400 feet on top of a cliff called Mösnchsberg is the massive Festung Hohensalzburg (Hohensalzburg Fortress). Built in the 11th century this place is amazing and is claimed to be the largest preserved fortress in central Europe. It’s a definite highlight to walk through the grounds and to see the views from the top (best spot is the Reck watchtower to gawk at the Alps). You can easily take a funicular to the top for about €5 or you can trudge up the inclined zigzag footpath (preferably without hangover) for about €1.50. There’s a military museum inside with cool weapons and old armour.

The Residenz is another fantastic looking palace and home to the Salzburg prince-archbishops after they got sick of the Hohensalzburg. Furthermore when these prince-archbishops wanted to get away for summer they’d head 5km out of town to the Schloss Hellbrunn.

I would also recommend the Mirabell Gardens just to get away from it all.

Quick Tips:

Just off the Residenzplatz is the Salzburg Cathedral (called Dom) and its well worth a look. Considered to be the finest early Baroque church north of the Alps, it was built in the early 1600s after a fire destroyed the previous one. Pretty good fountain as well.

A cool daytrip I recommend is out to the Eisriesenwelt Ice caves at Werfen. It’s a short train ride and a mammoth trip up (1700m) to the largest ice caves in the world (via cable car (€8.80 return + walk). Some of the ice in there was 1000 yrs old and was lit by guides with lanterns. Absolutely amazing! €7.20 to get in – lasts two hours.

July and August is a buzz with people coming from all over the world for the famous Salzburg Music Festival.

Best Way To Get Around:

The first time we visited here was by train from Venice. The train station is central and easily walkable to our hostel (called YOHO Hostel – highly recommended). Trains are amazing in Europe – affordable and usually on time. Our second time to Salzburg was via a Ryan Air flight from London (cost about 20 pounds). The airport is only 7kms out of town and buses (#77) run into the city and train station regularly.

It’s also easy to get across to Munich from here – two hours by train.

One of the best spots in Europe – if only for a couple of days!

Everyone stays here longer than they originally plan. Gerhard (the owner) and his staff are all very friendly and always up for a drink. The Treehouse is out of the main village. Therefore most of the meals are home-cooked (7 euro [E]~ plus, they cater to vegetarians).

There's heaps to do here if you choose. The scenery is absolutely amazing. In summer you can hire bikes and ride out to the lake (30km), which is full of trout, for about E5. You can also go canyoning or horseback riding or trekking up the mountains. The weather was nice and warm and around 25C. In winter it's all about skiing the Kasberg and it’s real cold. The Treehouse is located just across the road from the ski fields and it's an easy walk. Ski prices are cheap ~ about 18 euros for a lift ticket and 11 euros for ski/snowboard rental. The Treehouse also offers a hideous range of ski suits for free that makes guests easily stand out up on the slopes.

The rooms are really comfortable too. Double rooms go for about E18 each and dorms are about E15 each and breakfast is included. They are all heated and you could sleep forever if you wanted. There is internet access for about E6 an hour and they can do your laundry as well for E5. Everything you pay for goes on a tab, so you're not forking out cash all the time. They even have a TV room there full of videos.

They have an upstairs bar during the day, and after dinner they open the bar in the basement, where there is a pool table, foosball, and a pinball machine. Even the locals stop by for a few drinks. The local beers (Stiegl) are cheap and delicious ~ about E2.20 for 500ml. The staff will try and poison you with Stroh (the national drink ~ 80% alcohol), Jagermeister, or Absynth (equally as strong ~ looks like mouthwash, tastes like petrol). There is a creek that runs through the backyard with icy mountain water which is great for skinny-dipping at 5am with a skin full.

The Treehouse is very easy to get to. RyanAir have cheap flights from London to Salzburg for next to nothing. Grunau is about 100km away. From Salzburg, jump on a train to Wels (fairly big station) and change to a smaller local line (track 11). It is a one carriage train that takes you to Grunau ~ the end of the line. Just ring the Treehouse from the station and they'll come down and pick you up for free.

Web site: Treehouse Hostel Homepage

At the time of visiting the Yoho in July 2002 we had travelled up from Venice on an eight-hour train journey. We rang forward to reserve dorm beds for three of us (two Aussies and a Kiwi) from one of the train stations along the way and in our best German language attempted the inquiry. To our surprise, the guy at Yoho was another Aussie who responded with a typical "Yeah, no worries mate". It was good to hear the accent and to our surprise, when we got there, most of the other staff were Aussie too.

It's real easy to get to. Out of the train station simply turn left and walk down Rainerstrasse for 200 metres. Turn left again and go under the railway tracks then on your second right (about 300metres) turn down Paracelsusstrasse where the Yoho will be on your right. The decor as you walk in is quite modern. There is a main check-in desk which also offers information on the extensive range of options available. They also play The Sound of Music every day, which I think would be excruciating if you worked there. There is small kitchen as well, which offers snacks during the day and great breakfasts. At night, you can get local Austrian dishes as well as traditional cheap favourites like spaghetti Bolognese. All are quite cheap as well.

