48 hours in Salzburg: The ultimate itinerary
The Sound of Music still lingers in this Austrian city, but there's much to see and do in Salzburg. Here's how to find the best of it in just two days.
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Much of Austria’s scenery is so pretty that it hurts your eyes and Salzburg is no exception. Famous worldwide to generations of movie-goers due to the 1965 classic musical film The Sound of Music, this city brings together the best of the alpine lifestyle.
DAY 1: Morning
Start your exploration of Salzburg at the top. Hohensalzburg Fortress dominates the skyline and offers one of the best vantage points to see the entire city and surrounding mountains. Burn some energy by making the climb on foot, or take the funicular rail system to the top. Wander through the Prince’s Chambers, learn about the lifestyles of Austria’s past rulers and see some of the country’s best Gothic architecture.
The fortress also contains museums – stop by the marionette museum with its collection of elaborate puppets from across the ages. Austria is known for its puppetry, and the museum in one of the fortress vaults is a colourful exhibition of this particular art form.
Lunch
Take the funicular back to the city centre and lunch at an authentic Austrian coffee house. Café Sacher, in the Hotel Sacher on the banks of the Salzach River, is one of only two places outside the original Hotel Sacher in Vienna where you can enjoy a slice of the “original” Sacher torte. Enjoy goulash soup or Wiener schnitzel and watch the world go by before finishing with a sweet treat.
Afternoon
After lunch, make your way through the twisted alleyways and laneways that make up Salzburg’s Old Town. The Getreidegasse is the busy heart of the historic centre and you can spend a few hours wandering through streets spectacularly bookended by mountain scenery.
Some of the shops are “through-houses” – enter on one street and exit on another. Don’t forget to look upwards, too. Many of the shops have ornate guild signage that hints at the services they provide. You’ll find jewellery, leather goods, glassware, art, perfumeries, confectioners, pâtisseries, souvenirs and antiques.
Look for the yellow façade of 9 Getreidegasse – this is the traditional house where Mozart was born in 1756, on the third floor. It was his home until his teenage years. Today it’s a museum, with the original rooms filled with the musical maestro’s personal belongings, even his violin. It takes about an hour to explore the museum, with adult tickets costing €15 (around $25).
Evening
For the ultimate Salzburg stay, book a room in the elegant Schloss Leopoldskron, commissioned as an archbishop’s family estate in 1736. In The Sound of Music it is the elegant home of the von Trapp family, and today is a luxury hotel. Basic rooms include all the usual amenities while suites in the palace building come with antique furniture, picture windows, vaulted ceilings and views over the fortress, gardens, lake or mountains.
DAY 2: Morning
Have breakfast in the palace’s extravagantly decorated state rooms with a view over the broad terrace and lake and then join The Sound of Music guided tour of key locations that appear in the film about the lives of the von Trapp family.
The tour visits Mirabell Gardens and the fountain where Maria and the von Trapp children dance. The gardens are filled with roses during summer. Another stop is the austere but beautiful Nonnberg Abbey where Maria was a novice before she left to become the von Trapp children’s nanny. You’ll also visit the church at Mondsee where Maria and Baron von Trapp marry.
Lunch
Lunch in one of Salzburg’s many local inns. They are basic but hospitable, and traditional fare includes flavoursome soups, often served with dumplings, golden potato rosti with smoked salmon and horseradish dip, smoked meat sausages and sauerkraut and flaky apple strudel to round off a hearty feed. Zipfer Bierhaus in the Old Town is a popular destination for locals and typical of Austrian inns with its plain wooden interior and roaring fires in colder months.
Afternoon
Browse the stalls at the 150-year-old Salzburg Grünmarkt for locally produced spirits or handmade wooden toys that make quality souvenirs for loved ones back home. Stallholders are set up and ready for business by 7am and the market remains open until 7pm at Universitätsplatz, a short walk from Mozart’s birthplace.
If you love art, make a detour to the Museum of Modern Art perched above the Old Town. The contemporary building houses artworks from around the globe, and the building itself is worth exploring, with glassed staircases that look out on spectacular views, and a façade clad in locally excavated marble.
Evening
Have an early dinner at The Glass Garden, a modern Michelin-starred, fine-dining venue in a glass dome that sits alongside the traditional and elegant Hotel Schloss. The views across the city are spectacular, but also make time to see the centrepiece of the restaurant – an intricate glass sculpture made of 140 different pieces that reaches skywards. Dress formally and book ahead, as this restaurant seats up to only 40 people at a time.
After dinner, pick up the pace and round off your short stay in Salzburg by sampling Austrian nightlife. Head to the Rudolfskai area for the latest bars and pubs or move on to the Steingasse area for a nightclub experience. For a smallish city, Salzburg knows how to party and you’ll find a venue to your liking within a short walk.
How to get to Salzburg from Australia
Singapore Airlines and Qantas have linked up with Lufthansa to offer flights to Salzburg via Singapore and Frankfurt. For a more direct flight, Emirates flies to Salzburg with one short stop in Dubai.
How to get around Salzburg
Start your 48 hours in Salzburg by investing in a Salzburg Card. It provides one-time free admission to the city’s key attractions and museums and free travel on most public transport. A 48-hour option is priced from €36 and you can load a digital card on to your mobile or get a hard copy, similar to a bank card. Most hotel receptions sell them, as do tourist information offices around the city centre.
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