the city of Mozart and the prince-archbishops, between the cathedral, the fortress on the rock and the Mirabell Gardens, with the Christmas market in front of the cathedral and the Krampus in December
For a thousand years Salzburg was the city of the prince-archbishops, who built it as a little Rome north of the Alps: the Baroque cathedral, the Residenz, the squares, the fountains, and high above, on the rock, the Hohensalzburg Fortress, which has never been taken. Below, in the Getreidegasse, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on 27 January 1756. On the other side of the Salzach are the Mirabell Gardens, and south of the city Hellbrunn Palace with its trick fountains. In summer the city belongs to the Festival, founded in 1920; in winter it belongs to the Advent markets and to the Krampus, the horned devils who run through the squares in December. For those travelling by motorhome Salzburg is a city to get around on foot and by bus: sleeping in a motorhome on the street is forbidden, and the motorhome stays at a stopover or a campsite, four kilometres from the centre.
Sleeping
Stops and overnight stays
Salzburg has a motorhome-only stopover to the north, at Kasern, and three campsites: two to the north, close to the Salzburg Nord motorway exit, and one to the south-east, at the foot of the Gaisberg. Sleeping in a motorhome outside campsites is forbidden throughout the city. In winter the choice narrows: the stopover and the Aigen campsite are open all year, the other two only for the Immaculate Conception long weekend and for New Year.
Reisemobil-Stellplatz Salzburg
Carl-Zuckmayer-Straße 26, 5101 Salzburg
the motorhome-only stopover at Kasern, north of the city, with 106 pitches at least five metres wide and up to twenty long, ten showers and ten toilets. From the A1 motorway take the Salzburg Nord exit, and the entrance is nine hundred metres further on, on the right. The Jägerwirt bus stop is in front of the stopover. Departure is by 12:00. You can book, for a one-off fee of seven euros, but some of the pitches are always kept free for those who arrive without a booking. It is open all year, and it is the safest choice for the Christmas markets
106 motorhome pitches
ElectricityWaterGrey waterToiletsShower
A pitch up to ten metres costs 27 euros a day with water, emptying and toilets, 32 euros with electricity, 47 from ten to twenty metres. The tourist tax is 3.55 euros per person from 15 years: two adults with electricity spend 39.10 euros a night. Cash only. The operator's price list does not give the year · +43 676 911 4244 · reisemobilstellplatz-salzburg.at
a campsite to the north, seven hundred metres from the Salzburg Nord exit, with a heated swimming pool in summer and heated toilet blocks in winter. Line 23 stops in front, at Mauermannstraße, and the operator says fifteen minutes to the centre; at reception you can buy bus tickets and the Salzburg Card. You can also ride into town by bike, along the Salzach. In winter the price list only has prices from 4 to 9 December and from 27 December to 3 January: for other dates, phone
ElectricityWaterChemical toiletToiletsShowerWi-Fi
With the 2026 price list the motorhome costs from 12 to 16 euros a night depending on the season, each adult from 10 to 14, electricity 6.50, tourist tax 3.55 per person. Two adults with a motorhome and electricity spend 49.60 euros a night from 4 to 9 December, 57.60 from 27 December to 3 January · +43 662 660494 · camping-nord-sam.com
a family campsite of about seventy pitches, on the Rauchenbichl hill, with a view over the city. The heated toilet blocks date from 2009. The bus to the centre runs every ten minutes, five minutes' walk away, and by bike along the Salzach the operator says a quarter of an hour. The operator does not say whether there is water filling and emptying for motorhomes. The website only answers at the http address. In winter the price list has prices from 4 to 13 December and from 26 December to 6 January
ElectricityChemical toiletToiletsShower
In 2026 a motorhome pitch costs 23 euros a night in low season and 25 in high season, each adult 12.45 or 13.45, with electricity and hot showers included; the tourist tax is extra, 3.55 euros per person. Two adults spend 59 euros a night on the Advent dates, which are high season. Bookings are for two nights or more · +43 662 450652 · http://www.panorama-camping.at/cms/
the campsite that used to be called Camping Schloss Aigen, at the foot of the Gaisberg, on the edge of the woods, open in winter too. From October you can only enter with an online booking: the barrier reads the number plate, and reception is only open from 8:00 to 9:00. The electricity posts can be forty or fifty metres from the pitch, and you need a long extension cable. The Valkenauerstraße stop has lines 7, 17 and 160 to the centre. With the tourist tax, a public transport ticket arrives by email. The operator does not say whether there is emptying for motorhomes, and prefers requests through the website to phone calls
ElectricityToiletsShowerWi-Fi
For a night in December 2026 the operator's booking system asks 14 euros for the motorhome, 12 for each adult, 5 for electricity and 3.55 tourist tax per person: 50.10 euros for two adults, 47.95 with the 5% discount for booking online · +43 660 42 45 480 · campingaigen.com
In Salzburg the motorhome stays parked and you get around the city by bus, or on foot: the historic centre is closed to traffic, and sleeping in a motorhome on the street is forbidden.
