Salzburg: "The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music"

Ahhh...finally we arrived in Salzburg. After already hitting Luzern, Venice and Vienna, Salzburg was the last stop on our trip with KM and BM. I think I mentioned this when I blogged about Venice, but this trip was definitely a whirlwind...really fun, but still a whirlwind with tons of activities planned.

What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think about Salzburg? The Sound of Music, of course. Salzburg is about a 2.5 hour train ride from Vienna, but is a completely different type of city- much smaller and seems slower paced. To give you an idea, Vienna has 1.5 million residents and Salzburg has 150,000. We stayed at a hotel near the train station, and the center of town was just a 15 minute walk from there. Like I mentioned before, we arrived in Salzburg in time for dinner and just grabbed something quick and easy at a local restaurant.

View of Salzburg from across the River

The next day was packed full of activities. First up was a Sound of Music bike tour. A couple BK and I met in Belgium actually recommended this to us, and it was really fun. The ride is not strenuous at all and includes many stops that are in the movie including the horse fountain, cemetery, Frau Maria's monastery, twirling around in the Salzburg hills, the house where the pond and terrace scenes were filmed, the facade of the outside of the house, the gazebo and the Do-Re-Mi steps.

Our tour guide was also great. She gave us lots of facts about Salzburg and was even able to talk about when the film was made. A couple of things I found interesting included how difficult it was to shoot the scene where the Nazi flag is dropped over a building in central Salzburg (20 years after the war ended, so still a little sensitive) and that the German version of the film actually ends when Maria and the Captain get married...leaving out a pretty crucial part of the movie. Another thing was that when they're running over the mountain, they're actually running the wrong way- toward the German border, which would have obviously not been good.

After the bike tour we had a quick lunch, then headed up to the Salzburg Fortress. It is massive and pretty much sits on top of the city. It is quite a hike up (very steep), but there's also a cog train that goes up as well. Many of the palaces, fortresses and castles in Salzburg were build by Catholic Archbishops who used these buildings to demonstrate their power, authority and riches to everyone in their city. Within the fortress you can tour various areas and go up to the top of a tower, which has 360 degree views of the city.

After the fortress we did a little bit of window shopping, then BK wanted to hit the most traditional beer garden in Salzburg, which also happens to be Trappist- as in the beer is made by monks. The Augustiner Abbey & Mullner Brau Brewery is a great spot to end your day. You get in line, buy a token, select a mug from the shelves, then you're filled up with beer straight from the barrel. The garden is lined with chestnut trees and has been self-catered since the 1800s, meaning you can bring in food or order from one of the many stands there. It's well worth a visit.

KM and BM left the next morning and headed to Germany for the end of their trip. BK and I had most of the afternoon in Salzburg before catching our train back to Basel. We rented bikes and went back out to Hellbrunn Palace (where the Sound of Music gazebo is located). Within this palace there are many options for tours. BK and I chose to do the garden and trick fountain tour. Like many others, this palace was also built as an Archbishop's summer home to flaunt the wealth he possessed. In his garden he built many landscapes and fountains that had a trick aspect to them, used often to give party guests quite the surprise!

After we rode back into the city we caught our train back to Basel. The train ride back through Austria, Germany and Switzerland was beautiful through the Alps, various lakes and small villages. Hopefully BK and I will make a trip back to Austria before our time here is done. It was beautiful and had so many different experiences for us to enjoy!

Vienna: we have lots left to see

After spending three days in Venice we headed to Vienna. Vienna was a great city and felt vastly different from Venice. I think it's partly because we were back in a country with a strong Germanic influence, leading to much more order and what felt like less chaos.

We flew into Vienna in time for dinner and found a great spot, thanks to my Trip Advisor app. We dined at a traditional Viennese restaurant called Zum weissen Rauchfangkehrer. The food and service were great- we had Wiener schnitzel, veal, beef tartar and a couple of other things. A note about Wiener schnitzel- you may think this is a traditional German dish. In reality it comes from Vienna. In German Vienna is called Wien, hence schnitzel from Vienna.

Traditional Viennese Restaurant

The next morning we ventured out to Schonbrunn Palace via the subway. Public transportation is very easy in Vienna and I would recommend the bus, tram or subway to get around. The palace was massive. I'm not sure if you can make advance reservations or not, but I don't think you need them. We purchased tickets there and were able to get right in. The palace also has a complimentary audio tour that gives you information about the rooms, furniture and art you're viewing. I found it really interesting that Austria ultimately ousted the Habsburgs, but they have a lot of museums, monuments and other sites that focus on this family. I guess it's because so much of their history is wrapped up in this family.

After we toured the palace we also toured around the gardens, park area and a large monument opposite from the castle that is also part of the property.

Schonbrunn Palace

The rest of the day was spent exploring Old Town. Vienna has a nice pedestrian area in the center of the city, which is great to wander around in. The city also has some amazing cathedrals. St. Stephen is probably the one that is most well known. It is in Old Town and is huge. We did a tour of the catacombs, which was really interesting, and included seeing bone yards and various rooms where people were buried in mass graves under the church. Additionally, the four of us climbed to the top of the South Tower and enjoyed an unobstructed view of Vienna from the top. The picture below is of another cathedral not too far from St. Stephen that had a beautiful interior.

Our final day in Vienna was spent wandering around to various sights we wanted to see. Vienna a city where I feel we barely scratched the surface. We walked through the Stadt (City) Park, saw the grounds of Belvedere Palace and Museum, then headed to Museum Quarter. 

Mozart statue in Museum Quarter

Vienna has so many museums- I'm not sure how long it would take you to get through them all. For our last day we chose to see the Imperial Apartments, Sisi Museum and Silver Collection. These three museums are all connected in one, so it's easy to move from building to building, and again, they provide a great audio tour with your ticket. It was interesting again to learn more about the Habsburgs and the life they led before being ousted from the country.

I really liked Vienna and would enjoy the chance to go again, as I feel there is so much we didn't get to see. After museums and a quick lunch we grabbed a train to Salzburg, arriving there just in time for dinner.