Rick Steves - Rick Steves Snapshot Salzburg & Hallstatt

Rick Steves

This Snapshot guide, excerpted from my guidebook Rick Steves Vienna, Salzburg & Tirol, introduces you to the lively, strollable, music-crazy city of Salzburghome to Mozart and The Sound of Music. This cozy corner of Austria offers alpine scenery, Baroque churches, cobbled quaintness, and Wiener schnitzel. The town of Hallstatt, a three-hour trip away, has a medieval town center, placid swan-filled lake, fun salt mine, and plentiful hiking opportunities. And because one sight just across the border from Salzburg is so scenic and interesting, well also duck into Germanys historic alpine retreatBerchtesgaden. Just thinking about the attractions in this book makes me want to yodel.

To help you have the best trip possible, Ive included the following topics in this book:

Planning Your Time, with advice on how to make the most of your limited time

Orientation, including tourist information (abbreviated as TI), tips on public transportation, local tour options, and helpful hints

Sights with ratings:

Dont miss

Try hard to see

Worthwhile if you can make it

No ratingWorth knowing about

Sleeping and Eating, with good-value recommendations in every price range

Connections, with tips on trains, buses, and driving

Practicalities, near the end of this book, has information on money, phoning, hotel reservations, transportation, and more, plus German survival phrases.

To travel smartly, read this little book in its entirety before you go. Its my hope that this guide will make your trip more meaningful and rewarding. Traveling like a temporary local, youll get the absolute most out of every mile, minute, and dollar.

Gute Reise!

Salzburg and its residentsor at least its tourism industryare forever smiling to the tunes of Mozart and The Sound of Music. Thanks to its charmingly preserved old town, splendid gardens, Baroque churches, and Europes largest intact medieval fortress, Salzburg feels made for visitors. As a musical mecca, the city puts on a huge annual festival, as well as constant concerts. Its a city with class. Vagabonds wish they had nicer clothes.

Even without Mozart and the Von Trapps, Salzburg is steeped in history. In about A.D. 700, Bavaria gave Salzburg to Bishop Rupert in return for his promise to Christianize the area. Salzburg remained an independent city (belonging to no state) until Napoleon came in the early 1800s. Thanks in part to its formidable fortress, Salzburg managed to avoid the ravages of war for 1,200 years...until World War II. Much of the city was destroyed by WWII bombs (mostly around the train station), but the historic old town survived.

Eight million tourists crawl its cobbles each year. Thats a lot of Mozart ballsand all that popularity has led to a glut of businesses hoping to catch the tourist dollar. Still, Salzburg is both a must and a joy.

While Salzburgs sights are, frankly, mediocre, the town itself is a Baroque museum of cobbled streets and elegant buildingssimply a touristy strollers delight. Even if your time is short, consider allowing half a day for the Sound of Music tour. The S.O.M. bus tour kills a nest of sightseeing birds with one ticket (city overview, S.O.M. sights, and a fine drive by the lakes).

Youd probably enjoy at least two nights in Salzburgnights are important for swilling beer in atmospheric gardens and attending concerts in Baroque halls and chapels. Seriously consider one of Salzburgs many evening musical events (a few are free, some are as cheap as 12, and most average 40).

To get away from it all, bike down the river or hike across the Mnchsberg cliffs that rise directly from the middle of town. Or consider swinging by Berchtesgaden, just 15 miles away in Germany. A direct bus gets you there from Salzburg in 45 minutes.

A day trip from Salzburg to Hallstatt (the small-town highlight of the Salzkammergut Lake District) is doable, but involves about five hours for the round-trip transportation alone and makes for a very long day. An overnight in Hallstatt is better.

Salzburg, a city of 150,000 (Austrias fourth-largest), is divided into old and new. The old town, sitting between the Salzach River and its mini-mountain (Mnchsberg), holds nearly all the charm and most of the tourists. The new town, across the river, has the train station, a few sights and museums, and some good accommodations.

Salzburg has three helpful TIs (main tel. 0662/889-870, www.salzburg.info): at the train station (daily June-Aug 8:30-19:00, Sept-May 9:00-18:00, tel. 0662/8898-7340); on Mozartplatz in the old center (daily 9:00-18:00, July-Aug until 19:00, closed Sun mid-Jan-Easter and Oct-mid-Nov, tel. 0662/889-870); and at the Salzburg Sd park-and-ride (April-Sept generally Tue-Sat 10:00-16:30 but sometimes longer hours, closed Sun-Mon and all of Oct-March, tel. 0662/8898-7360).

At any TI, you can pick up a free city-center map (the 0.70 map has a broader coverage and more information on sights, and is particularly worthwhile if biking out of town), the Salzburg Card brochure (listing sights with current hours and prices), and a bimonthly events guide. The TIs also book rooms (2.20 fee and 10 percent deposit). Inside the Mozartplatz TI is the privately run Salzburg Ticket Service counter, where you can book concert tickets.

Salzburg Card: The TIs sell the Salzburg Card, which covers all your public transportation (including the Mnchsberg elevator and funicular to the fortress) and admission to all the city sights (including Hellbrunn Castle and a river cruise). The card is pricey, but if youd like to pop into all the sights, it can save money and enhance your experience (25/24 hours, 34/48 hours, 40/72 hours). To analyze your potential savings, here are the major sights and what youd pay without the card: Hohensalzburg Fortress and funicular-11; Mozarts Birthplace and Residence-17; Hellbrunn Castle-9.50; Salzburg Panorama 1829-3; Salzach River cruise-14; 24-hour transit pass-4.20. Busy sightseers can save plenty. Get this card, feel the financial pain once, and the city will be all yours.