Mozart's city Salzburg was the third city of our 2016 winter trip. Although we were short on time, because travelling by bus is tiring we set aside exactly 36 hours for Salzburg.
Come on, let's get to know the city of Salzburg and then look at the Places to Visit!👇👇
1. THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT SALZBURG
Salzburg is Austria's fourth largest city and sits where the Alps end. It's also the capital of the state, about 300 km from Vienna.The city got its name from Saint Rupert, appointed head of the Church of Salzburg by the Roman Catholic Church. He is known to have given the city the name Salzburg, meaning "Salt Castle". And indeed Salzburg is a city rich in salt.
The city, known as Mozart's birthplace, brings hundreds of music lovers together thanks to the Mozart Week - Salzburg Festival held every year on his birthday. I'm sure this city is lovely in summer too, but in winter it's definitely a must-see. Especially at festival time!
When we went, festival preparations were under way and we had the chance to see the festival.
2. PLACES TO VISIT IN SALZBURG
Although Salzburg is quite small, it has enough tourist spots to amaze you. There are places you should see not only in the city centre but outside it too.
Mozart's House
Places to Visit - click the link to reach the detailed list of places to visit.3. WHERE IS SALZBURG?
Salzburg is a border city in the northwest of Austria. Salzburg sits on Austria's border with Germany. Indeed, the FlixBus we took from Vienna first took us to Munich and then brought us from there to Salzburg.4. WHEN TO GO TO SALZBURG?
Salzburg lies north of the famous Alps. The city, in Central Europe, has a typical continental climate. So most of the year is cold. Snow falls from November until the end of February. In April and May, although spring arrives, it's cool. The seasons tourists generally prefer are the summer months, when temperatures are highest. We chose to see Central Europe under snow in winter. We recommend it to you too :)
Winter in Salzburg
Those who, like us, discover the city in winter should take care to dress in thin but many layers. Although the weather conditions may seem to make your trip harder, if you have the necessary clothes and gear you can enjoy travelling in winter.Note: I can say it's almost impossible to walk around without thermal underwear in January-February. Gloves/a beanie are also a must!
5. HOW TO GET TO SALZBURG?
If you're thinking of going to Salzburg directly from Turkey, you'll need to choose air travel. With planes departing from Istanbul, you reach Salzburg W. A. Mozart Airport on a journey of 2 hours 30 minutes.
Our FlixBus double-decker bus journey
If, like us, you want to come to Salzburg while in other cities in Europe, there are various alternatives. You can get there from Vienna by train in 2 hours 30 minutes, and from Munich by bus or train in 1 hour 45 minutes. Tickets are generally around 25€.6. WHERE TO STAY IN SALZBURG?
Salzburg is such a small city that the chance of your hotel being far from the centre is very low. From the train station you can reach the centre with a 10-15 minute walk. Our choice was the affordable Pension Jahn. Although the city of Salzburg attracts a great many tourists, there aren't enough hotels to match. So with high demand, prices are also quite high. We paid 68€ for 1 night for 2 people.
Run by a Chinese family, Pension Jahn; is located just 300 metres from Salzburg Main Station, and a 10-minute walk from Mirabell Palace and the Congress Centre.
7. SALZBURG AIRPORT/GETTING AROUND THE CITY
As I mentioned above, since the city of Salzburg is quite small, you can easily get almost everywhere with short walks. For those who'd rather not, public transport is provided by buses, for your information. You can buy hourly or daily tickets from the bus ticket machines at the stops. A 1-day unlimited travel ticket costs 2.4€. Even though the weather was cold with snow and rain, we walked everywhere. We never needed the bus.** We didn't have an umbrella with us! We bought an umbrella at a shop in Arena Shopping near the train station and were comfortable while sightseeing.
