36 Hours in Salzburg, Austria (2024)

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• The Altstadt, or Old Town, forms Salzburg’s nucleus, with excellent restaurants, cafes and traditional clothing shops lining its cobblestone, medieval alleys.
• The Mönchsberg, the rock that looms 1,700 feet above the Altstadt, offers wooded paths and majestic city and Alpine views.
• The stately and impeccably manicured Mirabell Gardens, which contain the Pegasus fountain, dwarf garden and hedge tunnel, is where Maria and the von Trapp children dance while singing “Do-Re-Mi” in “The Sound of Music.”

• The Kapuzinerberg is a mountain that rises on the right bank of the River Salzach, offering spectacular views of the city’s mighty fortress.
• The Walk of Modern Art is a free, outdoor public art trail that includes installations by major artists, including Marina Abramovic and Anselm Kiefer.
• Mozart’s Birthplace has an engaging exhibition about the composer’s life and legacy in an apartment on the Getreidegasse, a long alley in the Altstadt.
• The Museum of the Art of the Lost Generation showcases the works of early 20th-century artists whose careers were cut short because of Nazi persecution and the regime’s cultural policies.
• The DomQuartier is a single attraction that offers combined admission to the imposing state rooms of the prince archbishop’s palace, or Residenz, and the stunning collections of religious art housed at the Cathedral Museum and the Museum of St. Peter’s Abbey.
• The Nonnberg Abbey, a beautiful hillside cloister, is a pilgrimage site for faithful fans of “The Sound of Music”: The real-life Maria was a novice here before joining the von Trapp household.
• The Pferdeschwemme is an imposing 17th-century horse pond that the von Trapp children marvel at during a carriage ride in “The Sound of Music.”
• The Salzburg State Theater, a 19th-century playhouse with a grand painted ceiling, recently reopened after a major renovation.
• The Salzburg Cathedral, Franciscan Church and Stiftskirche St. Peter are three historic churches in the Altstadt that offer free, all-are-welcome musical masses on Sunday mornings.
• The Stadtalm is a rustic hostel and restaurant, built next to a remnant of a medieval wall on top of the Mönchsberg, that offers a sweeping view of the entire city.

• Café Habakuk, a traditional family-owned coffeehouse on the Linzergasse, a bustling street, makes a mean Salzburger nockerl, a massive-yet-light soufflé that is sweet and custardy.
• Merkel und Merkel is a new restaurant within a 17th-century palace, with a husband-and-wife chef team serving impeccably prepared traditional dishes.
• St. Peter Stiftskulinarium, which claims to be Europe’s oldest restaurant, offers sophisticated dishes in elegant, historic rooms and a courtyard with colorful and frequently changing decór.
• Tomaselli’s, an 18th-century coffeehouse with dark wood paneling and oil paintings, is the grandest place to enjoy a “kaffee und kuchen,” or coffee and cake, in the Altstadt.
• 220Grad, also in the Alstadt and close to the Salzburg Festival complex, is a sleek, modern cafe serving specialty coffee and a range of health-conscious dishes.
• Meissl & Schadn is an upscale Wiener schnitzel joint where you can customize your cutlet, right down to the fat you want it fried in.
• Moritz Eis, in the Altstadt, makes exceptional gelato and sorbet using all-natural ingredients.

• Antiquariat Weinek, on the Steingasse, a 16th-century street, is arguably Salzburg’s finest rare and antique book shop.
• Salzburger Heimatwerk, a tailoring and dressmaking workshop for nearly 80 years, is your best bet for high-quality lederhosen, dirndls and other tracht, or traditional clothing.

• Hotel Auersperg, a short walk from the Linzergasse, offers understated luxury in its tastefully decorated rooms spread across two buildings. Highlights include a tranquil backyard garden and a spa with a generous outdoor terrace where you can watch the sun go down over the Kapuzinerberg, and an outstanding breakfast buffet. Rooms start at €245, or about $265.
• Hotel Elefant, in the heart of the Altstadt, is an elegant family-run hotel that offers traditional Salzburg hospitality in charming and somewhat antique surroundings. Its restaurant is a solid choice for classic local cuisine. Rooms start at €190.
• The Keep Eco Rooms Salzburg, halfway between the main train station and the Altstadt, has stylish and sustainable accommodations with self-check-in and shared bathrooms. Some rooms have private showers. Its restaurant offers vegan and gluten-free options. Twin rooms start at €82.
• You can find short-term rentals in virtually every corner of Salzburg. If the pricier apartments in the Altstadt are out of your budget, consider staying in the Elisabeth Vorstadt, the district close to the central train station.

• Salzburg’s Altstadt is eminently walkable with an efficient public bus network to help you reach outlying locations (single rides, €2.30 in advance or €3 from the driver; 24-hour-pass €4.70 in advance or €6.40 from the driver). Taxis can be found at stands throughout the city. The ride from the main train station to the Altstadt costs roughly €15.
• It’s well worth investing in a Salzburg Card, which includes free use of public transportation, as well as admission to most of the city’s museums, over a 24-, 48- or 72-hour period. Adult prices start at €31 in summer.

