As a Sound of Music super fan I’ve always wanted to visit Salzburg in Austria. I’ve passed through a few times but never actually stayed in the city so our Easter ski trip was the perfect opportunity.
Right on the edge of the alps, Salzburg is honestly one of the most magical destinations that I’ve been to. I don’t think it necessarily crosses people’s mind for a city break as it’s not one of the more ‘exciting cities’ and is only the fourth biggest city in Austria. But trust me it’s well worth a visit.
Salzburg is actually the birthplace of Mozart and the absolutely iconic filming location of The Sound of Music. It’s a place of art, music culture, history and natural beauty. Alstadt (Salzburg Old Town) is actually a UNESCO World Heritage site. The buildings are gorgeous and colourful, there’s cute cafes and historical landmarks.
The skyline is fringed with mountains, the hills are alive and the air just feels fresh. It’s the kind of place where you don’t feel scared to get your phone out for fear it will be snatched! The easy walkability, landmarks and museums also makes Salzburg a perfect luxury family travel destination and one of the best places to visit in Austria.
Our guide told us that 70% of visitors to Salzburg are coming to see the Sound of Music sites and honestly that doesn’t surprise me! I rewatched the film (for the 500th time) before we went with Oscar and Noah and they fell in love with it too so we were singing the songs the whole time.
Getting There
Getting to Salzburg couldn’t be easier we flew into Salzburg Airport W. A. Mozart which was only about a fifteen minute drive from the hotel.
Where to Stay
As we were staying over the Easter holidays I struggled to find the perfect place that would suit a family of four that was available and wasn’t extortionate. My first choice was Hotel Sacher but owing to the price I instead went for the Sheraton Grand Salzburg.
While it’s a little dated, the five star hotel actually really ticked all the boxes for us, the service was great and it was really family-friendly. Plus the location right next to Mirabell Gardens and Mirabell Palace was ideal. Here’s a few pictures of the hotel so you get the idea. We had two interconnecting rooms terrace rooms and though they were small, it did they job for a city break where we weren’t in the room much. There’s also a restaurant we had dinner there and the food is good and a bar but the hotel is actually quite small.
As it was Easter we had the Easter brunch which was really good. Also the hotel sent Oscar and Noah a little letter telling them about the Easter egg hunt and we found little Lindt bunnies hidden in the hotel with their names on them!
One Day Itinerary
The one thing that I wanted to do in Salzburg was the Sound of Music Tour and our hotel, The Sheraton Grand Salzburg organised a private tour for us with Salzburg Limousine. We opted for a four hour tour as we were with two small children but a more extensive tour is a possibility. I was worried about doing a city tour with a six year old and a toddler but it worked out amazingly.
9am – Breakfast at The Sheraton Grand. We started the day with a buffet breakfast at our hotel’s Restaurant Mirabell. Fresh eggs, a bread buffet and fruit fuelled us up be meeting our guide, Hans,
10am – First stop, Basilika St. Michael in Mondsee, Austria. With the weather being a little drizzly we headed here first hoping the twenty minute drive would see off the rain – which it pretty much did. The church is a late Gothic architecture with Baroque works of art and it’s famous for being the location of the wedding scene in the Sound of Music. Our guide also got married there and it was his inspiration for becoming a Sound of Music Tour guide.
Mondsee is a gorgeous and colourful little town and if I’d had time I would have loved to spend some time there sitting in one of the cafes and taking in the atmosphere.
11am – Hellbrun Palace is an absolutely gorgeous Baroque palace most famous for it’s trick fountains. The gardens are gorgeous, there’s a playground and you can take a look inside the palace but we were there for one reason only…
Hellbrunn is the location for the Sound of Music Gazebo (featured in the song 16 going on 17). It was actually originally else where at Schloss Leopoldskron but was presented to the city of Salzburg as a gift. Unfortunately you can’t actually go inside of it.
11.30 – Schloss Leopoldskron one of the iconic filming sites of the Sound of the Music and the location of the famous scene where Maria and the children fall into the water. The horse gate is particularly recognisable from that scene. It’s now a private hotel.
12.30 Mirabell Gardens is one of the key filming spots in Salzburg for the Sound of Music. Our guide showed us several spots that appear in the film including the famous staircase that the children jump up and down on while singing Doe a Deer, the Pegasus fountain behind Mirabell Palace and the dwarf garden. Of course we had to recreate the stairs scene!
13.30 Finally we visited Nonnberg Abbey (Stift Nonnberg) the gates of which appear in the movie but also excitingly the real Maria (did you know the film was based on a true story?) was really was a novice there.
Lunch – After saying So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye… to our guide, it was time to take the boys for lunch. We wanted to try local food at the hotel recommended Stiegl-Keller, a place serving Austrian food and beer with a view of the city. It was very close to the Nonnberg Abbey so it was a good choice to end the tour.
Maybe it was a bit touristy but I didn’t mind that, it had a traditional setting, was very child-friendly and the food was tasty.
After lunch we decided to walk back to the hotel which is a great way to take in the sites of Salzburg as it’s just so walkable.
Salzburg’s Old Town (Altstadt) is pedestrian-friendly area is known for its medieval and baroque architecture. stunning.
This fountain also appears in the movie where Maria sings the song ‘I have Confidence’
Things to see:
- Getreidegasse: The main shopping street is famous for its narrow houses with wrought-iron signs, and charming courtyards.
- Hohensalzburg Fortress: The fortress overlooking the city/. It’s accessible by funicular but we didn’t do this.
- Mozart’s Birthplace (Mozarts Geburtshaus): Located on Getreidegasse it’s a popular museum, we ran out of time to go in though.
- Salzburg Cathedral (Dom): An example of baroque architecture. Again we just saw it from the outside.
When I was researching things to do, I found the Toy Museum which sounded like a great option with the kids for a few hours.
Something else I would have loved to do is a trip to the gorgeous town of Hallstatt but we just didn’t have time on this occassion.
7pm – Dinner at Sacher Grill at the Hotel Sacher – I’m quite used to taking my children to fancy restaurants and they’re always well-behaved but when I walked into the Sacher Grill in Hotel Sacher (Salzburg’s most luxury hotel) I did wonder if this was a bad idea… but I couldn’t be more wrong. Honestly, this restaurant and hotel is so child-friendly. There were cute teddy bear placemats and cutlery, beautiful colouring books and a dedicated children’s menu.
The food was excellent, apparently it’s Salzburg’s best Wiener Schnitzel and we ordered this for the boys. My asparagus and arctic char was excellent and we were blown away by the lobster tagliatelle that Mr S enjoyed.
Of course the Hotel Sacher brand is famous for the Sacher torte and there’s the opportunity to try this very rich dessert by ordering just one cube.
I would have loved more time in Salzburg but I feel like this was the perfect one day itinerary with kids for the time that we had. I’ll just have to go back!
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