Salzburg, Austria

Salzburg, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is best known for being the birthplace of Mozart and the setting for the movie ‘Sound of Music’. It is only after visiting Salzburg I realized how the two are connected. Not only that, after visiting I also realized how this city is so much more than that. It is stunning in every way- offering views of beautiful Salzach River that flows through the heart of the city with a backdrop of mountains and century old churches and buildings.

Unbeknownst (while booking) to us, we stayed in a very touristy area as was apparent from all the ‘Sound of Music’ tours’ ads we saw- walking tour, biking tour, bus tour, 45 minute, 3 hour, 5 hour, etc. tours. It just so happens that our hotel was only a block away from Mirabell Gardens, which was prominently featured in the movie. We serendipitously walked by the big iron gates of the gardens and discovered our first stunning site of Salzburg.

Separated by the Salzach river, old Salzburg is connected to the new via bridges that lead to cobblestone streets, big town squares with beautiful fountains, museums and shopping areas with live music performances. Speaking of music, we visited Mozart’s birth home turned museum, the iconic yellow building stands tall in a busy shopping area. The inside of the home is embedded with so much history and it feels like each room has a story to tell. It was interesting to learn that Mozart’s sister was equally as talented as Mozart but didn’t make it as far as her brother due to her gender. We also learnt that it was because of Mozart’s wife’s efforts that he became even more popular after his death.

Being a small city, Salzburg is very walkable and is super pedestrian friendly (even the walking signs on traffic lights are pedestrian friendly, picture below). There were only a handful of times that we took Uber and one of those times was when we went to Hallstatt- the prettiest little village/town, about an hour drive from Salzburg. Bordering a lake, it has the most picturesque views and even the drive there is punctuated by the breathtaking scenery of emerald green lakes and other villages. Although Hallstatt is known for its salt mines, we ended up doing something opposite of walking through a salt cave. We opted for an unplanned hike (almost seven thousand feet above sea level, we took the gondola up for a large part of it :)) called ‘Five Fingers’. At the end of this hike was a platform in the shape of a hand with five fingers protruding out offering panoramic views of the surrounding mountains and lakes. Unfortunately, we went on a very cloudy day and were unable to see much of the views.

One of the reasons I love traveling is for the joy of discovering unplanned things; things like palaces with hidden gardens. We visited Hellbrunn Palace, which was built in 1613-19 and was Prince Archbishop Markus Sittikus von Hohenems’s summer day residence. Apparently, he was known for his sense of humor and built a hidden ‘water garden’ with different ‘games’- like the stone dining area where the seats shot up water where the guests were seated and grottos with hidden wall cavities that drenched you with water from time to time- all powered by water. As we walked through it, I was in awe of the engineering that seemed to be way ahead of its time.

Let’s talk about the food- one of the most delicious meals I had on this trip was at a restaurant called St. Peter– in operation since 803 AD, it is considered the oldest restaurant in Europe. From the ambience to the table setting to the excellent truffle pasta- it was the most memorable meal. We also tried the famous Salzburg dessert of Nockerl- it was an experience as it takes about half an hour to be made and is then served with great pride and show. We also had an incredible breakfast paired with some really good artisanal coffee at 220GRAD.

Coming back to ‘Sound of Music’, we visited all the main sites that were featured in the movie. While on one of these expeditions, we learned from our Uber driver that the residents there don’t really like that Salzburg is known mainly for the movie, when there is so much more to it- like hosting Salzburg Festival- one of world’s most well known opera festival. The Festival in a way pays homage to the city’s music culture/Mozart and I think that’s the reason why a movie based in Salzburg could not have been named anything other than ‘Sound of Music’.

One of my favorite memories from Salzburg is of walking through the cobblestone streets of the old city in the evening and listening to Church bells (from what felt like ten different Churches) all ringing at the same time. To me that sound of music was the most memorable of all and one that I will never forget!