What to do in Salzburg - some hints

Hi all,

I spend a wonderful day in Salzburg yesterday. A collegue of mine gave us a short overview over the city and a guided tour starting at Mozartplatz and ending at Mirabellgarten.

Here are some hints of what to do if you have some free time:

First of all check with

http://www.salzburg.info/

and get some free brochures and a city map (there´s a large "shop" at Mozartplatz if you can´t order anything in advance).

One of the main souveniers of Salzburg is a chocolate praline called Mozartkugel. There are three different companies, Mirabell of Salzburg, Reber of Bad Reichenhall and Café Fuerst of Salzburg. The later are the best I was told (I bought some but haven´t tried them yet). They are also more expensive. But Fuerst is the one who invented this praline. They do have 4 shops in Salzburg (one at the beginning of Getreidegasse, the main shop and café at Alter Markt, one at Ritzerbogen and the last one at Mirabellplatz). There´s a map on the website.

http://www.original-mozartkugel.com/

There´s a daily grocery market at Universitaetsplatz which is nice to stroll and get some lunch.

For some real handcrafted souveniers check with Heimatwerk Salzburg at Residenzplatz (the Glockenspiel building, facing the cathedral go left and cross the square there)

http://www.sbg.heimatwerk.at/

Unfortunately this website is German only. You will find bee wax candles, wooden carvings, religious artifacts and more. They do have a big selection of fabric for the traditional Dirndl costumes. Those might be interesting for all of you who are in sewing or quilting.

There are two fascination shops in Judengasse (just go on on Getreidegasse) called "Christmas in Salzburg" and "Easter in Salzburg". As the names are saying, one is full of Christmas decoration, the other full of Easter eggs. It´s easy to find.

For those who love "Sound of Music" I saw calendars on sale right now and in one bookshop there was a nice little children´s book called "The singing family" which was available in English and German.

I didn´t do this, but for those of you who still don´t get enought from river cruising: The Salzach river is not very deep and usually not navigable for any commercial vessels. The built a special boat for this river and doing 1 hour excursion trips starting at Makart Steg (close to Mirabellgarten):

http://www.salzburgschifffahrt.at/

Mirabellgarten is beautiful and shouldn´t be missed. Don´t miss the dwarfs (left side of the castle).

Get out your most comfortable walking shoes as you will find cobblestones all over the town. The town can be easily walked as the historic center is quite small. Don´t miss the walk throughs between Getreidegasse and Griesgasse or to the other side. You´ll find nice beergardens (like http://www.sternbraeu.com/) and little cafés. By the way one specialty are Salzburger Nockerln (a sweet dish which takes at least 30 min to prepare). At Alter Markt you´ll find a lot of nice cafés like Fuerst or Tomaselli (http://www.tomaselli.at/) which is the oldest café of Austria. Café Demel is also one of the famous cafés (located at Mozartplatz) which is also available at Vienna. Café Sacher (and hotel) are also in Salzburg and Vienna.

Salzburger Brezen is one other specialty. But to be true, loving the Bavarian one I can´t get used to a sweet Pretzel filled with chocolate or a Pizza Pretzel. If you wan´t to try the real thing get a "Laugen Brezen".

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Hi Steamboats - sounds like a lot of "eating" on your visit. Did you go up to the castle? Quite a view from there. Willard

Willard,

I have to admit although I´ve been to Salzburg quite a few times (it´s only 1.5 h from Munich) I´ve never been up to the castle. After the guided tour a collegue and I strolled around the town. I suggested to go up but he didn´t want to. We did some more shopping instead :D .

steamboats

Thank you for the websites we will be there in a little over two weeks.

You are leaving in the next two days for your Trip to Ohio, you all have a great time and enjoy

KD

KD,

We´re leaving next Saturday. So still one more week.

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