Last updated: September 2026

Salzburg is easily one of the prettiest places in Europe: perched along a curve of the Salzach River, with an imposing fortress looming over a fairytale Old Town. It's the city that gave the world Mozart, as well as the unforgettable backdrop for The Sound of Music.

The Old Town is compact, so it's super easy to explore on foot. Having visited Salzburg four times in the winter over the years, I think the trick to a great trip here is getting the balance right: embrace the main sights like the fortress and the music history, but leave plenty of time for the quieter, local spots too.

Some of my absolute favourite things to do in Salzburg are the ones that feel least like sightseeing: drinking beer in a monastery brewery, dining in Europe's oldest restaurant, or sitting in a Baroque palace room where Mozart actually performed as a child.

Here are the nine things I would build a weekend around.

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1. Go up to Hohensalzburg Fortress

One of the first things you'll notice when you arrive in Salzburg is Hohensalzburg Fortress, sitting high up on a hill overlooking (and historically protecting) the city. And it did its job well: in nearly a thousand years, unusually for a European castle, it has never been taken by an enemy.

I love catching glimpses of it when I'm wandering around Salzburg, but it's also well worth heading up to see the inside and take in the views on offer. Inside, you'll find the Prince's Rooms, whose furnishings have remained unchanged since 1502, alongside the Golden Hall above them. The main self-guided route, the Panorama Tour, takes you through the historic salt magazine and up to the top platform of the keep, where the view opens out over the whole city and you understand why it kept enemies at bay for all those years. If you're visiting on a Sunday morning, tower trumpeters play a baroque fanfare at 11.45am.

To get to the fortress, you can either take the funicular or walk up. The footpath climbs about 100 metres and takes 15 to 20 minutes, partly on gravel and steep in places, so unless you actively want the walk I'd recommend taking the funicular. The Hohensalzburg Fortress admission ticket covers both the funicular ride and entry to the rooms. Try to go first thing in the morning or in the last two hours of the day to beat the crowds, as it's the busiest attraction in the city.

One thing to check before you go: the funicular keeps shorter hours in winter, closing at 5pm in November and from January to March, and it shuts altogether for maintenance from 11 January to 14 March 2027. If you are there in that window, you'll need to walk (I'm sorry!).

2. Immerse yourself in the Sound of Music

The Sound of Music is a great film for many reasons, but surely one of the main reasons for its success was its gorgeous setting in and around Salzburg. If you've seen it, you'll recognise lots of the filming locations as you walk around the middle of Salzburg, including the Do-Re-Mi steps and the Pegasus fountain at Mirabell Gardens. The 'I Have Confidence' scene was filmed in Residenzplatz, the escape scene was shot in St Peter's Cemetery, and the singing competition took place in the Felsenreitschule.

And if you haven't seen it and you're heading to Salzburg, watch it before you go. I'm not the biggest musical fan, but it's a great film and it'll get you right into the Salzburg spirit before you arrive.

If you're a big fan, or want to take in more of the gorgeous countryside around Salzburg, you can book a Sound of Music tour which will take you to some of the locations mentioned above as well as those further afield, including Schloss Leopoldskron (where the lakeside family scenes were filmed), Hellbrunn Gardens, Nonnberg Abbey, St Gilgen, and Mondsee, all with the soundtrack playing on the coach.

3. Drink at the Augustiner Bräustübl

I still remember the first day I walked into the Augustiner Brewery, maybe ten years ago. We entered via a small side door and it seemed eerily empty as we walked down some big stone steps. I thought I'd taken us to the wrong location. Surely this wasn't the busy brewery I'd read about. But then, we got to the bottom of the stairs, rounded a corner, and suddenly we were in the bustling food court that led into multiple packed, wood-panelled beer halls full of locals drinking beer, playing card games, and eating food they'd brought from home.

It felt like I was in a different world and time. We've been back many times since, sometimes with friends, and everybody always loves it. It's an experience you won't forget quickly. Here are a few tips for your visit:

• How to order: You take your own stein (beer mug) and rinse it at the fountain near the till (don't worry, the steins are already clean, it's just tradition), pay, and then you'll be given a token that you swap for a beer poured straight from the wooden barrel.

• Not a beer drinker? Don't let that put you off. It's worth going just for the atmosphere (and some yummy food). When I'm there, I always drink radlers, which you may know as a shandy: half beer, half lemonade. At Augustiner (and across Austria in general), they make radlers with Almdudler, a local herbal soft drink. It's a lovely and refreshing combo. They'll half-fill your stein with beer and give you a bottle of Almdudler to pour in yourself.

• The food court: The food hall, or Schmankerlgang as it's referred to in German, is an arcade of small stalls selling bread, cheese, cured meat, and items fresh off the grill. Order and pay for whatever you want and take it back on a paper plate to your table. Make sure you get some spiral-cut white radishes from the Atanassoff stall. They're heavily salted and you just eat them with your hands, and the sharp, salty, peppery flavour works beautifully with the beer.

• Practical details: They don't accept cards, so take cash. It doesn't open until 3pm on weekdays and 2.30pm at weekends, and it's closed on 24, 25 and 31 December and 1 January. If you're going around Christmas, I'd recommend getting there promptly at opening time so you can grab a table, as it gets very busy.

