Altstadt
First-timersThe baroque old town under the fortress: Getreidegasse, the cathedral, Mozart's birthplace and the highest prices.
Salzburg city guide
Things To Do In Salzburg
A baroque old town under a thousand-year fortress, Mozart's birthplace, and the Alps starting at the edge of the last street.
9
Hostels in the city
8.4
Average, from 34,136 reviews
1077
The fortress begun
1756
Mozart born here
1996
The old town joins UNESCO
Salt money, baroque architecture and one composer
Salzburg means salt castle, and the salt trade through the Salzach river is what paid for the old town — a compact baroque centre built by prince-archbishops who governed the place as their own state until 1803.
Above it sits Hohensalzburg, begun in 1077 and never taken by an enemy, which is the largest fully preserved castle in central Europe.
Mozart was born here in 1756 and left as soon as he practically could, which the city mentions less often than his birthplace ticket price. The Sound of Music is the other industry, and the tours are enormously popular with everyone except Austrians, most of whom have never seen the film.
Two days for the city, three with a mountain or the lakes. It is a small place and it fills in summer.
Where to stay
The river splits the city: baroque old town on one side, quieter and cheaper on the other.
Neustadt
Value and MirabellAcross the river: the Mirabell gardens, Mozart's residence, more restaurants locals use and cheaper beds.
Elisabeth-Vorstadt
Cheapest and near the stationAround the station, fifteen minutes on foot from the centre, with the most affordable hostels in the city.
Orange labels are neighbourhoods, dots are the 8 top-rated hostels. Map © MapTiler © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Things to do
Things to do in Salzburg
Hohensalzburg is the fortress on the hill and the thing to do first. The funicular takes a minute, or you can walk up in fifteen, and the ramparts give you the old town below and the Alps behind. Entry with the funicular is about €16.
The Altstadt itself is the attraction: Getreidegasse with its wrought-iron guild signs, the cathedral, Residenzplatz and the horse fountain, all walkable in an hour and all UNESCO-listed.
Mozart's birthplace on Getreidegasse and his later residence across the river are both museums; the residence is the better one and much quieter.
Hellbrunn, fifteen minutes south, is a palace with trick fountains built in 1615 to soak the archbishop's guests, and they still work, and you will get wet.
More on things to do in Salzburg
Free things
Free things to do in Salzburg
The Mirabell gardens are free, immaculate, and where the Do-Re-Mi sequence was filmed, which explains the queue at the steps.
Walking up the Mönchsberg costs nothing and gives the same view as the fortress from a different angle, with a path along the ridge and a modern art museum at the top.
The Kapuzinerberg on the other side is a wooded hill with a monastery and fewer people again.
St Peter's cemetery, cut into the rock face beneath the fortress, is free and is the most atmospheric corner of the city. The Salzach riverbank path runs for kilometres in both directions.
Food and drink
Eating and drinking in Salzburg
Salzburger Nockerl is the local dessert — three enormous sweet soufflé peaks representing the hills around the city, served for two people minimum and usually €12 to €16.
Otherwise it is Austrian: schnitzel, Kasnocken, which are the local cheese dumplings, and Bosna, a spiced sausage in a bun sold from stands for about €4.
Stiegl and Augustiner both brew here. The Augustiner Bräustübl is a monastery beer hall where you collect a stone mug, rinse it at a fountain, have it filled from a barrel and carry your own food in from the stalls — a litre is about €6 and it seats over a thousand people.
Restaurants in the Altstadt are priced for tourists; ten minutes across the river they are not.
More on food and drink in Salzburg
Nightlife
Going out in Salzburg
Smaller than the city's fame suggests. The Rudolfskai strip along the river in the Altstadt is where the younger crowd and most visitors drink, and it is loud and unsubtle.
The better evenings are the Augustiner Bräustübl, which closes at 11, and the bars in the Neustadt around Steingasse — a narrow medieval lane with a handful of good small places.
A beer is €4 to €5.50 and a half-litre in the Bräustübl less.
During the festival in late July and August the whole tone changes: the city fills with black tie, and the outdoor screenings on Kapitelplatz are free and a good way to see some of it.
Getting around
Getting around Salzburg
Walk. The old town is fifteen minutes end to end and cars are largely excluded from it.
Buses cover the rest at €2.20 a single or about €4.50 for 24 hours, and the station is fifteen minutes on foot or five on a bus from the centre.
Trains reach Vienna in two and a half hours and Munich in an hour and a half, which makes Salzburg an easy stop between the two. The Bayern Ticket from Munich is a cheap group option.
The FestungsBahn funicular to the fortress is about €4 return on its own and included in fortress tickets and the Salzburg Card.
Costs
What Salzburg costs
More expensive than Vienna for beds and food, because it is small and heavily visited. Dorms are €25 to €45 and considerably more during the festival, a main course is €16 to €26, and a beer €4 to €5.50.
A day is €60 to €95.
The Salzburg Card at about €30 for 24 hours covers transport, the funicular and the museums, and pays for itself if you do three ticketed things in a day.
The free things here are genuinely good — the Mönchsberg, Mirabell, St Peter's cemetery — so a cheap day is easy if you skip the museums.
Safety
Staying safe in Salzburg
Salzburg is very safe, and the risks are weather and crowds rather than crime.
The old town is dense and heavily visited, and pickpocketing happens on Getreidegasse and around Mozartplatz in summer at ordinary European levels.
It rains here a great deal — more than most of Austria — and the cobbles and the Mönchsberg paths get slippery.
If you go into the mountains from here, that is proper alpine terrain: the weather changes fast, cable cars close in wind, and the Untersberg above the city can be in cloud while the town is in sun. Emergency number is 112, and 140 for mountain rescue.
