On the Road: Salzburg and Surroundings

Austria, Austria, Austria — how much I love thee! I had the opportunity to visit in 2011 and fell in love with the people, the food, the history, and, most of all, the natural beauty of the country.

When I leave a place, I have a way saying that I utter: “When I see you again…” It feels much better than saying good-bye — assuming it is a place I want to revisit, of course. But as I boarded my flight in Linz for the long journey home four years ago, I really really meant it when I whispered, “When I see you again, Austria.”

As much as I tried to work out other places to visit after my work trip to Zurich, I couldn’t bring myself to choose anything other than Austria — and Sergio was curious, so he agreed. Salzburg is only six hours by train from Zurich and I was looking forward to exploring something familiar instead of something new for once.

Fall in Salzburg is an incredibly beautiful season, and I think I prefer it to spring. The tourists have significantly thinned, the wind has just a hint of a chill, and snow is beginning to dust the hills.

Salzburg is my favorite because it is a mid-sized city with a walkable core (where most of the tourist sites are) and it’s dripping with charm. When I’ve heard complaints about the city, without fail someone is complaining about how touristy it is. Yes, much of the city is geared to tourists and has been since Mozart’s death (people were enterprising before modern times, for sure). But come in the off-season and you’ll rub elbows with locals, and get two streets off of the main street and you’ll find a gasthous filled with locals.

I’m not going to just regurgitate all of Salzburg’s sites (go check out Rick Steves for all of the information you could ever need for your Austrian visit). but share just a few of my favorite. One of the biggest American draws to Salzburg is the Sound of Music, but Austrians know very little about the film — in fact, until very recently it couldn’t be shown in the country! We passed on the half-day SoM minibus tour (I can only sing The hills are alive! so many times before going insane) but we did stop by two sites in the city — the steps from Do Re Me and the cemetery that inspired the cemetery at the end of the film (that part of the movie was shot in California, not in Austria). I do love a good Julie Andrews movie and someday I want a small singing family of my own.

A defining feature of Salzburg is its churches — both the spires in the skyline and the bells that wake you up in the morning and put you to bed at night. Salzburg is billed as The Rome of the North and was a favored summer location for the Catholic elite. None is more impressive than the Salzburg Cathedral (or Salzburg Dom, in German), first founded in the 8th century and started in its current form in 1181. This is where Mozart was baptized. This is where you come to marvel at the architecture and the music and the history.

I also love the quirkiness and homeliness in Austria. We had barely opened the door into our hotel suite at the Hotel Wolf-Dietrich (highly, highly recommend, by the way) and I loved the well-loved furniture, the patterned carpets, and the starry night ceiling.

Yes, we had a sky full of stars that we could see from our canopy bed. This was a feature of the room, of course. Very romantic.

We also took a side trip to Gosau Seen and Hallstatt — and I bet you know the latter because it’s the most photographed place in the country. Hallstatt is so beloved that the Chinese made a replica of the city in China (because, China). The air in the mountains is so clear and the wind cuts more sharply. It felt a bit like winter here as the last leaves turned brown.

Andreas was my host when I visited in 2011 and he has a heart of gold. He, Barbara, and Barbara’s son, Paul, were our hosts for the day in the lake country. It was wonderful to catch up with all of them, to learn more about what is happening in Austria now, and to renew our friendship. They showed us parts of the county we wouldn’t have otherwise seen and their warmth and generosity touched our hearts.

We spent our last full day on a bit of an adventure to get to Hallein to tour a salt mine. Salt is what made Salzburg so wealthy and because we had never done anything like this, why not? Sometimes the odd things end up being some of our favorite travel memories (the cactus garden in Palm Springs, the “safari tour” in Southern France, the Viking extravaganza in York, England…). We ended up getting on a train going the wrong direction (whoops!) and had to wait some time for the bus, but we, a handful of German tourists and a bus full of Chinese tourists, were soon off into the mine.

We hopped on a mine train and zipped into the mine. Once in, we were more than a kilometer beneath the surface! This area was first mined by Celts more than 2500 years ago (there was a reconstructed village at the tourist center), but this mine was opened to tourists in 1989 after salt production stopped. We had the chance to see different kinds of salt mining (think pickaxes and open chambers where water was pumped into leach the salt out of the walls) and learned much about the history, as this site was actively mined since the 12th century.

I never thought I would like something like this, but it was actually a lot of fun to traipse back and forth through the tunnels. The highlight of any mine tour are the miner’s slides. They were the fastest way to move between different levels in the mine and that’s why we had to don the miner’s overalls. The wood was worn smooth so we really flew down them! We didn’t take a video, but this one sums it up, more or less.

What I love about Austria over Switzerland or Germany is that there is a calmness and a peace with what is instead of constant striving. Austria shows us how to age gracefully — even though the Hapsberg monarchy was dismantled after World War I, the country has found a way to honor its history while enjoying the beauty and bounty that today have to offer.

We loved all of our time in Salzburg and with much joy we boarded our train for Vienna! Come back tomorrow to see how we rounded out our trip in Austrian’s cosmopolitan capital city.

I can say again, very confidently, “When I see you again, Salzburg…”

xo, Sarah