Salzburg is the 4th largest city of Austria and its name literally "Salt Fortress", comes from the barges carrying salt on the Salzach river, which were subject to a toll in the 8th century. Salzburg's historic centre or "Altstadt" is renowned for its Baroque architecture and was enlisted as an UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996. Salzburg is also the birth place of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
We visited Salzburg by car and we parked at CONTIPARK Tiefgarage Altstadtgarage A, which is near our Airbnb and city Center. It was a very safe parking and would definitely park there again. After checking in to our Airbnb, we did a city walk. I found the "Instagram walking tour" here. You can easily follow the route with Google Maps on your phone. We started on the "Müllner Steg" which is a bridge that crosses the Salzach river and gives you an amazing view on the city of Salzburg. Photo tip! The bridge has wide fences on both sides you can definitely stabilise your camera on this ledge, espicially if you are looking to make some great long exposure shots.
We then continued our way straight ahead to the Mirabell Palace and its garden. The palace was built around 1606 on the shore of the Salzach river north of the medieval city walls, at the behest of Prince-Archbishop Wolf Dietrich Raitenau. It was rebuilt in a lavish Baroque style from 1721 to 1727. Across the Mirabell Palace we find the Andräkirche, a Roman Catholic church in Salzburg's so-called Neustadt.
We resumed our tour and walked across the Staatsbrücke back into Salzburg's Altstadt. We walked passed Mozarts "Geburtshaus" literarely Birth House. The Mozart family resided on the third floor from 1747 to 1773. Mozart himself was born here on 27 January 1756. Now the house is a museum. Mozart's birthplace introduces visitors to the early life of the composer and his first musical instruments.
We walked through a small gallery on to University Square where we now thought it was time for some food. I ordered a coffee with a classic Apple Strudel with Vanilla Sauce at Herr Leopold. It is a traditional Viennese strudel, a popular pastry in Austria
After this delightful meal we had again enough energy to go and visit the "Hohensalzburg" which is a completely walled stone castle that towers over the Austrian city of Salzburg, on top of the Festungsberg. With a length of 250 meters and a width of 150 meters, it is one of the largest medieval castles in Europe. If you are up for it you can walk up the castle on foot which will take you about 30 to 40 minutes. Luckily there is also a cable car going up to the castle, prices can be found here. The view from castle on the city of Salzburg is well worth the trip. We visited the interior of the castle as well, which mainly focussed on the history of the castle. We then walked down enjoying the different views on Salzburg.
Once we were back down, we visited the Dom of Salzburg. The history of the cathedral dates back to 774, when the first basilica was completed. However, the Romanesque cathedral burned down in 1598 and was replaced by the current Baroque church from 1611. It was designed by Vincenzo Scamozzi and Santino Solari. The 71 meter high dome was hit by an aircraft bomb in World War II. The restoration was completed in 1959.
We proceeded to the Residenzplatz, a beautiful big square with a wonderful fountain. Named after the Residenz building of the Price- Archbishops of Salzburg. The fountain or "Residenzbrunnen" is in the middle of the square and its design was by Tommaso di Garona. It was erected between 1656 to 1661. The upper basin is topped by a Triton statue ejecting the waters upwards. The fountain is made of limestone from the Unterberg (nearby mountain), it is considered the largest Baroque fountain in Central Europe. In the background of the fountain is the Salzburger Glockenspiel.
We wandered a bit more in the city and walked through the high and narrow streets before we decided to have dinner. I opted doe the all time classic Austrian dish of a Wiener schnitzel together with some French fries.
After our dinner we walked up the Kapuzinerberg to the Capuchin Monastery or the "Kapuziner Kloster" in German. The monastery church on Kapuzinerberg was consecrated in 1602. The church is dedicated to St. Francis of Assisi and St. John Bonaventure.
Once we left the monastery, we enjoyed the sunset views from the Kapuzinerberg and we finally walked back to our Airbnb.
Oh yeah, of course I came back next morning to shoot the sunrise ;)
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