All I knew about Salzburg before was its most famous citizen - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - and his chocolate version: the delicious „Mozart Kugeln“ (chocolate balls with marzipan in the middle). Reason enough to convince a good friend of mine and to pack our bags for a little 3 days-trip to Salzburg and its surroundings.
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If you ignore the fact that it was Easter and everyone was on the road, the trip from Zurich to Salzburg was quite easy (normally approx. 5,5 h by car or train).
We were welcomed by beautiful, warm spring weather and - guess what - some Mozart Kugeln in our hotel room off course.
It was already evening, so we headed to town and sat down in a pizzeria. We should have been warned by the withered flowers on the tables that this is maybe not the best place to eat but our hunger was stronger. Well... the pizza was "ok" and the waiter grumpy, so we left it disappointed. The stroll along the beautiful streets of downtown Salzburg cheered us up again. What a beautiful town it is!!
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| A shop full of Easter eggs. I wonder how this shop can survive, but it was funny to see |
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| The Hohensalzburg fortress in the back in beautiful evening light |
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| "Mozarts Geburtshaus", the yellow house where he was born in 1756 |
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| The most beautiful McDonalds-sign I have ever seen! |
The next day we had a full day to discover more of this beautiful town. It is not very big and is easy to discover in one day. We started our walk along the Salzach river and had a beautiful view over the old town and the Hohensalzburg fortress on the hill.
We visited Mirabell palace which has a wonderful garden that is free to enter. Inside you can visit the Marble hall which is said to be one of the most beautiful room for a wedding.
From the terrace of the "Museum der Moderne" (Museum of modern arts) we had a wonderful view over Salzburg and the mountains in the background.
When you're in Salzburg, you shouldn't miss to visit the Hohensalzburg fortress, one of the largest medieval castles in Europe. From up there, the view is fantastic. Be aware of the fact that the way up is very steep. But be aware also that you can reward yourself on your way down with a brezel and a beer! :-)
Our next excursion was to a town that you've probably seen a hundred times aready on Instagram and Facebook: Hallstatt, a picturesque city directly at a lake, UNESCO World Heritage Site world heritage site since 1997 and magnet to (not only) Asian tourists. We had been warned by our receptionist that the town is overrun and that its very hard to find a parking lot there, so we started very early and arrived in Hallstatt just when the sun came up. Despite 2 or 3 other tourists, we had the town and the lake for ourselves. It was magical! We even forgot that it was barely 4 °C and that we were dressed for a spring day in town (24 degrees in Salzburg!).
The drive from Salzburg to Hallstatt is worth a visit itself, with all the lakes and forests, we felt as if we were in Canada.
As we were so early that day and were so inspired by this beautiful landscape, we continued our trip to Gmunden, another beautiful little town at a lake where we relaxed in some deck chairs and let the sun warm us up.
Next stop was St. Wolfgang, another town at a lake with cute little shops and restaurants.
This trip has really motivated me to continue exploring Austria. It is much more than Vienna, Salzburg, Mozart and Sissi ! Next time I pack my hiking boots and explore the surroundings. I promise! :-)