4. Eat at Europe's oldest restaurant

St Peter Stiftskulinarium, located inside the walls of St Peter's Abbey in Salzburg's Old Town, is the oldest restaurant in Europe. It's been serving food to customers for more than 1,200 years, and that history is all around you when you dine there, in a good way. The restaurant is beautiful and surprisingly large, so the atmosphere depends a lot on where you sit. We sat in a cosy, wood-panelled section with banquet seating and candlelit tables, full of nooks and crannies that made it feel like dining in a charming old inn from a different era.

If you visit, do yourself a favour and order the Salzburger Nockerl for dessert. This made-to-order, airy, soufflé-like dish is served in three sugar-dusted peaks over a tart raspberry sauce. It's delicious.

You can also book a Mozart concert with dinner at St Peter's: two and a half hours of candlelit courses built from recipes of Mozart's period, with musicians playing between courses. Yes, it's pretty touristy, but what better way to spend an evening in Salzburg than in a restaurant founded in 803, eating great food and listening to Mozart's music in his home town?

5. Have a Sachertorte

If you walk along the left bank of the river in Salzburg, you won't miss the elegant Hotel Sacher sitting in prime position across the water. If you're lucky enough to stay there, enjoy it (you lucky thing). But even if you aren't, I'd recommend popping into Café Sacher for a couple of hours to try their famous namesake cake, the Original Sacher-Torte.

My husband and I spent a lovely afternoon at the café with friends on a cold day, and shared both an Original Sacher-Torte and a slice of warm apple strudel (because why choose just one?). The Sacher-Torte is rich, dense, and tart with apricot jam, and the strudel is equally delicious.

6. Climb the Kapuzinerberg

The Kapuzinerberg is a wooded hill on the right bank of the river that gives you incredible views of the Old Town opposite. It's a bit of a hike, but thoroughly worth it if you're after a great photo spot. The path starts through an archway on Linzergasse and takes you past the Felixpforte gateway, following a series of small chapels depicting the Stations of the Cross. At the top sits a Capuchin monastery, and if you get lucky, you might even spot a wild chamois (sadly, I've never seen one up there).

While the views keep getting better the higher you go, one of the absolute best spots, the Hettwerbastei viewpoint near the monastery, gives you a sweeping, panoramic view over the Salzach River, the Old Town rooftops, and the fortress.

7. Ride up the Mönchsberg for the other side of the view

Salzburg is a city full of sweeping views, and the Mönchsberg is another one that's worth visiting, with the good news that it has a lift. The lift leaves from Anton-Neumayr-Platz and takes just thirty seconds to rise sixty metres above the city (€3.40 one way or €4.80 return).

At the top, you'll find the Museum der Moderne, the m32 restaurant (which featured in The Sound of Music as Café Winkler), and a terrace with the entire Old Town laid out below. Once you're up there, exploring the walking paths along the ridge is completely free: you can stroll towards the fortress in one direction, or take an easy 15-minute walk through the trees to the famous Augustiner Bräustübl beer hall (number 3 on this list) at the other end.

8. Explore the Old Town (properly)

Salzburg is famous for its Italian-inspired Baroque polish. But if you take a deeper look underneath it, you can still find the city's medieval roots, with winding lanes, narrow merchant houses with traditional wrought-iron shop signs, and hidden courtyard arcades.

Getreidegasse is the most well-known street, and it's where you can find Mozart's birthplace at number 9. Wander through the Durchhäuser (the passageways that cut between the main street and the squares behind it) and you'll find yourself somewhere unexpected. Alter Markt, Residenzplatz, and the cathedral squares are all within a few minutes of each other.

If you want to make sure you don't miss the hidden courtyards or the stories behind the signs, booking a guided Old Town walking tour is a great way to explore the area with someone who knows all the shortcuts and secret spots.

9. Go to a concert at Mirabell Palace

Mirabell Palace has a pretty dramatic backstory: it was built back in 1606 by Prince-Archbishop Wolf Dietrich for his mistress, Salome Alt, and their fifteen children! The gardens outside are completely free to wander (this is where you'll find the famous Pegasus Fountain and Do-Re-Mi steps from The Sound of Music), and you shouldn't miss the nearby Dwarf Garden with its seventeen quirky marble figures.

Even if you don't explore the whole palace interior, it's worth stepping inside to see the grand Angel Staircase. It leads up to the Marble Hall, where a young Mozart used to perform alongside his father and sister. Today, you can actually sit in that exact room and listen to a Mozart concert at Mirabell Palace. Hearing a live chamber ensemble in that Baroque hall, one of the few parts of the palace to come through the 1818 fire unscathed, feels completely different from listening to the same music in a modern concert venue: intimate, atmospheric, and easily one of the coolest things to do in Salzburg.

Where to stay in Salzburg

If you haven't sorted your accommodation yet, I've written a separate guide to where to stay in Salzburg.

A note on ordering your day

The fortress is best first thing in the morning, the Bräustübl cannot serve you before mid-afternoon, and the concerts are evening events, which means a Salzburg day more or less structures itself. Both hills are best tackled as morning walks, when the light is across the Old Town.