8. SALZBURG CUISINE
Around Salzburg, the flavours that impressed us were Italian cuisine more than the local ones! If we went to Salzburg again, I'm sure we'd stop by these places again.Pizza - Spaghetti&Co
Our favourite in Salzburg was pizza! We couldn't leave the pizza place we found by chance. We ate all our meals there. 😋Spaghetti&Co is in the middle of the old city centre. It's on your way on the famous street, Getreidegasse. In a pleasant atmosphere, you can enjoy freshly prepared Italian and international specialities. We became addicted to the pizza here! And it has very affordable prices too!
Let's also briefly mention what else we tasted besides pizza :)
Dessert - Mozart Cafe
is in the famous "Getreidegasse" area in the centre of Salzburg, a 2-3 minute walk from Mozarts Geburtshaus, the house where Mozart was born.Schnitzel
If you haven't tasted great schnitzels in Austria before, there are 1-2 places here you should try. You can taste delicious schnitzel at restaurants like Franz and Ikarus.Chocolate - Mozartkugeln
The original chocolates called Mozartkugel were developed by the famous chef Paul Fürst in the 1890s. The chocolates dedicated to Mozart are sold in only 4 shops in Salzburg. A bit expensive, but the real thing tastes something else.This place made us say "Can chocolate even be fake?", but apparently it can! There's also a way to tell it from the fake: the ones wrapped in silver paper are the original chocolates.
One of the Mozartkugeln chocolate sales points
9. SHOPPING IN SALZBURG
When it comes to shopping, I still can't forget Salzburg! If only I could go again. Why?? There's a shop of the German giant Jack Wolfskin like an outlet! What's more, we'd hit sale time! Prices were almost half those in Turkey. And with tax free on top, what more could you want! I'll explain tax free in detail in a separate post. On a shop of about 350€ I got a refund of 60-70€. This famous shop of ours is on Getreidegasse.There are lots of shops besides Jack too. The street is quite long and has perfectly designed connecting passages and side streets. It would be fair to say it's very hard not to get carried away shopping. Don't forget to discover all kinds of shops in the side streets!
Even if you don't shop here, you're enchanted! In the side streets you can suddenly come across different shops, stylish restaurants and wonderful shop windows. One thing I'd like to point out is that, as in most of Europe, here too shops are open until noon on Saturdays, and on Sundays almost all shops are closed.
Finally, having come all the way to Salzburg, as I said above, don't leave Salzburg without buying Mozart Chocolate. Fürst and Mirabell brand chocolate shops are almost everywhere. You can taste them too if you like. We recommend buying just enough for yourself here. In Austria and Germany these chocolates are sold at much more affordable prices in local supermarkets.
10. TIME DIFFERENCE WITH SALZBURG
As of September 2016 Turkey is in the UTC+3 time zone and Salzburg is in the UTC+2 time zone. That being the case, there's a 1-hour time difference. Salzburg's time is 1 hour behind Turkey.11. SALZBURG CURRENCY
Austria's currency is the Euro (EUR). As of December 2017, 1 EUR is around 4.5₺.12. SALZBURG USEFUL INFORMATION
Fire: 122 Police: 133 Ambulance 14413. DO YOU NEED A VISA FOR SALZBURG?
Yes, you need a Schengen visa to go to Salzburg. Visas are not required for green (special) and grey (service) passports. A visa is required for the burgundy (ordinary) passport. Schengen Visa application tips - click here! You can find the documents required for a Schengen Visa here.14. CYCLING IN SALZBURG
In terms of cycling, it's similar to Vienna; maybe there's even more in Salzburg! Cycling is very common; especially the covered, multi-storey bike park at the train station blew me away.
Multi-storey bike park at Salzburg train station
Discovering Salzburg on foot is nice, but you can also pedal around the city by bike. If you're saying you don't have much stamina on a bike, there's an electric bike option too. Electric bike use in Europe is increasing day by day.
You can pedal along the Salzach River and do a pleasant tour. And while resting, sitting on the benches by the river at sunset, you can feel the perfect symphony formed by the sound of the birds, the sound of the river and the music playing in the city coming together.
2016 Winter Trip Places to Visit - click here!
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