Backpacking through Europe with Eurail – Salzburg, Austria
The train ride was pretty unspectacular until we got close to Salzburg (hence my sudden TSOM fever). The hills began rolling in patchwork green’s while the trees were all beginning to get that autumn fever. I suddenly began to remember why Austria was my favourite country on my Euro trip in 2003; even the cute flower-box addicted houses with their oversized triangular roofs ignited my fond memories of the country.
As the hostels in Salzburg were all fully booked, we had to opt for a budget hotel (Der Salzburgerhof & Hotel-Annex) which was weird for us – no kitchen equipped with a fridge, there was a TV in our room and of course there was a marvelous buffet breakfast to wake up to in the morning. Our first evening, we followed the Salzach River about 20 minutes up to the city centre. It was absolutely stunning, unlike most other places in Europe we had been in where the water was murky brown, here it was a beautiful bright jade-green. The banks of the river were a mix of endless green hills and beautiful little buildings built into rock faces.
We spent a wee while wandering around the pretty cobbled streets until hunger hit, so we were off to the supermarket to snap up some food for dinner by the river. The night ended with a mellow bottle of Austrian red at our hotel.
As we had only booked two nights in Salzburg the following day was pretty much our last day so we had jammed it packed with sights we wanted to see. Very lucky me has a very lovely boyfriend and he was willing to walk around all TSOM sights with me, as well as head up to the castle that overlooks the city. As I am too cheap to pay 30-40 Euro per person to do a tour we opted for the self-guided tour and a warning to anyone wanting to do the same – the sights are extremely spread out! We would of walked 15-20kms by the end of the day.
First up and closest to our hotel was the Mirabell Gardens on Schwarzstrasse. It is here you will find Schloss Mirabell where the fountains, statues and famously the flight of steps on which the children hop are located. Then if you head to the river and follow it down you will come across the little footbridge over which the von Trapp children skip over – Mozart Steg, north of Mozart Platz.
Of course no TSOM tour can go without seeing the illustrious abbey where Maria started out. A lot of the movie was filmed in the studio, recreated, so you have to remember when visiting these places that they are not exactly how you will remember them from the movie. Maria’s abbey is actually the Nonnberg Abbey on Nonnberg Gasse. The interiors of the abbey were completed recreated however the outside is the real deal. The view from ‘Maria’s abbey’ is also not completely real as it is actually the view from Winkler Terrace, atop the Monchsberg Cliffs at the end of the main shopping street. You can take a lift up from Anton Neumayrplatz for 3.20 Euro per person however if you walk from the abbey to the castle, this will eventually lead you to the look out point.
While still in Salzburg city we managed to visit Residenzbrunner where Maria splashes in the fountain on the way to catch her bus to the Von Trapp house. After the bus ride she jumps off on the canopied tree covered Hellbrunner Allee, running south from the town. Along this gorgeous route you will come across ‘Mozarteum Music Academy’ otherwise known as the 17th century country house – Schloss Frohnburg. It was these gates, which were used as the front entrance of the villa, which Maria approaches when singing ‘I have confidence in me’.
If you walk the 4-5km down the beautiful Hellbrunner Allee you will reach the magnificent Hellbrunn palace and gardens. It is here that is the home to the famed Von Trapp gazebo where the oldest daughter does the ‘Sixteen going on Seventeen’ number. The gazebo use to be in the grounds of Lepolskron but due to constant trespassing it was moved and reconstructed in the Hellbrunn gardens. You can’t actually go inside the gazebo but unlike every other TSOM location in Salzburg this one actually has a plaque and everything.
So that sums up what we managed to see in the day, obviously there are a lot more locations however they are widely spread out around Salzburg and the surrounding areas. Plus you need to remember that a lot of the movie was filmed in the Hollywood studios, so don’t go there expecting everything will be just like the movie.
All up though, Salzburg was stunning – if you don’t go there for TSOM references, you wont be disappointed as it’s a magnificent little town. The rest of our evening in Salzburg followed suit of the night before, a supermarket dinner with wine to match before having to get up early the next morning to catch the train.
On a warm summer’s evening, on a train bound for….
