On December 18th, I left Munich at about 8:15 a.m. and took the train to Salzburg.
This was probably the most picturesque train ride I've had in my European travels. There was lots of snow, mountains, we passed a pretty lake at one point as we traveled through Germany.
The train ride from Munich to Salzburg, Austria is about 1 hour 45 minutes. I took a taxi from the train station to my hotel (more on the hotel at the end of the post). Luckily, I was able to check into my room early and then set out to explore Salzburg.
My hotel was mere steps from this main Christmas Market. Since it was still early in the day, the market was pretty empty, so I took advantage and check out all the vendors.
After walking through the market, I decided to take the funicular to the Hohensalburg Fortress, but the funicular was broken. Unlike a large group of people who decided they just had to walk up to the fortress, I asked "how long until it will be fixed?" and they said about an hour, so I decided to come back.
I walked through St. Peter's Cemetery
This is the inspiration for the cemetery in the Sound of Music where the von Trapp family hid from the Nazis
Next I walked along the Getreidegasse
I was super hungry at lunch, so I got a restaurant recommendation from my hotel, and had a traditional Austrian Weiner Schnitzel. It was very good.
Then I went back and caught the funicular to the fortress (this is actually a video from my car coming down)
This is the view going up
Some decorated trees up on the fortress
The great part of the fortress is the views of Salzburg
Once back down, I found these trees decorated in pink!
Looking back up at the fortress
I went back to the room for a bit. I facetimed my Mom to check on my pup and took a little nap (because I was still feeling sickly). Then I headed out to see the markets after dark.
A short video of one of the market
I decided to walk to the other side of river to go to the Mirabell Market. There were some pretty decorations along the way...
The Mirabell market was a smaller market with a different vibe. It seemed to be frequented by more locals.
There was a vendor selling fresh flowers and these wreaths for table decor. If I lived there I would have one on every table!
The walk back to the other side of the river.
This is the Advent Market. I had visited during the day, but walked back through after dark. It was very pretty.
Then back along the Getreidegasse
Along the Getreidegasse, the stores have signs which describe the wares they are selling. Stassny sells traditional Austrian clothing.
The decorations were pretty all lit up at night.
I went back to the main market and grabbed some dinner and then called it a night. I really liked the markets in Salzburg. They sold some different and local items (more than other markets). I got my Dad a salt mixture from Salzburg's salt mines that is suppose to be great for cooking meat. I got my mom and myself some soap that was made in St. Wolfgang. I got my mom a bag of cookies which were made at a bakery in Salzburg (they didn't look so great by the time they made it home, but she said they were all great). And of course, I got my ornament from Salzburg for my travel tree.
My Salzburg hotel was Hotel Wolf (there are more than one Hotel Wolf's in Salzburg). I selected this hotel because of it's great location in Old Town just steps away from Mozartplatz & Residenzplatz. The location could not have been better.
I had another single room here. It wasn't fancy, but was clean.
That's a wrap on Salzburg. I know there were many things I didn't see in Salzburg, but mostly those were things I decided were better summer sites to see, so they will go on my "next time" list.
Stay tuned...next up: Vienna.
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