Climbing Kapuzinerberg Mountain in Salzburg

There was a plan to my three days in Salzburg, though the weather made me swap some of the days around. The broad approach was to spend one day in the old town on the south side of the river, one exploring the castle and one climbing the hill on the north side.

I went to the castle on the second day when there was some light right and that left me with the hill to climb on the third day.

After only a few steps up the sharp incline and I was starting to get the views that were one of the reasons that I wanted to be there.

The view is very different from that on the south side where the old town lies before you. Here there is only a little of the old town and the rooftops are more varied and more interesting.

There is also a good view of the castle on the other side.

From here you can see just how narrow the escarpment that it is built on is and also how the castle has grown out from its original building as it has made its way slowly down the hill towards the town it protects.

The walk zig-zags around the hill and I took one of the longest routes to the top to make the most of the walk.

Most of the time I was deep among tall trees and only occasionally did the path venture towards the edge of the hill to let me get some idea of where I was.

On one of these occasions I was presented with this panorama as I looked almost due west.

The two stand-out buildings here are the lime green block in the bottom-centre and the Elmer the Elephant block near the top-left corner. The later is next to the main station and it shocked me as soon as I stepped off the train. It's bold and lovely.

There were three classes of path on the hill. I took the main tarmac path up and the more adventurous and shorter (hence steeper) unmade path down. I would have taken the even shorter and even steeper way down but that was chained off with rather serious looking warning signs.

At the top of the hill is a pub and what better destination could you have for a strenuous walk.

The sun was hot and bright by then so I had a leisurely pint (or 0.5 litre as they preferred to call it) before heading back down.

Again most of the walk was in welcome shade among silent trees. A few other brave souls went past but for most of the time the hill was empty. Even the wild goats were hiding.

The last resting point on the way down had the advantage of these views of the old town and the disadvantage of another way down that is blocked off.

The last part of this route down was a series of steps that found their way between the houses to drop me in the sliver of the old town that follows the river on the north side. From there is was a short walk over Mozart's bridge to Mozart's square where a latte and a cake were waiting for me in a posh coffee house that favoured the well-to-do locals just as much as the tourists spending holiday money.

The perfect way to end a good walk in a historic town.

Fortress Hohensalzburg

Fortress Hohensalzburg (Salzburg Castle) defines the town.

It sits imperiously above it on a high and narrow escarpment so it can be seen from almost everywhere.

The previous day I had walked up to it and had left going inside for a less sunny day, and that came the next day as if anticipating my keeness to see it.

I had done enough walking up and down the day before so I decided to take the funicular train instead.

Confusingly this goes directly in to the castle and the apparently exorbitant price for the ride, around 11 euros, actually includes access to the castle and do the exhibits inside. The extra cost of the funicular is around 3 euro and is worth it for the experience and also to avoid the steep, if short, climb.

Once inside it is clear that this is a proper castle rather than a baronial home with a few fortifications added. Everywhere there are thick rugged stone walls with no pretence at decoration, which is attractive in itself.

Many of the rooms are open and there is an audio tour (included in the entry price) that guides you through some of them.

Obviously this is available in English and less obviously you can stick use your iPhone earphones which keeps both hands free for photography and for holding on tightly when negotiating steep steps.

Some of these steps take you to the very top of one of the towers offering yet more views of the town below. I seem to have spent most of my three days in Salzburg climbing up to look down on it and I have no problem with that at all.

Climbing through the castle's innards you get a good idea of how it has grown in stages from its modest beginnings almost a thousand years ago. This is explained in detail through diagrams of the main developments and biographies of the people responsible for them. This is easily digestible history that also manages to be intelligent.

There is also a museum. This consists of several rooms on several floors each filled with artefacts on a theme.

The room on armour and weapons impressed me the most with its clever use of wooden poles and wires to show them as if in use.

Other rooms had an assortment of paintings, pottery, medals and photographs.

It was a little weird seeing some of the story of WWI and WWII from the other side, so to speak. I had also forgotten that Italy was on the same side as the British in WWI and so it came in to conflict with Austria with which it shares a long border.

The museum exhibits, like the tour, managed to feed just the right amount of information to keep me interested and informed but not so much that I ever felt overwhelmed by it all. 

The castle also caters for tourists other needs and there are several restaurants. Unfortunately most of these are outside, to take advantage of the views, which is a real plus on a good day but a distinct disadvantage when it is raining.

So I went to the beer cellar instead where a pint and an apple strudel made a fine lunch.

It had brightened up by then and I was able to explore the courtyards without the hassle of an umbrella or the misery of getting wet.


My usual metric for gauging the success of places like museums and galleries is the amount of time that I spend there and at around three hours that shows that there was plenty to see and do, despite the unpromising nature of the castle's appearance from the outside.

Salzburg Old Town is quaint and the rugged castle above it provides a stimulating contrast. One could not exist without the other and they are best enjoyed together.

Up, down and around Salzburg

The first place that I usually head to when visiting a new place is the Old Town, and Salzburg was no exception.

Salzburg sits astride the Salzach River with most of the Old Town squeezed onto a narrow  the strip of land on the south-west side between the river and the castle.

The Old Town is cute enough and has a couple of stand-out buildings, such as the Cathedral, but it lacks the wow-factor of, say, Prague and lacks the space of most cities to let you do some strenuous exploration.

The upshot of this is that the town does not take that long to explore and I did not take that many pictures when doing the exploring.

The area is aimed at tourists in a nice way and while you hear far too much Mozart music the commercial activities are generally low-key and up-market. No sticks of rock or funny hats here.