The vignette is required on Austrian motorways for motorhomes up to 3.5 tonnes. In 2026 it costs 9.60 euros for one day, 12.80 for ten days, 32 for two months and 106.80 for a year. The two-month and one-year vignettes bought online are only valid from the eighteenth day after purchase. The 2027 vignette year begins on 1 December 2026, and from then on there is only the digital one, linked to the number plate
No vignette as far as Salzburg Nord: if you arrive from Germany on the A8, you can drive the A1 from the Walserberg border to the Salzburg Nord exit without a vignette. It is the exit for the Kasern stopover and Camping Nord-Sam
Over 3.5 tonnes the vignette is not valid: you pay a per-kilometre toll with the GO-Box, on the exempt stretch too
Sleeping in a motorhome outside campsites is forbidden throughout the city, under a 1992 regulation, with a fine of up to 363 euros
By day you can leave the motorhome at the Messe park and ride, at Parkplatz 1, the only one where the tourist board says motorhomes are allowed: the 15 euro combined ticket includes the bus to the centre, for up to five people, and you buy it before getting on. The Mirabell car park takes motorhomes up to seven metres, but not on Thursday morning, when the market is on
Paid parking in the centre applies Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 19:00: 2.20 euros an hour, three hours at most. On Saturday from 9:00 to 16:00 it is free for three hours with a parking disc, and on Sunday it is free
The historic centre is a restricted traffic zone, and from 14 September 2026 the Neutor tunnel, under the Mönchsberg, is closed for works: with a motorhome you do not drive into town
Bus tickets have not been sold on board the trolleybuses since 2025: you buy them from ticket machines, at tobacconists, at reception or with the app. One hour costs 2.60 euros, 24 hours 5.20, a week 23. Children up to 6 travel free
The guest ticket: if you stay in the Salzburg region, with the tourist tax you receive the Guest Mobility Ticket, valid on all public transport in the Land for your whole stay. Among the campsites only Aigen mentions it: at the others, ask on arrival
The Salzburg Card includes the buses and one entry to almost all the museums, the fortress with the funicular, the Mönchsberg lift and Hellbrunn. From November to March it costs 35 euros for 24 hours, 41 for 48, 44 for 72; from April to October 38, 45 and 49. Children from 6 to 15 years pay half
To the fortress you go up by funicular, the FestungsBahn, in less than a minute; the fortress ticket with the funicular costs 15.50 euros, the full one 19.20. Up the Mönchsberg you go by the lift inside the rock: 3.40 euros one way, 4.80 return, and in 2026 free up to 19 years
To Hellbrunn you go by line 25, in twenty-five minutes from the centre
Seeing
Sights
The whole centre lies on the left bank of the Salzach, between the river and the two rocks of the Mönchsberg and the fortress: a walk from the cathedral to the Residenz, to St. Peter's and up to the fortress, then down the Getreidegasse to Mozart's birthplace. On the right bank are the Mirabell Gardens and the Kapuzinerberg; Hellbrunn is to the south, by bus. Tap a marker on the map to open its entry below.
