Salzburg is a beautiful city to visit any time of the year. Spend 3-4 days here to discover Salzburg’s treasures, or even more if you want to get a better feel of the whole area. Definitely, you will find things to do! Here you have a list you could start with – Ten things to do in Salzburg:

1. Visit Festung Hochensalzburg

The most iconic image of Salzburg is Festung Hochensalzburg, the 900-year-old fortress watching over the whole city. It can be reached by foot (a 15-minute walk) or by the Festungsbahn funicular. We took the funicular, which reminded me of the one we took a few years ago in Porto (Funicular dos Guindais). Also, the fortress is the largest intact, fully preserved fortress in Central Europe and has never been conquered.

Once at the top, you can enjoy amazing views over the city and the surrounding area (for photography lovers, it’s a feast) and also the museums inside the fortress (access is included in the city pass, which I strongly recommend buying, you will save a lot of money).

READ MORE: How to spend a few days in beautiful Porto

2. Discover Mozart Gebursthaus and Wohnhaus

You’re in his city, the great composer’s place, so you should pay a visit to one of the two houses (or both!) located in Salzburg: the place where Mozart was born (Mozart Gebursthaus) and the other house where he moved later on (Mozart Wohnhaus). And if you are a Mozart fan like I am (being in grade school, I used to read all the Mozart biographies I could find in the library next to my home), you will definitely be thrilled by this experience.

Again, the access is free with a Salzburg pass.

In the Mozart Gebursthaus, the yellow house on Getreidegasse Street, you can find well-documented objects, such as the violin he played as a little boy, a lock of his hair, and buttons of his jacket. Walking through the rooms, you step back in time and follow his steps through the narrow halls.  But, sad to say, the house was not entirely as I expected: it didn’t have the feeling of a home, with the furniture and all the stuff arranged in the rooms, but more of a museum with very well-documented materials. 

Mozart Wohnhaus is overwhelming with information, and unlike the house where Mozart was born, you can also have a free audio guide here. But again, don’t expect to find a house; it’s more of a museum or a collection of objects with a lot of interesting stuff to find out about the composer and his family (here, I discovered how Constanze, his wife, was involved after Mozart died promoting and advertising his work).

Don’t miss the original Mozart’s fortepiano in one of the rooms!

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3. Walk around Schloss Mirabell

A great time to visit the Mirabell Palace is during the warmer months, when you can deeply enjoy the marvelous blooming gardens. You can find here the Pegasus statue, the Dwarf Garden, and the stairs where Julie Andrews sang in the famous movie The Sound of Music.

As we visited the palace on a cold winter evening, the gardens weren’t as stunning as in the spring, but it was still lovely to see them.

4. Visit Hellbrun Palace

The hotel where we stayed was close to the Hellbrun Palace, so one morning, we took our dog to see the other great Salzburger palace, Hellbrun. The castle is closed over the winter, but we just wanted to walk around the beautiful castle grounds.

The park around the castle is huge (about 60 ha) and full of gardens, statues, lakes, and alleys. I can imagine how this place looks in the spring. And, for a good reason, the name “Hellbrun” means “healing spring”.

5. Visit St Peter Cemetery / Petersfriedhof

It might sound strange, but I always like strolling along the narrow alleys of a cemetery. I think it’s a place where you can discover a lot about the people who used to live in the area, get a new perspective on that place, and, besides that, it always has a quiet and peaceful atmosphere. So, on our first day in Salzburg, before climbing to the Festung Hochensalzburg fortress, we stopped for a moment in the St. Peter Cemetery.

That place is all about history and serenity. It has well-kept graves, crypts, statues, and marks, each telling a short story about the people buried there.

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6. Go to Salzburger Dom

Salzburger Dom is a masterpiece of baroque art whose origins date back to 767! It is where Mozart was baptized, later worked as an organist, and composed some of his works.

Admire the beautiful details inside and allow your mind to have a couple of moments of serenity. The entrance is free, and free guided tours are offered during the summer.

7. Walk along the Salzach River

We inevitably went from the new part of the city to the old center on the promenade along the Salzach River. It’s a nice place for a stroll. I like it most in the warm light before the sun goes down or late in the dark when you can see the entire old city and the fortress alight.

8. Visit Untersberg

Untersberg is Salzburg’s tallest mountain; you can take the cable car to its peak. But, if you don’t have a head for heights, bring some extra courage. We did the ascending on the first day of the year (once again, I decided to start my year by doing something that I usually am afraid of doing) when the weather was terrific and the skies were purely blue.

The trip takes about 10 minutes one way, and it’s included in the Salzburg card; otherwise, it costs about 23 euros.

Once we arrived at the peak, we stopped for a hot chocolate at the restaurant near the cable car station. It was picture-perfect scenery! Far away, you could see the snowy peaks of the mountains, the city of Salzburg, the fortress, and even the airport. The air was crisp and clean, and we could stay in that magical Alpine world for hours, just walking around and continually amazed by the panoramic views.

There are also some hiking trails you can take, but remember, especially in the winter, you need appropriate clothing and footwear because it can get very slippery, and there’s a lot of snow and ice.

9. Discover the old Cafes

Every time we travel, we love to discover the “cafe culture” of the place we’re in. It’s not just about resting and enjoying coffee but more about looking at the people passing by, discovering the movement of the city, and being part of its life. We definitely wanted to try two coffee houses—Cafe Tomaselli and Cafe Frust (where we tried the original Mozart Kugeln).

It is said that Cafe Tomaselli is the oldest coffee house in Austria; its origins can be traced back to 1700. Here, the coffee is served in an old-fashioned way: on a small silver tray with a glass of water. They also have a large hand-crafted cake selection: strudels, Linzer Torte, Esterhazy Torte, Black Forest, and Kardinalschnitte.

We stopped here after a full day, and a strong coffee with a delicious cake was everything we needed. I took a Mozart Caffe (served with a bit of glass of Mozart liqueur) and a chocolate cake because they didn’t have Maria Theresia Cafe, my favorite. At Cafe Tomaselli, you don’t just order your dessert; you wait for a lady with a tray full of cakes to come, and you pick yourself your favorite!

Honestly, this is not a place with fantastic coffee or sweets (don’t get me wrong, they are good enough, but not as I expected); it’s more of a place you can visit for the atmosphere. The interior is cozy, and you can read the local newspaper (they have an old-school newspaper stand) and watch the people going by. It can be very crowded sometimes, especially in high season, but if you have the time to go there in the morning when the hoards of tourists are still sleeping, you can enjoy a much more pleasant experience.

10. Wander around the streets of the old city

No matter what time of the year you find yourself in Salzburg, discover the old city and its squares. Forget Google Maps and have the courage to take the not-so-well-known streets and immerse yourself in the unknown – it will give you unique insights into the local way of life. Enjoy the bridges, the squares, and the old buildings that seem to be there for an eternity (some of them were constructed during the Middle Ages).

Take a pause and listen to the Glockenspiel in Rezidenzplatz—35 bells play daily between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m.

After all, there’s no point rushing from site to site trying to see it all, you can travel slowly and enjoy the experience. Just let yourself be wondered by the unknown!

Go on a walking tour in Salzburg: