Anyone who grew up watching Sound of Music has a certain expectation of Austria — pristine landscapes, luxurious palaces, beautiful music, really old buildings…and I am happy to say it’s all true! Eric & I recently returned from a two week trip to Austria & southern Germany.
The first day of our trip began with a flight to Munich followed by a train to Salzburg. I had purchased a Bayern ticket before we left the US, so all we had to do was find the next train to Salzburg & locate the correct platform. Easy Peasy. The 10 minute bus ride in Salzburg to our hotel is what gave us a near apoplexy. I had looked up a possible route before we left home, so I knew we needed “Bus Line 2,” but I DIDN’T know there would be different kinds of kiosks & homeless teens asking us for money while we’re trying to figure out how to buy a ticket — that was our first panic attack. The second panic set in after we purchased the ticket & realized it didn’t say what bus or platform to use. I thankfully remembered seeing the bus # on the kiosk screen, but we still had to guess on the platform
Then came the final meltdown — my internet service wouldn’t work on my phone so guess who had NO map of the city & no idea when to get off the bus for the hotel. The bus driver was no help whatsoever & just as Eric is glaring at me & I’m mentally cursing myself for being so unprepared…Hotel Hofwirt appeared through our window so we got off at the next stop and walked back. The bus driver sent us off in style by chewing us out in German for exiting through the wrong door.
Hotel Hofwirt was a good hotel for the price & location. It wasn’t in Altstadt (old city) so price was cheaper. It was modern & we had a lot of fun trying to figure out how to turn on the lights before discovering that inserting our room key into a special slot did the trick. Hotel staff were helpful & the breakfast was a great buffet assortment of cold meats, cheese, yogurt and toppings, eggs, cereals & breads, pastries, juice/water/milk & self-serve espresso machines. This was pretty much the standard formula for every breakfast we had in Austria & southern Germany. I truly appreciated that they had TWO espresso machines, so we never had to wait in line for coffee like we did at other hotels.
We were too tired for sightseeing, so we took a leisurely walk to Die Weisse which had a wonderful outdoor seating area & served huge portions of traditional German food. We met a young couple from Orlando who had the same issues with Salzburg buses — so my pride felt a little less bruised after Day 1.
On day 2, we walked for 8 hours! Which was good, because we ate our way through pastries that day. We learned quickly that there is a bakery & coffee shop around every corner of Austria & southern Germany. Our first taste was Bäckerei Holztrattner. We originally planned to eat at Cafe Tomaselli, but it was packed so we settled on this little gem of a cafe on a quiet passageway. It only had 3 tables & was cozy, had delicious pastries, & didn’t feel touristy.
We fell in love with Cafe Sacher and people watching along the river. It’s a tourist hot spot but SO worth a visit just for the glamour & the Sacher Torte! For a cozy stop away from crowds, we liked Cafe Habakuk (it was closer to our hotel & just as delicious as the other cafes).
We walked all over the old parts of Salzburg, using a free walking tour that I found online. We also purchased Salzburg Cards at our hotel, which I recommend if you’re planning to see at least 2 places that charge entry fees. It saves you the hassle of purchasing tickets at each individual place AND it gives you free easy access to toilets — who needs to pay 50 cents for a public toilet when you can walk into the closest museum & flash that SC for a “quick pass.”
Of all the places we visited that day, Eric’s favorite was the Hohensalzburg Fortress & my favorite was the grand trio of Old Residenz Palace, Cathedral & DomQuartier.
We paired Hohensalzburg Fortress with a walk around the top of Mt. Monchsberg, which you could easily spend half a day walking. We also loved just strolling the streets & narrow passageways, especially the old market (Alter Markt), Goldgasse, & Steingasse.
If you love architectural elements like I do, then find the street Linzer-Gasse & look for the old narrow passage called Steingasse (about 1 block from the river). It’s full of medieval doors & door handles & is mostly residential.
Day 2 also included lunch at Triangel, a fun place in the heart of old Salzburg with excellent food & a cozy atmosphere. But the most bizarre part of our day occurred in late afternoon, when we noticed polizei in swat gear lining up along the major streets of Altstadt. Had to have been at least 50 polizei present. Locals didn’t seem fazed when smoke started showing up on the city horizon or when loud booming sounds began. We laughed when we found out it was the Marseilles football team, who had a polizei escort while they paraded down Altstadt singing in French and setting off firecrackers in red and blue. Apparently it happens every time the French come to town. Marseilles lost the next day, in case anyone’s curious.