1
Cathedral
Church · paid entry · 47.79785, 13.04662
Domplatz 1a, 5020 Salzburg
the first cathedral, built by Bishop Virgil, was consecrated in 774; the Romanesque one that replaced it after the fire of 1167 was the largest north of the Alps, and the remains of both lie in the crypt. It burned again in December 1598, and today's Baroque cathedral, by Santino Solari, was begun in 1614 and consecrated on 25 September 1628. On 16 October 1944 a bomb brought down the dome; it was reconsecrated in 1959. The three dates are on the gates of the three portals. Inside is the font on Romanesque lions where Mozart and Joseph Mohr, the author of Stille Nacht, were baptised. On the Domplatz, in front of the façade, Jedermann is performed every summer, and in winter the Christmas market is held there.
Opening hours Monday to Saturday from 9:00, Sundays and holidays from 13:00; it closes at 17:00 in November and from January to February, at 18:00 in December and from March to October except August, when it closes at 19:00. It cannot be visited during services. Monday to Saturday at noon there is the organ concert, Musik zu Mittag · a conservation contribution of 7 euros is requested, 3.50 from 14 to 18 years, free up to 13; with the Salzburg Card 5.50. The noon concert 12 euros · +43 662 8047 6640 · salzburger-dom.at · info@salzburger-dom.at
the square that Prince-Archbishop Wolf Dietrich had opened up by demolishing fifty-five medieval houses. In the middle stands the Baroque fountain of 1656-1661, with four sea horses, dolphins and a triton; in winter it is covered. Facing the square are the Residenz, the palace of the prince-archbishops, where on 28 February 1763 Mozart, then seven years old, played at court for the first time, and the Neue Residenz with its carillon of thirty-five bells, which plays three times a day. The DomQuartier, opened in 2014, is a single route through the rooms of the Residenz, the organ gallery above the cathedral and the cathedral museum, as far as the museum of St. Peter's. In September the square hosts St. Rupert's Fair, in winter the Christmas market.
Opening hours the square is always open. The DomQuartier every day except Tuesday 10:00-17:00, in July and August every day until 18:00, from 1 December to 6 January every day 10:00-17:00; closed on 24 December · the DomQuartier 15 euros, from 7 to 25 years 5, family 32; free with the Salzburg Card. Until autumn 2027 the picture gallery is closed · +43 662 8042 2109 · domquartier.at · office@domquartier.at
the monastery founded by St. Rupert around 696, the oldest in the German-speaking countries still inhabited. The church is twelfth century Romanesque, with eighteenth century Rococo stucco; here in 1769 Mozart, aged thirteen, had one of his masses performed. The cemetery lies against the rock face of the Mönchsberg, with wrought iron crosses and the arcades of the crypts: in one rest Mozart's sister, Nannerl, and Michael Haydn, in another Santino Solari, the architect of the cathedral. Above, carved into the rock, are the catacombs, two twelfth century chapels you climb up to by stairs. Next door, the Stiftskulinarium claims to be the oldest restaurant in Central Europe.
Opening hours the church every day 8:00-20:00; the cemetery from October to March 6:30-18:00, from April to September until 20:00. The catacombs from October to April 10:00-12:30 and 13:00-17:00, from May to September until 18:00; closed on 24, 25, 26 and 31 December and 1 January · the church and the cemetery are free; the catacombs cost 2 euros in 2024, from 6 to 18 years 1.50; free with the Salzburg Card · +43 662 844576 · stift-stpeter.at · office@erzabtei.at
Archbishop Gebhard began it in 1077, and Leonhard von Keutschach gave it its present appearance between 1495 and 1519: it is one of the largest medieval fortresses in Europe still intact. In 1525 rebel peasants besieged it for two months, without taking it. The Princes' Chambers have been intact since 1501, with the blue ceiling with golden stars and the great Gothic stove; in 1502 the pipe organ they call the Salzburg Bull was installed. The funicular, the FestungsBahn, dates from 1892, and until 1959 it ran on water. From the bastions you see the whole city and the Alps. On Sunday at 11:45 brass players perform from the fortress.
