9 Best Sights in Salzburg, Austria

The second-largest town of the region, 15 kilometers (10 miles) south of Salzburg, Hallein was once famed for its caves of "white gold"—or salt. "Hall" is the old Celtic word for salt, and this treasure was mined in the neighboring Dürrnberg mountain, which you can now visit in the form of Hallein Salt Mine. It's the oldest salt mine in the world and probably also the most fun: you get to explore the subterranean world by foot, boat, and even slide. You can get to Hallein by regular bus, by car, or by bicycle alongside the River Salzach, then it's a lovely, 40-minute walk (or seven-minute taxi) up to the mine.

Just six kilometers (four miles) south of Salzburg, Schloss Hellbrunn was the prince-archbishops' pleasure palace. It was built early in the 17th century by Santino Solari for Markus Sittikus, after the latter had imprisoned his uncle, Wolf-Dietrich, in the fortress. The castle has some fascinating rooms, including an octagonal music room and a banquet hall with a trompe-l'oeil ceiling. Look out for the homemade "unicorn." Hellbrunn Park became famous far and wide because of its Wasserspiele, or trick fountains. In the formal gardens (a beautiful example of the Mannerist style) owners added an outstanding mechanical theater that includes exotic and humorous fountains spurting water from strange places at unexpected times. You will probably get doused (bring a raincoat). A visit to the gardens is highly recommended: nowhere else can you experience so completely the realm of fantasy in which the grand Salzburg archbishops indulged. The Monatsschlösschen, the old hunting lodge (built in one month), contains an excellent folklore museum. Following the path over the hill you find the Steintheater (Stone Theater), an old quarry made into the earliest open-air opera stage north of the Alps. The former palace deer park has become a zoo featuring free-flying vultures and Alpine animals that largely roam unhindered. You can get to Hellbrunn by Bus 25, by car via the B150, or by bike or on foot along the beautiful Hellbrunner Allee past several 17th-century mansions. On the estate grounds is the little gazebo filmed in The Sound of Music ("I am 16, going on 17")—though the doors are now locked. To reach Schloss Hellbrunn from Salzburg Altstadt, take bus 25. Consider going one stop further on the bus to the zoo; there's a lovely walk from here through the park into the palace gardens.

With the world-famous Salzburg Festival as their objective, music lovers head for the Hofstallgasse, the street where the three festival theaters are located. Arrow-straight and framing a grand view of the Fortress Hohensalzburg, the street takes its name from the court stables once located here. Now, in place of the prancing horses, festival goers promenade along Hofstallgasse during the intervals of summer performances, showing off their suntans and elegant attire. If you want to see the inside of the halls, it's best to go to a performance, but guided tours are given and group tours can be booked on request. The first theater is the Haus für Mozart (House for Mozart), formerly the Kleines Festspielhaus, or Small Festival Hall. The massive lobby frescoes by Salzburg painter Anton Faistauer welcome 1,600 patrons to world class Lied (song) recitals and smaller scale operas. The center ring is occupied by the famous Grosses Festspielhaus (Great Festival Hall), leaning against the solid rock of the Mönchsberg. Opened in 1960, it seats more than 2,150. In recent times the Grosses Festspielhaus, nicknamed the Wagner Stage because of headline-making productions of the Ring of the Nibelungs, has been the venue for spectacular operas and concerts by the world's top symphony orchestras and soloists. Stage directors are faced with the greatest challenge in the third theater, the Felsenreitschule (the Rocky Riding School), the former Summer Riding School, which—hewn out of the rock of the Mönchsberg during the 17th century by architect Fischer von Erlach—offers a setting that is itself more dramatic than anything presented on stage. Max Reinhardt made the first attempt at using the Summer Riding School as a stage in 1926. With its retractable roof it gives the impression of an open-air theater; the three tiers of arcades cut into the rock of the Mönchsberg linger in the mind of fans of The Sound of Music film, for the von Trapps were portrayed singing "Edelweiss" here in their last Austrian concert. (In fact, the 1950 Festival farewell by the Trapp Family Singers, conducted by Franz Wasner, was given in the Mozarteum and at the cathedral square.) The theaters are linked by tunnels (partially in marble and with carpeted floors) to a spacious underground garage in the Mönchsberg.

Salzburg's "house mountains" are so called because of their proximity to the city, with Gaisberg lying to the east and Untersberg to the south.

To reach Gaisberg, you can take the Albus No. 151 bus from Mirabellplatz right up to the summit of the mountain, where you'll be rewarded with a spectacular panoramic view of the Alps and the Alpine foreland. The bus leaves four times a day weekdays and six times a day weekends and takes about a half hour.

The Untersberg is the mountain Captain von Trapp and Maria climbed as they escaped the Nazis in The Sound of Music. In the film they were supposedly fleeing to Switzerland; in reality, the climb up the Untersberg would have brought them almost to the doorstep of Hitler's retreat at the Eagle's Nest above Berchtesgaden in Germany. A cable car from St. Leonhard, about 13 km (eight miles) and a 30-minute bus ride south of Salzburg, takes you 6,020 feet up to the top of the Untersberg for a breathtaking view. In winter you can ski down (you arrive in the village of Fürstenbrunn and taxis or buses take you back to St. Leonhard); in summer there are a number of hiking routes from the summit.

To learn all about Hallein, head to the Keltenmuseum, where more than 30 rooms explore the history of the region's Celtic settlements (before the birth of Christ). In the three state rooms more than 70 oil paintings show the working conditions of the salt mines and the salina.

In the same building as the Mozart Wohnhaus (Residence), this is an archive of thousands of Mozart recordings as well as films and video productions, all of which can be listened to or viewed on request.

For a refreshing break from churches and gilded treasures of yore, don't miss the chance to see changing exhibitions of modern graphic art and interactive special exhibits on display in this lovely early-baroque era building, part of Salzburg's Museum der Moderne. Stop for a delicious slice of Topfentorte (an airy, fresh-cheese cake) or Apfelstrudel mit Obers (apple strudel with whipped cream) in the street level Café Sarastro.

The little village of Oberndorf, 18 kilometers (11 miles) north of Salzburg, has just one claim to fame: it was here on Christmas Eve, 1818, that the world-famous Christmas carol "Silent Night" was sung for the first time. It was composed by the organist and schoolteacher Franz Gruber to a lyric by the local priest, Josef Mohr. The church was demolished and replaced in 1937 by this tiny commemorative chapel containing a copy of the original composition (the original is in the Salzburg Museum), stained-glass windows depicting Gruber and Mohr, and a Nativity scene. Behind the chapel, the Heimatmuseum documents the history of the carol. You can get to Oberndorf by the local train (opposite the main train station), by car along the B156 Lamprechtshausener Bundesstrasse, or by bicycle along the River Salzach. Every December 24 at 5 pm, a traditional performance of the carol—two male voices plus guitar and choir—in front of the chapel is the introduction to Christmas.

Leading into Max-Reinhardt-Platz at the head of the grand Hofstallgasse, this street was named after the world-famous Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in recognition of the unique contribution it has made annually to the Salzburg Festival, playing for most opera productions and for the majority of orchestral concerts. The street blossoms with an open-air food market every Saturday morning; there is also a fruit-and-vegetable market on Universitätsplatz every day except Sunday and holidays.