A Visit To Salzburg-Why I Fell In Love

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To be honest our visit to Salzburg was a bit obligatory for me, initially. For the lack of enthusiasm and anticipation I had I want to apologize personally to the city. Truly very few places have been so unexpected as my visit to Salzburg. Don’t be put off by the whole Sound of Music thing. Contrary to my expectations we weren’t bombarded with it as we explored. I must admit I became completely caught up in the whole romance of the Von Trapp family during our visit to Salzburg.

After our visit to Lienz we drove to Salzburg. While the drive wasn’t quite as jaw dropping as the trip from Innsbruck to Lienz there were still some pretty fantastic sights along the way. As soon as we neared Salzburg we dropped off the car. Then we made our way into the city on foot (yep dragging our possessions behind us along the cobbled streets). As usual we arrived starving, and thus a bit grumpy. Quickly we sought out food to tide us over while we waited for our check-in. Immediately we understood the people of Salzburg were going to be a lot of fun. Our experience during our 4-day trip was jovial, relaxed and extremely helpful people with an enormous sense of pride in their city and their history.

Best Thing To Do In Salzburg

Walk. Just walk aimlessly through the narrow streets, over the bridges, along the river, and up into the hills. Everywhere you turn there is something incredible to discover. Seriously. I took so many pictures of the sculptures, statues, and signs they will have to have their own blog posts. The architecture is so grand without being pretentious in Salzburg. I couldn’t get enough of the turrets, the ironwork, and the quaint little buildings. The architecture reflected the playful yet sophistication of the people who live in Salzburg. Immediately we felt at home.

The city is easily navigated on foot, and the Austrians were always happy to help us find a place. To not walk the city would be missing the whole point of the culture in Salzburg, in my humble opinion. It also means it is a lot less convenient to stop for a delicious Austrian beer, or sweet treat.

Sound Of Music Sights In Salzburg

It started out we were going to take pictures of a few of the locations from the Sound of Music movie for our nieces and nephew. It ended up we walked most of the city seeing each sight we could. The architecture of Residenz Square was so stunning it would have been a shame to miss the rest of the locations. It ended up being a brilliant decision as we toured brilliant floral gardens; stone abbeys built into mountains, gorgeous cemeteries and saw majestic fountains. I’m not sure J would recommend me serenading him as we visited iconic sights but I think secretly he really loved it. 

Local Events

While we were visiting in June we were so lucky to attend the local music festival. Bars set up in front of their shops, bands play on various stages along the streets and the locals came out to eat, drink and dance to the myriad of music to be heard. Sharing a long table with locals we drank some great Austrian beer. We ate incredible food, and tried to converse with our tablemates in broken English. The music was infectious ( it was generally American music like most festivals we run across in the world). As we walked home that night it was J’s turn to serenade. We couldn’t help but feel like we had walked out of reality and into a safe little haven where the quality of life and community is the utmost important thing. 

Along the river we found a local artisan market. We spent a few hours shopping and meeting some of the locals creating beautiful and unique products. The scenery along the river couldn’t be a better location for the market. Spending time away from the tourist attractions and with the locals gives us a truer sense of the places we are visiting. 

Overall

For J. and me our visit to Salzburg was romantic, relaxing, funny and so much different than what we had expected. Instead of a tourist city we found a charming town on the banks of a beautiful river. It is a place that refuses to give up its history, identity or romanticism-no matter how many tourists visit every year. We never felt crowded, overrun by tour groups or like an annoyance to the locals (not always the case when traveling). 

 A visit to Salzburg is a step back to a perfectly preserved time when buildings were grander, gardens were more colorful and life was more celebrated.