I love Salzburg! It’s one of the most beautiful cities I’ve seen (although I suppose I am a little bit biased). It’s got everything: churches, museums, historical buildings, churches, famous sons (among which are Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Georg Trakl, and Paracelsus), churches, mountains, plains, and did I mention churches? Yes, Salzburg is definitely eine Stadt der Kirchen (a city of churches).
Almost
every church in Salzburg is in baroque style. This is not a bad thing, but
after a while, it does start to get a little tiring. This is especially true
of late baroque, or rococo, styles.
Stiftskirche St. Peter - Rococo
Dreifaltigkeitskirche - Baroque
The mountain you’re most likely to see from Salzburg is the Untersberg. It’s
your classic, snow-capped peak that sits in the distance, looking over the
city. Salzburg is at the foot of the northern Alps, so it has an abundance of
flat land, hills, and grandiose mountains. For me, the location couldn’t
have been better.
One
of my favorite things to do in Salzburg was go to a high vantage point, be it
at Nonnberg or on the Mönchsberg or Kapuzinerberg (all in the downtown area),
and ooh and ahh at the beauty of Salzburg from above the rooftops. The
Kapuzinerberg is directly behind my dorm, so that made for an easy hike. After
all my travels in Europe, I quickly became of the opinion that you cannot
fully comprehend the beauty of a vacation spot unless you can view it from
above. I certainly got my fill of that in Salzburg, and it never ceased to
amaze me!
Both
the Nonnberg and the Mönchsberg are in the center of town, and from both you
can see the Alps as well as the city (though not at the same time). Because
Salzburg is right on the northern edge of the Alps, it has the best of the
mountains and the best of the plains.
My favorite? The view from the
Festung, or fortress, right from the middle of the city. It gives you the best
direct view of the Altstadt, or old
downtown.
The buildings, the culture, the history, the people—it all makes Salzburg wunderschön.