4 p.m. Conquer a dessert, then a mountain

Start your weekend exploring the historic area on the right bank of the River Salzach. Sample Salzburger nockerl (13 euro, or $14), a light, custardy soufflé filled with tart raspberry sauce, at Café Habakuk on the Linzergasse, a bustling street. It’s worth the 20-minute preparation time. Afterward, walk it off on the Kapuzinerberg, a tree-shrouded mountain that rises 2,100 feet above the Salzach. It’s a steep yet quick hike up a path named after Stefan Zweig, the famous writer who once lived here, to the Hettwer-Bastion, a lookout with a majestic view of the Festung Hohensalzburg fortress. From there, follow the stairs down to the Steingasse, a narrow 16th-century street. Poke your head into Antiquariat Weinek, a rare book shop and gallery, even if you can’t afford any of their treasures.

6 p.m. Pack in some al fresco art before dinner

“Sit on a chair,” and “lose track of time”: These are the Serbian artist Marina Abramovic’s instructions to viewers of “Spirit of Mozart,” a nearly 50-foot-tall metal chair, plus eight regular-size ones, beside the Staatsbrücke bridge. The installation is one of a dozen, by various artists, in Salzburg’s Walk of Modern Art, a free public art trail. Crossing the river, look for Brigitte Kowanz’s “Beyond Recall,” composed of illuminated, mirrored cubes, that commemorates the laborers the Nazis forced to build the bridge. On Max Reinhardt Platz, a square named for one of the Salzburg Festival’s founders, enter the white structure that houses the German artist Anselm Kiefer’s “A.E.I.O.U,” a haunting work about the nature of time. Erwin Würm’s bronze sculptures of cucumbers, nearby, are in a decidedly lighter vein.

7 p.m. Savor Alpine flavors and an imposing mountain view

Dine in a 17th-century palace with the Alps as your backdrop at Merkel und Merkel, a restaurant opened by a husband-and-wife chef team last year on a bucolic estate, about a mile south of the city center. Choose between three to six courses (€64 to €94) of Austrian and European dishes, including many classics. The changing menu might feature a hearty yet refreshing tomato-vanilla soup; local char served on a bed of fregola sarda, a bead-like Sardinian pasta; and a tender saddle of veal served with chanterelles and cauliflower purée. Getting through all the courses can take a while, but you’ll be glad to linger as dusk descends on the elegant grounds and the sky fills up with stars. Reservations recommended.

Street musicians on the Mozartplatz, a square in the Altstadt dedicated to Salzburg’s most famous son.

9 a.m. Walk in Mozart’s footsteps, then visit an elegant coffee house

Before getting lost in the Altstadt (Old Town), visit Mozart’s Birthplace, the apartment on the long Getreidegasse alley, where the composer was born in 1756. See the miniature violin Mozart received at 6, intricate set designs from productions of his operas and an immersive installation exploring his “Jupiter” Symphony, his 41st and last. Admission €15, or free with a Salzburg Card. Then, if you’re inspired by the locals in ​​traditional Austrian wear, head to Salzburger Heimatwerk, a tailoring and dressmaking workshop for nearly 80 years. Its wares aren’t cheap (the dirndls are in the €1,000 range) but last a lifetime. If you need a pick-me-up, enjoy a “kaffee und kuchen,” or coffee and cake (about €5 each), at Tomaselli, an elegant coffee house since 1703, adorned with dark wood and oil paintings. Or visit 220Grad Rupertinum, one of Salzburg’s modern specialty cafes.

11 a.m. Meet a lost generation of artists

Usually, visitors are lured to museums by their favorite artists. At the Museum of the Art of the Lost Generation, the walls are filled with works by painters you’ve never heard of. The small museum, opened in 2017, highlights early 20th-century German and Austrian-born artists whose careers were cut short when the Nazis came to power, and rescues their works from obscurity. Many were Jewish artists, or those whose modern styles were labeled as “degenerate” by the Third Reich. Discover Eugen Spiro’s radiant “Portrait of Mela Kempinski,” completed in 1933, before the Jewish artist fled Germany, and the vivid still lifes and outdoor scenes painted by Luise Deicher, one of the first women to study at the Royal Academy of Art in Stuttgart, Germany. The English-language catalog is beautifully illustrated with works you can’t find elsewhere. Admission €14.

12 p.m. Customize the perfect schnitzel

There are many places in Salzburg to enjoy a Wiener schnitzel, Austria’s national dish, but at Meissl & Schadn you can choose how you like the thin, breaded veal cutlet to be fried to golden perfection: in clarified butter, pork lard or vegetable oil. Schnitzels, including a baked celery version for non-meat eaters, from €22 to €26.90. Sides are taken as seriously as the escalopes, too. In addition to classics like wild-cranberry jam, potato salad, cucumber salad and parsley potatoes, you can also order your schnitzel to come with Wiener Garnitur, a condiment made from mashed-up hard-boiled egg, parsley, capers and anchovies (sides, €3.30 to €6.50). If you have room for dessert, check out the exceptionally refreshing gelato at Moritz Eis (€3.50 a scoop) directly across the street.