Day trips from Salzburg
Lakes, ice caves and a salt mine, all inside an hour.
Hallstatt
The lakeside village on every poster of Austria. Beautiful, overwhelmed, and best very early or as an overnight.
Königssee
A fjord-like lake in Bavaria with electric boats, a trumpeter who plays to the echo, and a chapel on a peninsula.
Wolfgangsee and St Gilgen
A lake in the Salzkammergut with swimming, a cog railway up the Schafberg and far fewer people than Hallstatt.
What's on
What is on while you are there
One festival dominates the year and you need to know about it before booking.
Staff pick
15–18 October
Jazz&TheCitysounds Festival
Jazz&TheCitysounds Festival transforms Salzburg, Austria, into a lively hub for jazz, global grooves, and electronic music, drawing artists and audiences from around the world.…
Staff pick
15–18 October
Jazz&TheCity
Jazz&TheCity in Salzburg, Austria, brings the historic Old Town alive with an eclectic mix of jazz, global grooves, and electronic music. For over 25…
Staff pick
25 Nov – 6 Jan
Salzburg Winter Festival
Each winter, Salzburg’s Volksgarten transforms into a magical circus wonderland for the Winter Festival, drawing visitors with its dazzling lights, festive ambiance, and spectacular…
Staff pick
21–23 October
Cirque du Soleil: OVO
"Ovo" is the Portuguese word for egg. Taking that symbol to represent the life cycle of insects, Cirque du Soleil showcases a visually stunning…
16–18 October
Classic Expo
Classic Expo is an international classic car exhibition held at Messezentrum Salzburg. It serves as a meeting place for the classic car industry, showcasing…
22–25 October
Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil presents "OVO", a celebrated arena show featuring a vibrant and humorous kaleidoscope of acrobatics and comedy inspired by the world of…
29 November
Red Bull Salzburg vs. LASK
A football match between Red Bull Salzburg and LASK is scheduled at the Red Bull Arena in Salzburg. The game kicks off late on…
17 Jul – 31 Dec
Green Market
A lively open-air market fills this pedestrian square in Salzburg's old town, where vendors sell rare fruits, berries, mushrooms, homemade pastries, jams, and juices.…
Hostels
Where to stay in Salzburg
A compact scene split between the old town, the Neustadt and the cheaper streets near the station. Live from Hostelworld.
Adlerhof
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myNext - Riverside Hotel Salzburg
Dorms from €100 a night
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Yoho International Youth Hostel Salzburg
Dorms from €23 a night
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MEININGER Salzburg City Center
Dorms from €15 a night
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Hotel Lasserhof
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Stadtalm Naturfreundehaus
Dorms from €38 a night
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Sustainable
a&o Salzburg Hauptbahnhof
Dorms from €15 a night
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Goldenes Theater Hotel Salzburg
See dates and bookWhen to go
May, June and September. The festival in late July and August fills the city and triples the prices.
Jan
Cold and often snowy. Quiet after New Year
Feb
Still winter. Cheapest beds of the year
Mar
Thawing, and grey more often than not
Apr
Spring. Showery, green and good value
May
Excellent. Warm, the gardens at their best
Jun
The best month. Long days before the festival crowds
Jul
Hot, wet and filling. The festival starts late in the month
Aug
Festival peak. Full, expensive and booked a year out
Sep
Superb. Crowds gone, weather still good
Oct
Autumn colour and cheap beds
Nov
Grey and wet. Markets open at the end
Dec
Christmas markets in the old town. Busy and beautiful
Bar height is temperature. Colour is how busy it gets:
quiet
busy
peak
Average highs. Salzburg sits where the Alps meet the plain and catches a lot of rain — it is among the wettest cities in Austria, with July the wettest month.
What your trip will cost
Pick how you travel. Per person per night, in euros, outside the festival.
Late July and August run far above these figures. The Salzburg Card at €30 covers transport and the museums if you are doing three or more.
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- Beds—
- Food and drink—
- Getting around—
- Doing things—
Salzburg travel questions
The ones we get asked most.
How many days do you need?
Two for the city, three if you want a lake, the ice caves or a salt mine. The old town itself is walkable in an afternoon, which surprises people.
When is the festival and does it matter?
Late July through August, and it matters enormously — beds triple in price and book up to a year ahead. If you are not going for it, avoid those weeks entirely; if you are, the free screenings on Kapitelplatz give you the atmosphere without a ticket.
Is the Salzburg Card worth it?
About €30 for 24 hours covering transport, the funicular and the museums. It pays for itself if you do three ticketed things in a day. If you plan to walk the Mönchsberg and sit in gardens, skip it.
Is the Sound of Music tour worth doing?
It is enormously popular and Austrians find it baffling, which is part of the fun. The locations are real — Mirabell gardens, Leopoldskron, the gazebo at Hellbrunn — and you can see most of them yourself for free if you would rather not spend the €50.
What is the Augustiner Bräustübl?
A monastery beer hall where you take a stone mug, rinse it at a fountain, have it filled from a wooden barrel and bring food in from the stalls. A litre is about €6, it seats over a thousand, and it closes at eleven.
Is Salzburg expensive?
More than Vienna. Dorms €25 to €45, mains €16 to €26, and a day around €60 to €95 outside the festival. The best free things — the Mönchsberg, Mirabell, St Peter's cemetery — keep a cheap day possible.
Should I do Hallstatt from here?
It is two and a half hours each way and extremely crowded by mid-morning. Go on the first train, or stay overnight, or go to Wolfgangsee instead — it is an hour away and has most of the same appeal with a fraction of the people.
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