What to do in Salzburg

Advice on what to do in Salzburg, including culture, relaxation, nightlife, sport and food.

Cultural attractions in Salzburg
Any trip to Salzburg is going to involve some kind of Amadeus-based activity, and one of the best places to visit is Mozart's birthplace. The humble house of number nine in the Getreidegasse, where the famous composer was born, is now a museum, which has been open for more than 120 years. Inside it contains antiquities related to Mozart, as well as a range of instruments that once belonged to him.

A tour of the Festung Hohensalzburg is a must, as it is the highest point in Salzburg and gives you staggering views of the northern part of the city. Inside the fortress, which is one of Europe's largest castles, there are impressively well-maintained rooms, from the grandeur of the dining hall to the gruesomeness of the torture chamber..

Relaxation in Salzburg
Tourists can see the sights of Salzburg from a different perspective on the Amadeus Salzburg panorama boat. Starting from Makart Bridge, the tour affords views of the beautiful cityscape, as the boat winds its way up to the mountains.

Both tranquil and exhilarating is a tour around Eisriesenwelt Höhle, the largest accessible ice caves in the world. Inside is a spell-binding world of frozen waterfalls and elaborate ice formations.

It would also be foolish for visitors to Salzburg to ignore the abundance of good nearby ski slopes, such as Neukirchen, Oberndorf and St Gilgen, as it is one of the best place to hit the snow in Austria.

Nightlife in Salzburg
A refined evening can be had at Salzburg's opera and concert hall, where, in smart formal attire, you can enjoy some of the best classical music Austria and the rest of Europe have to offer.

A rough and ready night out is there to be enjoyed at the hip Bazillus on Imbergstrasse, while Jexx on Gstättengasse is a nightclub that just loves the tourists, and is ideal for the clubber who wants to hear familiar voices, if not faces.

Sport in Salzburg
A game of football can be caught with Red Bull Salzburg at the new Red Bull Stadium.

Recommended restaurants in Salzburg
Blaue Gans provides a bizarre and intoxicating eating experience. Based in a 500 year old hotel, visitors can dine on authentic Austrian food that has been updated with modern cooking techniques, while looking out over the bustling Getreidegasse. And if you do not fancy looking out of the window, you can gaze through the glass floor, looking down on what was once the oldest inn in the city.

Top home-cooked food that is great value for money can be found a few kilometres south of the city, at Gasthof Hohlwegwirt, with hearty meals such as soup-broth with buttered dumplings and calf's sweetbreads. It is such a favourite with locals that booking a table is a near necessity.

A restaurant and dining house steeped in mystery and legend, Stiftskeller St Peter (St Peter's Beer Cellar), a meal here is a great experience. While you tuck into authentic Austrian cuisine in either the wood-panelled Prelates' Room or one of the banquet halls, you can muse on whether Faust really did meet Mephistopheles here, or whether Christopher Columbus really enjoyed a beer in the Cellar before setting sail for America.