Jamiewrites: Munich Day 4: Salzburg

We knew we had to go to Salzburg in some capacity; after considering (and discarding) staying over a night on our way to Vienna (the time gained would be offset by the checking in, checking out, packing etc.) we realised a day trip would be better - and it turns out that it's a bit closer to Munich that it is to Vienna, so the best way would be a day trip from the former.

So, we trekked off to the Hauptbahnhof to work out what to do on a train you don't have reserved seats on; turns out you just ask a conductor who'll tell you which carriage to get on and, from there, find seats with the right code on the panel where the seat numbers are. We found some, and settled in. Despite crossing an international border at some point, I don't think I even saw any signs to that effect. We'd been advised to keep our passports handy just in case, but no-one on the train or at the station seemed to care, so we just wandered into town to get our bearings.

First destination was the fortress, which was a bit of a walk from the station - but it was yet another beautiful day and we wanted to see a bit of the town as well, so off we set. Got a bit lost in the twisty back streets, but found ourselves where we needed to be without too much difficulty. Then it was up the funicular* to the fortress and some staggering views. The fortress itself wasn't that exciting on the inside - there's an especially creepy marionette museum, if you're into that sort of thing - so we mostly enjoyed the views of the city it provided.

We headed back down to the centre of town, via a quick look around the Salzburg Cathedral to put ourselves in the general vicinity of where our next adventure would begin, and got a couple of pretzels and non-refrigerated soft drinks and sat in the park to wait until it was time for...the Sound of Music Tour.

I have rarely been on a tour I've enjoyed or would recommend as much as this one. It was an absolute blast, even if you don't any a particular affinity for the film or the stage musical (I also learned it was done for the stage first, which I guess isn't a surprise given the Rodgers and Hammerstein score). Sure, its focus is the film and the locations in and around Salzburg itself - but getting to those includes seeing some of the nicest parts of Austria in the vicinity. You see fancy houses, lakes, forests and - later on - you go out into the countryside and see some of the most breathtaking scenery I've ever experienced. The area around Mondsee is just spectacular. Be prepared to sing along with pretty much all the songs from the movie in between locations, though.

After we got back to town we set off to find something to eat - our train back to Munich wasn't until 8.15, so we'd decided we'd eat somewhere in Salzburg. Not long after we'd set off we came across a nice-looking place that had local goulash on the menu (we were hoping to try the Austrian variety before we got to Hungary so we could compare the two) so we went there. While it had a menu in English it did seem more like a local hangout than a touristy one - if for no other reason than we got sat next to a literal ladies' knitting circle, who were happily clicking away between eating and drinking. Oh, and one of them had a dog who kept eyeing me suspiciously. The food and drinks were excellent, and we tried the traditional Viennese dessert 'sachertorte', a kind of chocolate cake with a little apricot jam.

After that it was back to the Salzburg train station to jump on the train - there was some confusion as to where/how to board, since a bunch of the carriages said (in German) 'no entry'. Eventually we worked out that we had to go all the way to the other end where the carriages were open. A bit annoying, considering we'd gotten there quite early and now had to scrabble to get seats together. But we found a couple and sat down.

Two hours of train travel after a generous Austrian meal (with drinks) did not make for a terribly exciting trip; Rochelle slept a fair bit of the way and I listened to a podcast. From the Munich HBF we caught the metro to the stop near our hotel and walked the rest of the way.

Pictures!