Walking & hiking, Salzburg

The sound of music tour guide informed during the tour that you can take bus no 25 which takes you quite a bit outside the town. I forgot the hill name, but this bus goes there, and is supposed to be a good hiking place. Unfortunately, that was my last day in Salzburg. May be next time.

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As my brother and I were descending the trail from the Ice Cave, not far from the cave entrance, we noticed, on the left side of the path, a narrow trail along a rock ledge with a cable bolted to the rock wall for support. Of course, we were intriqued, so we left the crowd behind to see where this tiny trail would take us. We hiked, and hiked... and hiked! The trail zig-zagged all the way to the top of a mountain, well above where we'd been at the Cave! We were not prepared for this, because we had not brought along any extra water, and we were wearing pants in preparation for the cave. Fortunately, we could shed some up the upper layers... it was HOT! We finally made it to the top, and were well beyond thirsty! We found a little hut at the top, and looked inside to find a couple containers of water!!! We decided that we were not the first ones to do this! We saw one other couple hiking at the top. There were spectacular views all along the way! If you are in shape and enjoy hiking, it's a really nice side trip. I don't know how popular of a hike this is, but the trail was clear and easy to follow. I have not yet been able to find out what mountain we ended up on, nore what the elevation was. We discovered two caves with VERY small entrances along the way. My brother attempted to squeeze himself into one far enough to determine that it was very cold inside (another ice cave, I'd guess). He only went in to his ankles since we didn't have a flashlight. We saw what looked like mountain goats from a distance.

Pack a lunch, rent a bike and cruise along the river: Downriver on the left bank about 7km to a hidden beach where two rivers junction or upriver to the base of the 1800m Untersberg mountain.
You can also take bus number 21 to the start of the trail for a day’s hike (proper footwear advised!!)

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Going up Linzergasse - not far from the Riedel Shop - you'll find Frasciscus Gate on your right. Go through it and there is a steep path up Kapuzinerberg that goes past some stations of the cross. From up there you'll have nice views over the city of Salzburg. You can also walk further up towards Franziski Schlossl, it's a lovely forest path all the way. I mention this walk under "off the beaten path" since both times I was up this mountain I was walking on my own.

Franziski Schlossl is a small fortress now used as a tavern, but last time I was there (Oct 05) it was closed for refurbishment.

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After taking the tram to the top of Der Untersberg, we hopped in the car and headed to the other side ot the city...actually, to the top of Gaisberg Mountain. The Gaisberg is a mountain to the East of Salzburg and is easily identified by the massive antenna on top of it (the antenna is actually a sending station of the public broadcast system). The mountain itself is a favorite among locals and is an all year round destination for people who love to hike, bike or enjoy sports. The great thing about the mountain is that it's easy to get to the top...you can drive. The Gaisberg mountaintop is 1,300 metres high and is called the ?balcony of Salzburg? because you can see the Salzburg valley, surrounding mountains and the Wallersee Lake.

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After I watched a Beethoven Symphony performed by the Berlin Philharmonic during Salzburg's Music Festival, I walked the streets of old town. While walking near the Mozarthaus, the place where Mozart lived as a child, I caught glimpse of the night streets and started snapping pictures.

Salzburg at night is very quiet but safe and filled with the blissful company of the moonlit night and a calm summer.

Moosstrasse is a huge long street in Salzburg, its not in the old town at all, in fact it is more of a residential area.

The area is stunning, huge wooden typical Austrian houses, fields and mountains....and all a 15 minute bus journey outside the Baroque centre which is Salzburg.

You can take bus numer 16 or 15 out onto the Moosstrasse.

Many people will only go up the mountain next to Salzburg to see the Hohensalzburg Fortress, however the rest of the mountain provides some spectacular views, as well as many other remnants of the medieval era. For a gorgeous walk, walk around the 'rear' of the mountain via the Nonnburg Monastry, and then follow the path along the 'back' of the mountain (and castle), which will eventually lead you up to the top of the mountain passing many fantastic photo opportunites along the way. Some photos we took on our walk can be seen on this page.

Salzburg castle offers amazing views over the city in all directions. It's worth looking to see if there's anywhere worth seeing or walking around. Salzburg offers some great walks, and not just around the old town. It's worth exploring Monchsberg, including the beer garden Augustiner, and also the Kapuzinerberg in the new town.

After walking down from the Festungsgasse, you can easy go to the left and follow the path instead of going to the right back to town. Immediately you will bew out of the tourist-crowd. Enjoy the beautiful views, pass the little sort-of-palace and smell te fresh air of the forest. You can walk all the way to the Monchsberg-Aufzug that brings you back down the hill, or take the stairs to the Reichshallerstrasse and walk through the Siegmundstor back to the Altstadt.