Visit Salzburg, Austria

Mozart’s birthplace, Baroque architecture, an imposing medieval fortress and filming locations from The Sound of Music in Salzburg.

Nestled between Alpine mountains and packed with Baroque architecture and cobblestone streets, Salzburg offers the chance for you to explore striking natural beauty, rich musical history and the city’s UNESCO-designated Old Town.

You can explore Old Town Salzburg on foot to visit the lively shopping street of Getreidegasse and Mozart’s Birthplace museum or stroll along the Salzach River, or we can arrange private tours to see filming locations from The Sound of Music or to attend a Mozart concert dinner. You can also learn more about the area’s darker history with a guided visit to the nearby Mauthausen concentration camp.

Salzburg also makes a good base for exploring other parts of Austria. Situated near the German border, it’s close to the panoramic lake district and we can arrange day trips to the lakeside towns of Hallstatt and Saint Wolfgang. You can also explore the nearby city of Innsbruck, as well as the Bavarian capital of Munich.

Things to see and do in Salzburg

The hills come alive

Salzburg was the filming location for The Sound of Music, and we can arrange for a private tour to take you to the settings of some of the most memorable scenes. Walk through the garden at Mirabell Palace, where Maria and the children performed Do Re Mi. See the glass gazebo at Hellbrunn Palace where Liesl sang Sixteen Going on Seventeen to Rolfe, and where Maria and the Captain shared their first kiss.

You can also head to Nonnberg Convent, the big copper-domed abbey where Maria was a postulant. You’ll also visit the lake district where the sparkling crystal lakes, grassy hills and snow-topped Alpine peaks will be immediately familiar from the opening scene.

Mozart’s hometown

To see the city through Mozart’s eyes, we can arrange a tour of some of the places most significant in his life. You can visit the massive Salzburg Cathedral to admire its marble façade, home to intricately painted ceilings and Mozart’s bronze baptismal font.

You can then head to Saint Peter’s Abbey at the foot of Mönchsberg to see the Romanesque church, which boasts brightly painted biblical frescoes on its walls. Mozart wrote the Dominicus Mass for the abbot of Saint Peter’s when he was just 13, and his sister is entombed in the church’s cemetery.

Getreidegasse is Old Town Salzburg’s lively main street, lined with restaurants, cafés and shops. You’ll find Mozart’s Birthplace here — his former childhood home has been turned into a museum.

Hohensalzburg Fortress

An emblematic part of the skyline, Salzburg’s fortress sits atop the city on Festungsberg hill, offering views of the copper domes of Salzburg Cathedral and the Salzach River. You can take the Festungsbahn funicular up to the top of the hill to visit the imposing stone fortress. Built in 1077, it’s one of the largest medieval castles in Europe and considered to be one of the best preserved. You can explore its various wings and courtyards while making your way to the tower that houses a large mechanical organ, which is played three times a day from Palm Sunday to October 31.

Mauthausen

Salzburg is about 1.5 hours from Mauthausen-Gusen, a forced-work concentration camp, where close to 200,000 people were imprisoned and 90,000 killed. The camp was transformed into a memorial a few years after the war ended in memory of the lives lost there, as well as to educate and ensure public awareness of what happened during this part of Austria’s history. We can arrange a guided tour of the camp, where you can learn more about the war and its atrocities.

Best time to visit Salzburg

The weather in Salzburg is temperate, and it never sees temperatures that are extreme in either direction. To take full advantage of what the city has to offer, we recommend visiting between May and September. However, visits are possible throughout the year, and the town lights up with Christmas markets throughout December.