Updated March 20th, 2019

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Hands down Salzburg was my favorite city on my Austria itinerary. I really enjoyed every place we went to, but there was something special about Salzburg. Even though it is the 4th biggest city in Austria, it still has an idyllic village feel with its historical streets and location near the alps.

To see many of the sights of Salzburg we bought 48 hour Salzburg cards. Other than our Sound of Music Bicycle Tour almost all of our activities were free with these cards (more information below). If you are deciding whether or not to buy the cards, read on to see some of the places you can visit. It was hard to decide what to visit, but these are the sights we chose.

Mozart’s Birthplace

Just as we couldn’t go to Salzburg without doing a Sound of Music tour, we couldn’t leave without a Mozart experience. We went to the house where Mozart was born and that is now a museum that showcases his life. The museum’s three floors are well designed so the layout matches chronologically with Mozart’s life, from information about his parents to events after his death. There was just the right amount of information to read in English and many interesting facts. Details, such as the experience of traveling by carriage between countries, kept my attention. I enjoyed the museum more than I thought I would.

We didn’t visit it, but Mozart’s Residence is also available to visit with the Salzburg Card. If you are a big fan of classical music you may want to check out one of the Mozart musical events (not included with the card, though discounts may apply).

Salzburg Christmas Museum

Austria and Germany are well-known for their Christmas markets. We didn’t visit during the holiday season so the next best thing was the Salzburg Christmas museum. A variety of different Christmas exhibits make up this speciality museum. My favorite was the area with miniature Christmas market stalls. It is pretty small, but is still worth a short visit.

Panorama Museum

On our last afternoon in Salzburg we had a little extra time so we decided to take a visit to the Panorama Museum. We entered from the underground passageway which had various land models of Salzburg over the years. This part was actually free to visit. The main attraction, within the paid portion, is the large circular panorama painting of Salzburg from the early 1800s.

As far as I know the exhibit surrounding the panorama on two floors changes. When we were there it was all about some historical fires. I found that part to be ‘alright’, the first few descriptions were interesting, but after that it seemed like the same information over and over with the only difference being the city where the fire happened.

Hohensalzburg Fortress

Although we did not ride the funicular up to visit this fortress, it was a majestic part of the view wherever we went.

More Places to Visit

These are just a few of the places we were able to explore with the Salzburg card. I wrote separate posts on our visits to Untersberg and Hellbrunn Palace using the card. I don’t like to recommend places I haven’t personally visited, but there are many more places you can visit using the card such as The Museum of Modern Art, Dom Quartier, The Salzburg Open Air Museum and on a Salzburg River Cruise.

Shopping & Wandering

Last, but not least, we took a little time to meander through the winding streets, along the Salzach river and around the numerous plazas. You don’t need the Salzburg Card for this of course, but it is such a quaint town that I need to emphasis that sparing a little time to explore the streets is worth it!

We also took a peek into a few shops.

20180503_133603 — There is a Christmas store with gorgeous displays of decorative eggs.

There were many shops throughout all of Austria that sold dirndls, the traditional wear of Austria. Pink and green appeared to be the most popular color combination. We were lucky enough to be in Salzburg during a national holiday. Locals of all ages were walking the streets and eating in biergartens in their dirndls. It made Salzburg seem even more charming.

20180501_102823 — Children’s dirndls, the traditional wear of Austria, for sale in a shop.

20180501_103743 — Did you know that Red Bull comes from Salzburg?

Visiting Information

Using the Salzburg Card

You can buy the card online. Once you arrive in the city, take your voucher to one of the tourist information centers (Mozart Square at No. 5 Mozartplatz or at the main station, No. 1 Südtirolerplatz) to pick-up your card. It is valid for the number of hours (24, 48 or 72) starting from the first time you use it. We only got a 48hr card and were able to use it for our first afternoon on day one, all day on day two and the morning on day three. You simply need to show your card for entry into all of the museums and attractions.

Review

I rarely use any sort of city pass card when visiting a new city, but I was really glad we bought the Salzburg card. Unlike other cards this one seemed to include all the sights and most importantly the ones we were going to go to anyway. It was cost-effective because we saved about 30 euros each. We prefer to take our time at attractions too. I’m sure other people might fit in even more places and thus save more money.

Free transportation is also included with the card. This is a huge place if you are staying outside of the city or want to visit Untersberg and Hellbrunn Palace. There are also discounts for other activities, shows and events. Our schedule was packed and we weren’t able to fit anything else in, but it is another benefit of the card.

The card is very easy to use and the information is straightforward. The only real downside of the card was that there were so many places we wanted to go and it was hard to choose!

Recommendations

I would figure out what you want to do in Salzburg and then see if it is cost-effective to buy the card and for how many days you would like to use it. Even if you don’t end up buying the card, the website is really helpful in giving visiting information for all the sights in the city.

FYI

All the museums listed above that we visited had free toilets. You can actually get to the toilets between the Salzburg museum and the panorama museum without a ticket. For other toilets throughout the city you need to pay a fee.

Where to Stay

Altstadt Hotel Hofwirt Salzburg was one of our favorite hotels on our Austrian Itinerary. It is located in the New town of Salzburg and close to the main shopping and restaurant area. The hotel served a large breakfast and had nice, clean rooms.