Top Ten Tourist Tips for Salzburg
Top Ten Tourist Tips for Salzburg

Helpful Visitor Tips For Salzburg:

Here are our top travel tips to help take the stress out of your trip to Salzburg. We have learned through numerous first-hand visits to Salzburg that there are a few things you just need to know ahead of time. In addition to knowing a few helpful phrases in German, knowing how to divide your time is probably the most important advice.  Having a good suggested itinerary to start your planning really helps a lot.  Our other planning tips for Salzburg include where to stay and what the better times of year to visit are.  You can thank us later.




1. Planning & Dividing Your Time:

Suggested Itineraries for Salzburg: With a historic and compact Old Town you can cram in a lot of worthy sights quickly while visiting Salzburg.  It can be hard to prioritize what are the most important things to see and how to maximize your time, so we decided to do the work for you.  Whether you are only in town for 1-4 days over more than a week we’ve come up with the best plan of action to get you started.

Read More: Suggested Itineraries for Salzburg.

2. Best Time of Year To Visit Salzburg:

When To Visit: Salzburg is one of the few timeless European towns that is amazing to visit any time of year.  July and August are the busiest months and was quite crowded, but there is are extended hours for most attractions.  Our favorite time to visit is the end of September as the Fall leaves are turning during the Saint Rupert Festival.  The festival is like a mini version of Munich’s Oktoberfest and celebrates the founder of modern Salzburg.

In the Winter the bike tours along with the nearby ice caves and Hitler’s Eagles Nest are closed, but Salzburg is great year round.  A fresh Winter’s snow makes Salzburg postcard perfect and the Christmas market is one of Europe’s best.  On most days during the holiday season, you can earn get a taste of Medieval Krampus mixed in with the Christmas celebrations.

3. Where To Stay In Salzburg:

Where To Stay: Where you stay in Salzburg can greatly depend on the time of year as some of the hotels are only open during the peak Summer season.  In the Summer months, we highly suggest booking ahead and staying in one of the seasonal hotels just across the Salzach River from Old Town.  While the train station area gets to be too far away for walking, you can find a ton of great deals just steps North of the river.  If you are looking for luxury, we have a few great tips on those hotels also Here.

In the early Spring and late Fall through early Winter you can pretty much have your pick of any of the hotels in town with great deals as long as you book ahead.  Known as Shoulder Season, it is a good value with even the best hotels in town.  In the mid-Winter, we would as close to the heart of Old Town Salzburg so you can be close to everything including the Christmas markets.  With occasional snow and the slightly colder temperatures, it is nice to have shorter walk times in the Winter even if it costs a little more.

Read More: Best Places To Stay In Salzburg.







4. German Language Tips:

Our Top German Language Tips:

Salzburg in German is Salzburg (Zaltz-borg)

Austria in German is Österreich (Oo-ster-reich)

Hello is Hallo (Ha-Low)

Good Morning is Guten Morgen (Goo-ten Morgen)

Good Day is Guten Tag (Goo-ten Tahg)

Good Evening is Guten Abend (Goo-ten Ah-bent)

Goodbye is Auf Wiedersehen (Ow-fa Vee-da-zane)

Informal Goodbye is Tschüss (Ja-oose), can also use Tschau (Chow)

Thank You is Danke (Dunk-ah)

You’re Welcome is Bitte (Bit-tah)

Do you speak English is Sprechen Sie Englisch (Spa-wreck-ins Zee Ing-Lisch)

Cheers for drinking is Prost (Pro-st)

Zum Wohl (sum voil), meaning To Your Health, can be added at the end of any cheers, but is most commonly used when toasting with wine.

How Are You is Wie Geht Es Dir (Vee Gates Deer)

I’m Doing Well is Ich bin gut (Eek Ben Goot)

5. Get The Salzburg Card:

Using The Salzburg Card: If you plan on seeing a lot of Salzburg’s main sights within a few days you should really consider buying the Salzburg Card.  Each card covers entrance for 1 person for most of the main attractions and museums plus the city bus lines 1-14, 20 – 35, 151, 170, and 180.  In addition to the city buses, the card also covers the Fortress funicular, the Untersberg cable car, and Salzach River tour boat service (tour 1).  The card is sold in increments of 1-3 days and is sold at most hotel desks, the city center Tourist Info Office on Mozartplatz, and on the tourism website.

Card Cost: 24 hours for 25€, 48 hours for 35€, & 72 hours for 38€ (children are half-price).  More Info: Here.

6. Getting Around Salzburg:

Transportation Tips: Almost everything you are going to want to see in Salzburg is in or around the compact Old Town making it super easy to simply walk everywhere.  Pretty much every attraction is within 1 mile of the heart of Old Town Salzburg and every block seems to have a couple of cool things to see.

If you are venturing to the attractions outside of the city center consider picking up a bike rental for the day either at a stand or from your hotel.  Bike riding for tourists is very popular in Salzburg.  Most of the other sights are also directly connected by easy to use city bus lines like Bus 25 that goes right to the Zoo, Water Palace, and Hellbrunn Palace.

7. Getting To/From The Train Station:

How To Get To Town: It can be tempting on a map to haul your luggage to and from the Train Station to central Salzburg by foot, but don’t do it.  The Hauptbahnhof train station is only 1km (15 minutes) from Mirabell Palace and 2km (25 Minutes) from the middle of Old Town, but there are so many active bus lines that walking this isn’t worth it.

Pretty much every bus line except 111 goes from the Train Station right to Mirabell Palace saving you a 15-minute walk.  Most of the buses also go, if not right to the middle of Old Town, at least to the Salzach River.  If you want door-to-door service there are also plenty of taxis that only cost a couple euros to get to Old Town from the train station.  Remember though that many of the streets in the old city center are pedestrian only so even a taxi can only take you so close before you have to walk a little.



8. Getting To/From The Airport:

How To Get To The Airport: Salzburg’s airport (called Flughafen in German) is only a couple miles Southeast of the city center.  The very handy Bus 180 has frequent routes between the Train Station and Airport with stops near Mirabell palace on the way.  From the train station, the Bus 180 route is only 25 minutes and just 15 from Mirabell Palace.  Buses 2 & 10 follow almost the same route and only cost 2.50 Euros each way.  Stay away from Bus 27 that takes twice as long for the same journey.  Taxis are a little expensive to get to the airport from the Salzburg city center.

Top 10 Things To Do In Salzburg:

1. Visit The Mozart Sights
2. See The Sound of Music Film Locations
3. Tour Salzburg High Fortress
4. Explore St Peter’s Church & Cemetery
5. Shop On The Medieval Getreidgasse

Read More: Top 10 Things To Do In Salzburg