Salzburg surprised me.
I figured I would like it–a fortress high on a hill, a river, mountains, a well-preserved Old Town…what’s not to like?
I also figured that it would be similar to Prague, so I wasn’t too excited about Salzburg. After just leaving Hallstatt (which I’m still working on writing about) I was pretty bummed. We’d made yet another mistake and purchased a train ticket for the wrong day (this trip to Austria was really a hot mess) and I was grumpy to leave our little mountain paradise.
Luckily, Salzburg is a mountain paradise of it’s own. We weren’t there very long, and didn’t do very much, so I don’t have any “top 10 to do in Salzburg” lists for you.
Instead, we wandered around the gorgeous and adorable Old Town, stopped outside Mozart’s birth place, peeked into the Cathedral, gazed in awe at the mountains when they were briefly visible, tried Mozart balls (candy) and the famous chocolate liquor, and ran around the Mirabell Palace & Gardens pretending we were in the Sound of Music.
Unlike Vienna, which I know I should give another chance, I’m actually eager to return to Salzburg and explore more. I can’t imagine anyone not wanting to burst into song when seeing this charming city.
While similar to Prague, I wasn’t like “well, we might as well just be in Prague.” Salzburg felt smaller to me, and I really enjoyed the fact that not many cars were allowed in Old Town. It was so easy to wander around the streets! I was really smitten with the riverfront, too–the water was so green!
^^I had fun searching for peeks of the castle in-between buildings and down alleyways.
^^Mozart’s birthplace was cool to see, although we were too cheap to pay the fee to enter.
My favorite stop was the Mirabell Gardens. It helped that we got a little bit of sun while we were there–the views were incredible! I felt just like Maria as I walked around the fountain, except she probably didn’t have to dodge selfie sticks every ten feet.
^^making friends with a local pup and the dwarf statues. 
Hope to see you again soon, Salzburg!
Linking up with Bonnie, Courtney, Cynthia and Yalanda for Travel Tuesday!
Hoping to visit Salzburg this Spring! Old Town looks so picturesque. So funny about the selfie sticks! We have one but it’s for our GoPro and we only use it when we are doing an activity or sport so I tell my husband it doesn’t count ha
No way it doesn’t count haha ;). You need it to catch the awesome stuff you are doing, not to catch yourself making 20 different poses in front of the same fountain lol. You will love Salzburg, and I bet it’s beautiful in the spring! I loved just walking around there even though it was freezing.
It looks super cool! I probably wouldn’t have paid to go into Mozart’s birthplace either. The castle looks spectacular so hgh up like that.
I did almost pay to take the funicular up to the castle, but it ended up getting dark more quickly than we thought. I’m sure it would have been a nice museum to visit but we have to be choosy on what we spend money on!
We had the same issue in Ottawa when it started to get dark and we wanted to go up Peace Tower. I have to be selective about what to pay for too, selecive with time as well as money though.
That’s true! I have to be choosy about where I go and what I do, because unfortunately there just isn’t unlimited time! I so wish there was somedays!
Imagine if there was! Ahh, we could go to all the cities in the world and visit every single museum!
I know, right? Oh what a dream…
Glad you enjoyed! I started reading and was like ‘Oh noooo it was crap!’ but glad it turned out good. I am going in May 🙂
Haha sorry about that. I think you will love Salzburg! I did! I’m looking forward to visiting again 🙂
What gorgeous colors they still have! Are those purple flowers in the shape of horseshoes? I had a similar situation recently, for some reason I was surprised at how different Japan is from S. Korea. I think I thought I would be thinking, we might as well be in Korea but I was completely wrong!
Ooh I’m glad that Japan was different from Korea! This happens to me a lot, it’s amazing how even a place that might look similar has a really different vibe and culture! Yes, there were horseshoe shapes and some music note shapes and more 🙂
That garden area is beautiful! It is no fun when travel plans get messed up, I get a bit grumpy about them for sure. But at least you had a beautiful place to visit!
Yes luckily Salzburg distracted me quickly! It happens and usually I can just brush it off but we did this like three times during our one week in Austria lol.
Mozart’s balls!
It looks like a lovely little place. I have to say, I love the way you write so honestly about your travels. My husband and I will often pass up on ‘must see’ tourist places because we can’t be bothered to pay the entrance, or to wait in the queue, and I always consider that some kind of fail as a blogger. It’s good to know others do it too!
I’m so glad you appreciate the honesty! Sometimes I’m worried I’m a little too honest and maybe negative, haha. Just trying to keep it real! We love to travel but we have to be choosy about how we spend our money, so only the tourist attractions we really want to see make the list! The queue sometimes turns us away, too–especially if it’s over an hour long! That eats up so much travel time!! Thanks so much for reading 🙂
I have to say I felt EXACTLY the same as you describe you on the lead up to Salzburg. I had definitely not expected to like it as much is I did, but BOY did I like it. It’s beautiful, but so unlike Prague… got a culture that is really it’s own. Incidentally, it’s a fantastic place to great parents to. We took a Sound of Music tour as well which was a big hit… even for Alex who hadn’t seen the movie at that time (don’t worry, that situation has been remedied now).
Ha I’m glad I’m not the only one! I think because it does sound and look similar to Prague (in pictures). It just felt so different, it’s hard to explain! I really loved it. My mom just told me that her lifelong dream is to do a Sound of Music tour so I think Salzburg is a go for sure 🙂 I’m glad to hear Alex has seen the movie, although I can’t imagine how he didn’t until now?!?
I’ve seen quite a few blog posts about Salzburg lately, and it does look like a nice place to visit. I love the photos of the gardens! The sun adds some nice atmosphere to the gardens. I’m starting to think I’m missing out by not having explored Austria much… think I’ll have to change that.
I honestly didn’t expect to love Austria as much as I did–you should definitely visit! Although Vienna wasn’t my favorite, Salzburg and Hallstatt were simply wonderful, even though it was freezing!
Salzburg had never really been on my “travel radar” until recently reading blogs highlighting this city. Definitely looking forward to traveling there someday!
Yes I’ve seen it on a few blogs, too–how funny how that seems to happen! I’m planning on going back this summer, so I recommend it for sure 🙂
I really like your writing style and your sense of humour comes across in this post. Now if you could just teleport me to Salzburg…:)
Thanks so much, Gemma! That means so much to me 🙂 one of the best compliments I’ve ever received on the blog!
I’ll let you know if I figure out that teleportation thing, because I really want to be able to do that and go anywhere, ha 😉
What a nice reply! I’ll try and work on teleportation too..I’m sure we can sort it out between us 🙂
I’m sure we can, too 🙂 I can’t believe somehow hasn’t figured it out yet! it seems like the iPhone should have that capability by now, haha!
haha love this as always – first i love that you guys really relish in food 😉 and totally loving those gnomes /dwarf statues!
yes they were fun! and in the movie, of course ;). and I know, we are a little obsessed with food, but it’s hard not to be, especially in this area of the world!