The Yoho Bar inside the hostel is a great place to meet other travellers. Stiegl beer is the local drop and tastes bloody good. You can talk to the guys behind the bar, fellow travellers or jump on the internet for a while if you like. Decor is a simple setup with standard wooden tables and chairs. It’s generally a terrific place to get a team together to continue onto the bars in town. Don't be surprised to see the staff tagging along as well - the more the merrier. The sun was definitely on its way up by the time we called stumps.

We booked into a four-bed dorm which cost us 16 euro. It's advisable to book ahead in summer as its generally quite busy all around Europe. Yoho will hold your booking until 5pm and till midnight if you give your credit card number. They also have triples, doubles and single rooms available. Some have bathrooms in the rooms but in the dorms bathroom facilities are shared and you need to obtain a hot water shower token from reception for 50 cents. Discounts are available if you book more than one night at a time.

The caves themselves are found in the Tennengebirge Mountains of Salzburg Province and overlook the Salzach River Valley. They were first ‘officially’ discovered in the late 19th century by a bloke called Anton Posselt (but no-one really took much notice) and didn’t become popular with visitors until after 1912. The caves are open in summer (May- October) and an adult ticket costs €17 for combined cable car and cave tour.

But these caves are not easily accessibly. At about 1700 metres (5500 feet) there are 42 kms of tunnels and chambers that make up "Eisriesenwelt" – although you can only really explore the first kilometre or so. You can only explore the caves in a guided group as you are led in single file with lanterns passed to every 5th person or so to provide light. You climb through 134 metres of pathway around the various stalagmites, stalactites, ice walls smoothed by wind forces and natural ice sculptures formed over time – some were 1000 yrs old. At different points along the tour the guide will walk behind various ice structures and light a flare providing brilliant colour scheme backdrops and details through the ice.

The tour lasts about one hour 20mins culminating with the "Ice Palace" at the end. This is an amazing sculpture that had everyone in awe especially when the flares lit it up. When we were there in summer 2002 it was pretty warm outside (about 30 deg C) and averaging 0 deg C inside. Quite a contrast so be sure you dress for the occasion – ie like an onion. Also you’ll have to have a reasonable level of fitness as there is a bit of hiking involved.

Getting there is easy. Coming in from Salzburg by train we simply hopped on a mini-bus cab from Werfen Hauptplatz (the main square) that took us the 6ms up to the Eisriesenwelt parking lot. Next you have to walk about 15 minutes up to the cable car (called the Wimmer Hütte) which will then take you from 1000 -1575 metres in three minutes and gives a fantastic view over the lower valley. This then arrives at the Dr.-Oedl Haus, a cool little Gasthaus that has snacks and food and is a great excuse for a beer at the completion of ice tour. From this kiosk it’s another 15-minute (fairly steep) walk up to the entrance of the caves.

Inside the fortress are amazingly preserved stately rooms of the price-archbishops that lived here before they moved on to the Residenz. The 15th- and 16th-century Peasants War and Hungarian Wars saw the various archbishops take refuge behind the battlements of the fortress, which ultimately required the fortress to be expanding for extra protection. Archbishop Leonhard von Keutschach was largely responsible for the renovations (that included bastions for cannons and arms depots) and which give the fortress its shape today. Check out the Golden Hall and the Golden Chamber, which have fantastic blue and gold coffered ceilings, gothic woodwork, ornamental paintings, and gilded tracery. The Burg-museum has a fine collection of medieval art and instruments of torture while the Rainer Museum has awesome weaponry and armour exhibits.

Even if you’re not into Castles or the like this fortress is worth visiting if only for the superb views you get from the terrace at the top. The best positions are the Reck Watchtower which offers never ending views over the snow capped Southern Alps while out the other side the Kuenberg bastion has views sweeping over the old town and its timeless architecture. You can wonder around the fortress grounds on your own or take a guided tour (45 minutes long – Fortress + Rainer Museum €3) which provides access to parts of the fortress not open to the public.

Getting up to the fortress can be easy via a funicular or you can trudge up the inclined zigzag pathway on foot. After we did the mighty walk with hangovers I now recommend the funicular. Built back in 1892 the "Festungsbahn" leaves from Festungsgasse, which is just behind the cathedral along Kapitelplatz. A round trip including funicular and access to the grounds costs about €5.50 for adults or €8 if you want the guided tour as well. There is a café and restaurant inside the fortress as well offering food, drinks and snacks. You may see masterpieces created in front of you as artists from around the world congregate here for the International Summer Academy. Music is regularly played from within the fortress as well with Mozart and Haydn obviously the most popular styles.