Opening hours from October to December and from January to April 9:30-17:00, from May to September 8:30-20:00; on Advent weekends 9:30-18:00, on 24 December until 14:00. The funicular in November 9:00-17:00, in October and December until 20:30, and it runs every ten minutes. From 9 to 13 November 2026 the funicular is stopped and the interiors are closed; from 11 January to 14 March 2027 the funicular is closed for works, and you walk up to the fortress · with the funicular the basic ticket, with the museums, 15.50 euros, the full one, with the Princes' Chambers, 19.20; children from 6 to 14 years 6.30 and 7.30. Walking up, 12 and 14.50 euros. Free with the Salzburg Card · +43 662 8424 3014 · festung-hohensalzburg.at · office@festung-hohensalzburg.at
the convent of Benedictine nuns that St. Rupert founded at the beginning of the eighth century, below the fortress, with his niece Erentrude as the first abbess: it is the oldest convent in the world where nuns have lived without interruption ever since. The church was consecrated in 1009, the crypt dates from 1043. From here the novice Maria Kutschera was sent to be governess in the house of Baron von Trapp, and that is the story of The Sound of Music. From the fortress you walk down to Nonnberg along the path beside the walls.
Opening hours the church roughly 6:30-18:00. The nuns' vespers Monday to Saturday at 17:00, on Sunday at 16:30; from November to February only by booking the day before · +43 662 841607 · nonnberg.at · stift.nonnberg@aon.at
the shopping street of the old town, narrow between tall, narrow houses, with wrought iron signs above every door, including those of today's shops, which a city blacksmith still makes by hand. It appears in documents in 1150; the name does not come from grain, Getreide, but from an old verb that meant to run. From the houses you pass through to the Universitätsplatz by the Durchhäuser, the passageways that cross the blocks: in the one at number 33 is the Bosna stand.
the yellow house of the Hagenauer merchants, where the Mozarts rented the third floor from 1747 to 1773. Wolfgang Amadeus was born here on 27 January 1756. It has been a museum since 1880. You see the violin Mozart played as a child, his clavichord and fortepiano, and portraits and letters of the family.
Opening hours every day 9:00-17:30; on 1 January 2027 from 12:00. It is not wheelchair accessible · 18 euros, reduced 15, from 15 to 18 years 7, from 6 to 14 years 6, family 32; with Mozart's Residence on Makartplatz, within 48 hours, 25 euros and family 50. Free with the Salzburg Card · +43 662 844 313 · mozarteum.at · museum.service@mozarteum.at
the university church, by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, consecrated in 1707: white inside and out, with the façade that swells between the two towers. In 1800 French soldiers used it as a hay store. In front, on the Universitätsplatz, the Grünmarkt has been held since 1857, the market of fruit, vegetables and good things to eat. The parish does not publish the church's opening hours.
Opening hours the market in the square, the Grünmarkt, Monday to Friday 7:00-19:00, Saturday 6:00-15:00, on Advent Saturdays until 19:00 · +43 662 841327 · kollegienkirche.at · khg@khg-salzburg.at
the Festival theatres stand in the old stables of the prince-archbishops, against the rock face of the Mönchsberg. The Felsenreitschule, the riding school in the rock, dates from 1693, with ninety-six arcades carved into the quarry that supplied the stone for the cathedral. Clemens Holzmeister's Großes Festspielhaus was inaugurated on 26 July 1960 with Der Rosenkavalier conducted by Herbert von Karajan. From September 2026 the guided tour only goes into the Großes Festspielhaus.
