St Wolfgang and Salzburg

We’re arrived in St Wolfgang on Thursday. It was a bit too early to check into the campsite so we had a wander round the town, picked up leaflets in tourist information and had lunch.

St Wolfgang is a pretty town on Wolfgangsee, with narrow streets, lovely chalet hotels with colourful window boxes, and charming shops selling artisan products.

Buses are free on Fridays in Austria, so the next day we went into Salzburg. It’s too big too see it all so we decided to start with the old town then visit the fortress of Hohensalzburg, which perches on top of rocky Monchsberg.

From the bus stop, we walked through the gardens of Mirabell Palace, which were very pretty, then crossed Love Lock Bridge to the other side of the Salzach, and the old town. The fortress seemed to be visible from everywhere.

We then wandered through some of the narrow streets and alleyways, with cafes and expensive shops, before stopping for coffee and a cake.

The area was very beautiful and, so far, not too busy. The baroque buildings and churches towered above us, very ornate and opulent, and we enjoyed taking it all in.

When we’d seen enough, it was time to take the funicular to the fortress. The tickets we’d bought online wouldn’t work but, thankfully, the ticket office, printed new ones for us and we were soon speeding up the side of mountain.

We followed the panorama walk inside the fortress to the top of a tower and the views were amazing in every direction.

The fortress was built in the 11th century during holy wars and is huge and very imposing. While enjoying the views, we noticed paths across the top of Monchsberg, so we decided to have a wander around before we went back to the old town.

By now I needed a wee so we stopped at a restaurant for a leisurely lunch overlooking Salzburg. This was perfect apart from the bees and wasps that wanted to share the cranberry sauce that went with my escalope!

After using the poshest toilet we’ve ever seen, with buttons and lights everywhere, we descended to the old town using a lift built into the rock.

The old town was heaving now… so many people everywhere! We wound our way back through the narrow streets and crossed the river to find a bar. Here we whiled away the time until the next bus back to St Wolfgang. Salzburg is a beautiful city and we’d recommend a visit.