When you’re an expat, you can use any excuse for a trip.  Winters in Luxembourg are also pretty quiet, so we took advantage of any reason to mix things up.  Nico was in Munich for work, so I joined him for a weekend down in Salzburg, which is an hour and a half drive away from Munich.

Saturday

It was a cold and gloomy day when we walked around historic center.  Some things that Salzburg is known for became very apparent due to the amount of advertised tourism surrounding all three:

1. Salzburg and some areas around were used as the setting for “The Sound of Music”.  I’ve never seen it, but I probably should.  There are entire tour buses dedicated to visiting all the filming sites for this 1965 movie.
2. Salzburg means “salt fortress” due to barges carrying salt down the river Salzach. There’s also a salt mine that you can visit, as advertised with an interesting flyer.
3. Salzburg was the birthplace of Mozart.  You can visit Mozart’s birthplace, Mozart’s residence, a Café Mozart, and eat Mozart chocolates.

Hohensalzburg Fortress

Hohensalzburg Fortress

Salzburg Cathedral from the Petersfriedhof Cemetery

Salzburg Cathedral

Salzburg Cathedral

Salzburg Cathedral

Getreidegasse

Love lock bridge

Mirabell Palace Gardens

Mirabell Palace Gardens

Sunday

We drove around the multitude of lakes nearby and saw some gorgeous views.  This area is not popular for skiing, but more so for hiking, and we were actually visiting during the low season.  There are picturesque little towns on each of the lakes, but as we went on a Sunday during low season, they were pretty deserted.

Our hotel courtyard

Lessons and Tips

• You need a special vignette stuck to your windshield in order to drive in Austria, and you can pick them up at gas stations for less than 10 euros.
• The area around Salzburg is absolutely beautiful and well known for hiking.  Come in the summer for an active holiday.

Photos taken with the iPhone 6s