Opening hours the guided tour, of about fifty minutes, in German every day at 14:00, in English on Monday, Wednesday and Sunday at 9:00; tickets online only. There are no tours on 1 and 6 January, 8 December and from 24 to 26 and on 31 December · 7 euros, from 7 to 27 years 4, free under 7; free with the Salzburg Card · salzburgerfestspiele.at/fuehrungen · fuehrungen@salzburgfestival.at
the wooded rock that closes off the old town to the west, with paths, old walls and the view over the rooftops, the cathedral and the fortress. You go up by the lift carved into the rock, sixty metres in thirty seconds: the first one, in the open air, dates from 1890. At the top is the Museum der Moderne, a cube clad in Untersberg marble opened in 2004, with exhibitions of twentieth century and contemporary art, and the café terrace looking over the city. From the museum to the fortress you walk along the ridge.
Opening hours the lift from the Gstättengasse on Monday 8:00-19:00, Tuesday to Sunday until 21:00. The museum Tuesday to Sunday 10:00-18:00, Thursday until 20:00; closed on Monday, except holidays; closed on 24 and 25 December · the Mönchsberg is free. The lift 3.40 euros, return 4.80, in 2026 free up to 19 years. The museum 15 euros, under 27 years 10, under 19 free; free with the Salzburg Card · +43 662 842220 · museumdermoderne.at · info@mdmsalzburg.at
the dancing master's house, on the right bank, where the Mozarts moved in 1773 because the one in the Getreidegasse had become too small, and where Wolfgang lived until the end of 1780. The bombs of 1944 destroyed two thirds of it; it was rebuilt and reopened in 1996. It tells the story of the family, the journeys and the music of those years, and it is wheelchair accessible from the Theatergasse.
Opening hours every day 9:00-17:30; on 24 December until 13:00, on 1 January 2027 from 12:00 · like the birthplace, 18 euros, family 32, and the same ticket for both houses; free with the Salzburg Card · +43 662 8742 2740 · mozarteum.at · museum.service@mozarteum.at
the palace that Wolf Dietrich had built around 1606 for Salome Alt, the woman he lived with and who bore him fifteen children; his successor named it Mirabell. Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt remodelled it in Baroque style, and the grand staircase has cherubs by Georg Raphael Donner. The Mozarts played in the Marble Hall, and today people get married there. The garden, laid out at the end of the seventeenth century, has geometric flower beds, statues, the Pegasus, the garden of stone dwarfs and the view of the cathedral and the fortress: it is where Do-Re-Mi is sung in The Sound of Music. On Thursday morning, next door on Mirabellplatz, there is the Schrannenmarkt, the farmers' market.
Opening hours the garden from about 6:00 until dark; in winter the hedge theatre and the dwarf garden are closed. The palace staircase Monday to Saturday roughly 8:00-18:00; the Marble Hall on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday 8:00-16:00, Tuesday and Friday 13:00-16:00, when there are no weddings or concerts
the wooded hill on the right bank, opposite the fortress, protected since 1973. You climb it from the Linzergasse or by the Imbergstiege steps, which start from the Steingasse, the old Roman road with houses built against the rock, where Joseph Mohr, the author of Stille Nacht, grew up. At the top are the Capuchin friary of 1599-1605, the Stations of the Cross, the bastions and the house where Stefan Zweig lived; from the terraces you see the whole old town on the other side of the river. Chamois live in the woods.
Point of interest · free entry · 47.80557, 13.03329
Lindhofstraße 7, 5020 Salzburg
the brewery of the Mülln monastery, where beer has been brewed since 1621, first by the Augustinians and then by the Benedictines. It is one of the largest beer halls in Austria: the halls, and the garden under the chestnut trees with 1,400 seats. The beer is drawn from wooden barrels and drunk from stone mugs, which you take yourself from the shelves; food is bought at the stalls in the corridor, or brought from home. In November and December there is the strong winter beer, the Bockbier. It has a large car park.