The old buildings on the south-west side are substantial if not grand whereas the small part of the old town on the north-east side consists of narrow dark lanes lined with modest houses and (mostly) closed shops.

Having tramped the lower streets i was left with no option other than to start to climb the steep hill leading to the castle.

A mix of slopes and steps soon took me above the roof tops and I was presented with some great views of the town. These I did take lots of photographs of.

I made it all the way up to the castle but decided to leave visiting it for another day when the weather was expected to be less summery. Climbing down to the town along another route I came to the Stiegl Keller with its bewildering collection of beers. I took some advice and went for the seasonal bear. It was good advice.

Back in the town and looking for what to do next I decided to climb up again. I started on the same steps as my previous ascent but this time when presented with the choice I turned right (north-west) rather than left (south-east).

Again the views looking down were worth the effort of climbing up. The different angles gave different perspectives, including views of the hill on the other side of the river. Something to climb on another day.

It also let me see the town and castle in relation to each other.

The path there was well looked after and there were a few other people making the same journey.

A few of us rested at the bar by the old city wall with more splendid views.

The bar was at the top of a sadly disused lift from the town that looks as though it could have been the model for the one used on The Wall in Game of Thrones.

Further on the path arrived at the museum of modern art which would have attracted me day with less sunshine but on this day I paused just for the views and moved on.

The path then headed downhill past more buildings, walls and ruins from olden days before taking me back to the river and a short walk to my hotel on the other side of the river.


One day proved to be enough to see the main sights in Salzburg (apart from inside the castle) and it was a grand day filled with sunshine, hills and just a few beers.

Mirabell Gardens in Salzburg

It used to be the rule that Tesco sited their stores on the route between a town's main car park and the shopping centre,and that is much how I pick my hotels except that I chose somewhere between the railway station and the main attractions (usually the Old Town).

And so I came to be close to the Mirabell Gardens in Salzburg for a couple of days.

The gardens are not enormous but at least they are big enough to easily swallow a few coachloads of tourists.

They are also very formal and with all the flowers in bloom that makes them very attractive.

The gardens are arranged in neat rectangles on two sides of the Mirabell Palace while on the third side there is a more natural looking mound with trees. The fourth side is now a main road.

There is a small garden next to the Palace that is separated from the rest by railings and stone pillars topped with more flowers. Beyond this are large lawns through which flowers curve to make colourful patterns.

Looking back across the lawns towards the Palace is the most popular view and is the one chosen by all the wedding parties while I was there.

Beyond the lawns is a circular pond, with a fountain of course. around this are arranged four triangular beds with more haphazard planting competing with large statues for attention.

There are other gardens on either side.

On the left, and raised a little, is a series of hedges that do not quite make a maze and do not quite conceal the open-air stage.

On the right is another formal garden with statue, this time the demure Papagena (from The Magic Flute).

Finally, behind you as you look at the Palace, is the Dwarf Garden which is defined by a row of odd looking sculptures.

Together the varied sections of the garden add up to something greater than the sum of the parts and while there is nothing to get ecstatic about it is certainly the best route to/from the town.

Gardens like these were designed for walking in. So that is what I did. Several times.

From Vaduz to Salzburg via Buchs

After a brief lay-over in Vaduz it was on to Salzburg. This is a direct journey of about four hours from the nearest station, Buchs.

Before I left Vaduz I took a picture of a typical view of the village to compare with all the nicer ones that I selected for my previous posts.

Far from looking Alpine, the centre is full of nondescript rectangular blocks with scant decoration and the hills behind (in Switzerland) are obscured by low cloud.

It had stopped raining my then though.

I took the No. 12 bus back to Buchs, also in Switzerland. I dared not risk the 11:38 which promised to get me to the station one minute before the train was due to leave so I took the 11:30 instead which left me with half an hour to fill at the station.

Taking a close look at an old locomotive just outside the station was the obvious thing to do first. I love machinery and the old locomotives were proud to show theirs, much as the Lloyds of London building is today. Modern trains are sleek and seem to move by magic so determined are they to hide the mechanics that make them work.

There was not much else to see in Buchs and my train, due in half an hour, was the next one in, so I headed for the waitign room.

This was a nice surprise as it used to be the border control point with booths for checking documents and tables for examining the contents of suspicious cases.

Things have changed a lot since then. My passport has been looked at just once on this journey and that was back when it started in London. I have been in five countries since then. These are not all EU countries either.

It is for waits at places like Buchs that the iPod within the iPhone becomes especially useful and I was able to spend the time catching up on the Radio 4 podcasts that had been piling up while I had better things to do, like sightseeing.

Around a dozen of us were waiting when the train arrived on schedule.

The long platforms suggest that Buchs is well used to these cross-continent trains, mine was travelling from Zurich to Vienna.

The four-hour journey time to Salzburg was enough to persuade me to go for first class though on Rail Jet (Austrian) that meant little more than a very comfortable seat. The only service that I was offered all journey was one opportunity to get a beer which I had to pay for.

Still, the train was comfortable and the journey was smooth and the view was pretty. Unlike Vaduz, this was proper Alpine stuff with sweet cottages set among rich agriculture. The mountains defiantly kept their snow, safe in the knowledge that fresh falls were not far away.

The purpose of the day was to have a break between some intensive days of sightseeing so I had not planned to do very much in Salzburg, other than find somewhere to eat. That meant taking bit of a walk from the hotel and that meant going through Mirabell Gardens (Mirabellgarten).

The sun was sliding away quickly at the time which while not ideal for photography also meant that there were many fewer tourists there than at other times, as the next three days proved.

The gardens were an exhilarating end to the day and an early confirmation that I was right to include Salzburg on my list of holiday destination.