CENTRAL EUROPE BLOG May 9th, 2026 - SALZBURG, AUSTRIA

 

5/9/26– Another great night’s sleep and another beautiful day in Europe. We pack our bags, check out of the hotel and begin our drive to Austria around 9:30am.

The three and a half hours goes by smooth with great weather and rolling hills. We arrive at our hotel (June Six Salzburg) shortly after 1pm expecting to pay 45 Euros for parking over the next few days but find street parking is free on the weekends. This is very helpful as I just paid 95 Euros in gas to fill up the tank. Yeah it’s very expensive here, roughly $9 US a gallon.

Our room is very nice as well (it should be as it’s by Marriott), and take a breather before tackling yet another city. The first thing we do is get some kabobs and it hits the spot.

The walk through this part of town is not the best as it feels more industrial (cars whipping by so fast that they seem to gun it for pedestrians crossing the street), but it takes about ten minutes before we get to Schloss Mirabell, a historic palace built in 1606. The garden is quite impressive and has a tremendous view of the castle in the distance. Any Sound of Music fans, this is one of the filming locations.

       

Our walk takes us over to old town where there’s quite a few people but doesn’t seem totally overcrowded. We make our way past the baroque buildings and life-size outdoor chessboard to the funicular that takes us to Salzburg Castle.

The view from here is spectacular and the wind is just enough to compliment the sun. We continue to the museum (which is very well laid out and easy to follow) and a strange marionette display that seems out of place but interesting all the same.

We continue up several flights of steps to the top of the tower for a broader 360 degree view of the city before taking the funicular back to the base. The walk to the castle and the steps has my legs aching again, but it's truly worth the price and can’t be missed, especially on a great day like today.

On our way out of old town, we make sure to buy tickets for Mozart’s birthplace where the family lived from 1747-1773. There’s many intriguing artifacts throughout that help in following along Mozart’s journey during his early years.

And now it’s time to eat. We set course on foot twenty-five minutes back to our hotel, stopping once to get a margherita pizza, and end the day there. Two weeks on this trip now and it’s getting a bit exhausting, but can’t wait until tomorrow’s adventure. Stay tuned.

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