and I'd guess the car ride too) there is beautiful. It's about 1/2 hour away.