Opening hours Monday to Friday 15:00-23:00, Saturday, Sunday and holidays 14:30-23:00; closed on 24, 25 and 31 December and 1 January · +43 662 431246 · augustinerbier.at · info@augustinerbier.at
the summer villa that Prince-Archbishop Markus Sittikus had Santino Solari build for him between 1612 and 1615, south of the city. The reason to come are the trick fountains, the largest and best preserved of the late Renaissance: grottoes, moving statues, the prince's stone table with seats that spray the guests, and an eighteenth century mechanical theatre with more than two hundred figures moved by water. They can only be visited with a guide, and you get wet. In the park is the glass pavilion from The Sound of Music. In winter the palace and the trick fountains are closed, but the courtyard hosts the Advent market. The palace car park says nothing about motorhomes: come by line 25.
Opening hours the palace and the trick fountains from 28 March to 1 November 2026, from 9:30, until 17:30 in April and October, 18:30 in May, June and September, 19:00 in July and August; closed from November to March. The park every day 6:30-21:00 · palace and trick fountains 16.50 euros, from 4 to 18 years 6.50, family with one child 36.50; free with the Salzburg Card. The park is free · +43 662 820372 0 · hellbrunn.at · info@hellbrunn.at
Salzburg has the calendar of a city of music: the Festival in summer, Mozart Week in January, the Easter and Whitsun festivals. But the season that changes it most is Advent, with four Christmas markets, the Advent singing and the Krampus in the streets.
Next: Jazz & The City · 15-18 Oct
15-18Oct
Jazz & The City
in mid October
four days of jazz all over the historic centre, in cafés, churches, shops and squares, with more than fifty concerts. Entry is always free
19 Nov › 1Jan
Salzburg Christmas Market
from mid November to 1 January
the Salzburger Christkindlmarkt, one of the oldest in the German-speaking countries, on the Domplatz in front of the cathedral and on the Residenzplatz. There was already a market in front of the cathedral at the end of the fifteenth century; in its present form it has existed since 1974, with about a hundred stalls and around a million visitors. On Thursday and Saturday at 18:30 brass players perform from three towers, a tradition since 1952; choirs sing in front of the cathedral, and on the Residenzplatz you walk among nativity scenes in display cases. It is open from 10:00, Saturday, Sunday and holidays from 9:00, until 20:30 or 21:00; on Christmas Eve until 15:00, on Christmas Day and St. Stephen's Day from 11:00 to 18:00
19 Nov › 24Dec
Hellbrunner Adventzauber
from mid November to Christmas Eve
the Advent market in the courtyard of Hellbrunn Palace, since 2001: the façade becomes an Advent calendar, and in the park there are seven hundred illuminated fir trees, the little train and the post office for children, and the Krampus masks. It is open Tuesday to Friday from 13:00, at weekends and on holidays from 10:00, until 20:00, and it is closed on Monday. Entry costs 8 euros with a hot drink, and is free after 19:00 and for children up to 6. Get there by line 25
19 Nov › 6Jan
The other Christmas markets
from mid November to Epiphany
in front of Mirabell Palace there is a quieter market, open until New Year's Eve; in the courtyard of the old Sternbräu brewery, between the Getreidegasse and the Griesgasse, the Sternadvent, which after Christmas becomes the winter market and closes at Epiphany. On Advent weekends and on 8 December there is the market in the courtyard of the fortress, from 11:00 to 19:00, with paper stars along the way up: on foot, entry is free
25 Nov › 6Jan
Winterfest
from late November to Epiphany
the largest contemporary circus festival in the German-speaking countries, under the big tops in the Volksgarten: acrobats and jugglers from companies all over the world, every year during Advent
27-29Nov
Salzburger Adventsingen
on Advent weekends
the Advent singing in the Großes Festspielhaus: a Christmas story told in music, with choirs and Salzburg folk music, which Tobi Reiser began among friends in 1946. In 2026 it is called The Great Secret, and it lasts an hour and forty minutes. Buy tickets early
27-29 Nov · 5-6 Dec · 8 Dec · 12-13 Dec
5-6Dec
Krampus and Perchten
in December