2 p.m. Feel the wealth and splendor of Salzburg’s prince archbishops

For well over a millennium, Salzburg’s prince archbishops wielded both spiritual and worldly power. At the DomQuartier (€13, or free with a Salzburg Card), a museum complex near Altstadt’s winding alleys, you can bask in the grandeur of the once-powerful rulers, whose reign ended with secularization in 1803. In the Residenz, the archbishop’s palace, stroll through the imposing state rooms, admiring the ceiling frescoes depicting the life of Alexander the Great. Enjoy the royal view from the outdoor balcony that connects the Residenz and the Salzburg Cathedral, whose cavernous nave you gaze down on from its organ loft. The Cathedral Museum, one of two ecclesiastical collections housed in the DomQuartier, includes a version of Hieronymus Bosch’s trippy and terrifying “The Temptation of Saint Anthony.”

4 p.m. Find your favorite things on a self-guided tour of “The Sound of Music”

For better or worse, “The Sound of Music,” the 1965 musical film set in Salzburg, rivals Mozart as the city’s best-known cultural export. Skip the themed tours and save your money by visiting many of the filming locations and real-life historical sites on your own for free. From the DomQuartier, it’s an easy walk to the eighth-century Nonnberg Abbey, where the real-life Maria Kutschera spent two years as a novice before she left to become the von Trapps’ governess. Back in the Altstadt, see the Pferdeschwemme, the distinctive 17th-century horse pond that the von Trapp children marvel at during a carriage ride in the film. Cross the river and continue to the impeccably manicured Mirabell Gardens, whose Pegasus fountain; dwarf garden, featuring stone gnomes; and hedge tunnel were all immortalized in a montage in the Oscar-winning film.

6 p.m. Eat at an ancient restaurant

Understandably, St. Peter Stiftskulinarium, a restaurant that may be more than 1,200 years old, was starting to show its age about a decade ago. Under its current owners, the restaurant, which claims to have first been mentioned in documents in 803, gets a makeover yearly to keep things from getting stale. On warm evenings, sit in the outdoor arcade under domed vaults carved from a mountainside, amid a riot of plants, neon lighting and contemporary art. Its historic dining rooms are beautiful, too, with features like elegant moldings, hardwood ceilings and floors, and walls painted deep green or blue. Try local dishes like tafelspitz, boiled beef served with horseradish and thick bread sauce, among others with Mediterranean and Asian influences, such as blackened tuna with sesame and wasabi. Mains, €25 to €40.

8 p.m. Attend an inspiring performance

Every summer, the Salzburg Festival turns the city into the world’s stage. One of the festival’s main venues is the Salzburg State Theater, a 700-seat playhouse whose jewel-box 19th-century, neo-Baroque auditorium, adorned with gold leaf and red velvet, recently reopened after extensive renovations. Gaze up at the large crystal chandelier and a grand ceiling painting. Outside of the festival, the State Theater puts on roughly 400 performances each season, which runs September through June. Fall highlights include Gioachino Rossini’s opera “Il Viaggio a Reims,” a ballet about the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo and the 1960s musical “Hair.” (Tickets range from €8 to €88.) There’s plenty to see in Salzburg year-round, too: Mozart Week in winter, along with the Salzburg Easter Festival and the Salzburg Whitsun Festival in spring, means you’re likely to find a great performance whenever you visit.

The Pegasus fountain in the Mirabell Gardens, with Salzburg’s medieval fortress looming in the distance.

9 a.m. Hear a musical mass at one of Salzburg’s historic churches

On Sunday mornings, liturgical music rings out from the Altstadt’s historic churches, many of which are within spitting distance of one another. These musical masses are free and open to all, just take your pick. The vast Salzburg Cathedral was consecrated in the eighth century and achieved its current Baroque form in 1628, while the Franciscan Church is defined by its slender steeple and Romanesque Basilica. The 12th-century Stiftskirche St. Peter combines the architectural styles of various epochs, including Romanesque, Renaissance and Rococo. These are inspiring surroundings in which to hear a mass by Mozart, Haydn or one of their contemporaries, performed by the churches’ musicians. Remember to dress modestly. Consult the churches’ websites for full program information and precise mass times.

12 p.m. Say “auf wiedersehen” from a mountain top

If you don’t want to brave the steep staircases and sloping paths to ascend the Mönchsberg, the mountain that rises nearly 1,700 feet above the Altstadt, there are other options. A funicular and an elevator (€12 round-trip ticket and €3 respectively; both free with a Salzburg Card) will get you to the top, where you can wander wooded trails or gaze over the Alps from a shaded bench. Get a great view of the fortress from the Richterhöhe, a southwest lookout at the mountain’s peak. On the Salzach side, find the Stadtalm, a rustic hostel and restaurant next to a remnant of a medieval wall. Taking in a sweeping panorama of the city, with a beer or coffee at an outdoor table, is the perfect way to say farewell to Salzburg.