Salzburg travel guide

Most travellers know Salzburg for having the mightiest castle in Austria, prominent Baroque architecture and a striking location with a mountain background.

But the real Salzburg is also an eccentric place that is full of variety and places most visitors don’t know about.

The further you walk – and Salzburg is a beautiful and very walkable city – the more you will challenge the conventional view of the place. There’s a lot more than Baroque churches and palaces and the locations of a feelgood 1960s musical.

This travel guide has all you need to know about visiting Salzburg.

Find out about an early Christian cave network associated with two saints, a real one and a not-so-real one. Salzburg was one of the earliest centres of the central European church, with some of Europe’s oldest religious communities.

The city was dominated for centuries by archbishops who were also princes. Their apartments in the castle have been richly restored and now stand beside the vast city palace, the Alte Residenz.

There's also a Baroque place for watering and grooming horses, created by one of Austria’s great architects.

Discover the precious but hard-to-find church that W.A. Mozart supposedly loved, tucked halfway up some medieval steps. There wasn't much else Mozart liked about Salzburg. But visitors love the city’s music, and there’s plenty of concerts to enjoy, including in the churches.

One of Europe’s leading cultural festivals, the Salzburger Festspiele, is the city’s focus for six weeks at the height of summer.

Salzburg can seem rather expensive, but it doesn't have to be that way.

Get all the Salzburg tips on:

● Reasonably priced accommodation

● Budget meals

● A public transport ticket for travellers that's (almost) free

Enjoy a rich travel experience with big savings. The 14-page, 2025 Raven Travel Guides Europe Salzburg guide is your best investment in a visit to one of the most fascinating places in central Europe.