the Krampus is the fur-covered devil, with horns and hand-carved wooden masks, who accompanies St. Nicholas with chains and a birch rod. At the cathedral market the Krampus run is on the evening of 5 December, St. Nicholas arrives with the little Krampus on the afternoon of the 6th, and other runs go through the Getreidegasse, the Linzergasse and the Maxglan district. The Perchten are the spirits of the twelve nights between the solstice and Epiphany, beautiful and ugly: their run at the market is on 21 December, the first of those nights. They are genuinely frightening for small children
5-6 Dec · 8 Dec · 21 Dec
31Dec
New Year's Eve on Kapitelplatz
31 December
the party in the historic centre, with live music on the stage on Kapitelplatz, next to the cathedral. At midnight the cathedral bells ring and fireworks go up from the fortress. Private fireworks are forbidden throughout the city
21-31Jan
Mozartwoche
at the end of January
the Mozart Week of the Mozarteum Foundation, ten days of concerts around Mozart's birthday, 27 January, with the Vienna Philharmonic, in the halls of the Mozarteum, in the Festspielhaus and in the Mozart houses
20-29Mar
The Easter Festival
in Easter week
the Osterfestspiele, founded by Herbert von Karajan: an opera and concerts by great conductors. In 2027 there is Wagner's Die Walküre with the Berlin Philharmonic and Kirill Petrenko
14-17May
The Whitsun Festival
at Whitsun
four days of opera and concerts from the Salzburg Festival, over the long Whitsun weekend
15-23May
Salzburger Dult
in May
the largest folk festival in western Austria, at the Messe exhibition centre: the funfair, the stalls and the beer tent, every day from 11:00 to midnight, with free entry
23May
Salzburg Marathon
a Sunday in May
the marathon and the half marathon, starting on the Staatsbrücke and finishing in front of the Festspielhaus, in a week of races for everyone. On Sunday morning the streets on the route are closed
16 Jul › 29Aug
The Salzburg Festival
from mid July to late August
the Salzburger Festspiele, one of the most famous music and theatre festivals in the world, born in 1920 with Hugo von Hofmannsthal's Jedermann performed on the Domplatz, in front of the cathedral: it is still performed there every summer. Six weeks of operas and concerts, and the city is full; tickets are bought months in advance, and campsites should be booked early
This year's dates are not out yet
Rupertikirtag
around 24 September
the feast of St. Rupert, the patron saint, in the squares around the cathedral: old-fashioned merry-go-rounds, craft stalls, music and traditional costume
Remember
Useful tips
The motorhome stays parked for the whole stay: sleeping on the street is forbidden, and the centre is closed to traffic. The Kasern stopover and the campsites are all one bus ride from the centre
For the Christmas markets, from 14 to 25 December only the Kasern stopover and Camping Aigen are open: at Aigen you can only enter with an online booking, at Kasern there is always room for those who arrive without a booking, but you pay in cash. Nobody says whether water filling works in winter: arrive with a full tank
If you arrive from Germany, you drive the A1 to Salzburg Nord without a vignette, and there you find the stopover and Camping Nord-Sam
Buy the bus ticket before getting on. If you pay the tourist tax you are entitled to the guest ticket, free on all public transport: ask at reception
The Salzburg Card already pays off with the fortress, one Mozart house and the DomQuartier in one day, and it includes the buses. The cathedral is not included
You can also walk up to the fortress, by the Festungsgasse, and the ticket costs less; in Advent, on foot, the market in the courtyard is free
The Hellbrunn trick fountains are closed from November to March: in winter you go to Hellbrunn for the market. From 2 November to 13 December 2026 the Untersberg cable car is also stopped
The Salzburg Museum in the Neue Residenz and the DomQuartier picture gallery are closed for works until autumn 2027
On Thursday morning there is the Schrannenmarkt on Mirabellplatz, and that day the Mirabell car park does not take motorhomes
The busiest days of Advent are Saturdays and 8 December: the cathedral market is best visited on a weekday, in the morning
On 5 December, the evening of the Krampus run, the cathedral squares are packed: if you have small children, watch from a distance
Salzburg · part two
and then?
