Salzburg

Salzburg is a real gem for families. It offers a city atmosphere while still being small enough to easily navigate. We spent three nights here and could have easily based here for longer with so many possibilities for interesting day trips.

We stayed just across the river from the old town just off of Linzer Gasse pedestrian street at the lovely Hotel Wolf Dietrich. They have larger family rooms and suites that include an upstairs loft and two bathrooms. Despite a rare heatwave in the region, our room was refreshingly cool with great air conditioning. The breakfast was fantastic and the staff was helpful and friendly – would definitely stay here again.

We arrived in the early evening and enjoyed a stroll across the Salzach River for dinner on Getreidegasse (the main pedestrian street) in the Old Town (Altstadt).

The kids loved the Love Locks Bridge that crossed the river.  There were also some great musical street entertainers along the Getreidegasse and of course the canary yellow building of Mozart’s birthplace.

 

 

 

 

 

Don’t miss Fräulein Maria’s sound of music bike tour. I booked this well in advance as we needed a tag along bike as well as a kids bike. The tour travels about 8 miles over the course of 3.5 hours focused on sites that were part of The Sound of Music movie as well as other important sites throughout the city.  This was a great way to explore the city as a family. The kids were happy to be biking instead of walking and our tour guide made it very fun for the kids – even blasting the sound of music soundtrack from his portable speaker as we were biking. A must do for families in Salzburg.

 

 

 

 

For dinner we headed by car (really too far to walk for younger kids) to the Augustiner Beer garden. There is a slide and small playground to keep the kids entertained while the adults enjoy their beer in the outdoor beer garden. The food is food hall style with many vendors selling a variety of mainly German fare including schnitzel, roasted chickens, cheese boards and of course large pretzels. A lovely way to spend an evening.

 

Day trips from Salzburg include:

• Hallein salt mines
  • Don’t miss this fantastic opportunity to tour a salt mine.  You get to dress up like a miner, ride a train deep into the salt mine and shoot down a couple thrilling slides.  A great activity for the whole family.  There is also a salt mine tour in Hallstatt, however we opted for the tour in Hallein.
• Hallstätt
  • Hallstatt is about an hour and 30 minutes drive from Salzburg.  It is a lovely, super charming town on Lake Hallstatt with photo opportunities around every corner.  Plan for at least half a day here.  Stroll through the town and browse the many souvenir shops, rent a boat, and grab a bite to eat.  Try to go early, as this is a stop for many large tour groups.
• St. Gilgen and Fuschl am See
  • We happened upon St. Gilgen when returning to Salzburg from our daytrip to Hallstatt and just fell in love with it.  This is a bit off the beaten path – at least for American travelers.  It is situated on Fuschl am See and is so picturesque.  When I return to this area, I would consider basing out of St. Gilgen to explore the lake and rent bikes to enjoy the seemingly endless bike paths in the area.  Salzburg is a short 20 minute drive away.
• Berchtesgaden
• Kitzbuhel