What to taste, and where to go tomorrow.
Taste
Salzburg's cuisine is Austrian cuisine, with something of its own. The dessert is the Salzburger Nockerln, said to have been invented for Salome Alt, but serious sources find no evidence for the legend: it appears in the nineteenth century, and in 1938 an operetta put it in its title. The Mozartkugeln, the Mozart balls of chocolate, marzipan and pistachio, were invented in 1890 by the confectioner Paul Fürst, in the shop that is still in the Brodgasse. Beer has been brewed in the city for centuries: Stiegl since 1492, Augustiner, from the monks of Mülln, since 1621. And in the Getreidegasse, since 1950, people have been eating the Bosna, the roll with two sausages, onion and a curry spice blend that is a house secret.
the old town in the evening from the bank of the Salzach, with the cathedral, the Kollegienkirche and the fortress lit upPhoto: Max Dawncat, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0the rooftops of the old town from the Mönchsberg, with the cathedral, the Kollegienkirche and the fortress abovePhoto: Leonhard Lenz, Wikimedia Commons, CC0the dome and the two towers of the cathedral, from the path up to the fortressPhoto: Mattes, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0the nave of the cathedral up to the high altar, beneath the domePhoto: Kent Wang, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0the Residenzplatz fountain lit up at sunset, in front of the ResidenzPhoto: Matthias Süßen, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the statue of Mozart on Mozartplatz, with St. Michael's Church behindPhoto: Jorge Franganillo, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0St. Peter's Cemetery, with the arcades of the crypts beneath the rock of the MönchsbergPhoto: Leonhard Lenz, Wikimedia Commons, CC0the Hohensalzburg Fortress above the woods on the rock, from the southPhoto: Matthias Süßen, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the great courtyard of the fortress, with the outdoor tables and the cannonballsPhoto: Kent Wang, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0Nonnberg Abbey with its red bell tower, below the fortressPhoto: Herzi Pinki, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the wrought iron signs of the GetreidegassePhoto: Kent Wang, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0the yellow façade of Mozart's Birthplace, at number 9 GetreidegassePhoto: Perituss, Wikimedia Commons, CC0the Kollegienkirche seen from the Festspielhaus, on a January morningPhoto: Michael Burgholzer, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0Jedermann at the 2014 Festival, on the stage on the Domplatz, in front of the cathedral façadePhoto: Francisco Peralta Torrejón, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0the Museum der Moderne on top of the MönchsbergPhoto: Isiwal, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the Salzach with the footbridge and, in the background, the old town and the fortressPhoto: Leonhard Lenz, Wikimedia Commons, CC0Mirabell Palace and the flower beds of the garden, with the fortress in the distancePhoto: wuppertaler, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0the garden of the Augustiner brewery at Mülln, under the chestnut treesPhoto: Eweht, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0Hellbrunn Palace at the far end of the park lawnPhoto: Kent Wang, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0the Roman theatre of the Hellbrunn trick fountains, with the statues in the nichesPhoto: Kent Wang, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0the glass pavilion from The Sound of Music, in the park of HellbrunnPhoto: Kent Wang, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0the Christmas market on the Domplatz in front of the cathedral façade, on a December evening in 2018Photo: Salzburger Nockerl, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the crowd among the stalls of the Christkindlmarkt, on the evening of 17 December 2022Photo: Robot8A, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0two Krampus among the stalls of the Christkindlmarkt, on 7 December 2022Photo: ByteBros, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0straw and wooden decorations on a Christkindlmarkt stallPhoto: Ragesoss, Wikimedia Commons, pubblico dominiothe Hellbrunn Advent market, with the illuminated fir trees and the palace façadePhoto: Werner100359, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the merry-go-round of St. Rupert's Fair on the Residenzplatz, on 23 September 2014Photo: Eweht, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
