This was the “add-on” city to round out our itinerary, but became one of our favorite spots to visit, and a place that we flagged as one to return to see again.
It is the birthplace of Mozart, the setting for “The Sound of Music,” and a delightfully charming destination. Our Airbnb was a 340 year old building. Put another way, it was around 100 years old at the time of the American revolution! We walked out the front door and looked up at a castle that is more than 1000 years old and has never fallen in battle. (No one dared attack it until Napoleon, and they simply surrendered when he approached.)
Here, then, are 10 glimpses into a pleasant and colorful city to explore.
Our delightful 340 year old Airbnb. 
The fortress dominates the hill above the old town Markeptatz (marketplace). We ended our trip with a dinner and concert inside the old fortress. 
The Sound of Music tour takes you to this church outside Salzburg where the von Trapps were married. 
Here is the gazebo used in the movie. 
And you will recognize this as the house used as in exterior scenes of the von Trapp estate and the lake in which the kids dumped the canoe. Neither are accurate. 
Without Rick Steves’ walking tour, we would never have found the cemetery, which was fascinating. Haydn is buried here. 
We don’t know his name, but we call him Hans. On his way to church, we met him at a coffee stand. In broken English he regaled us with seeing his church bombed by the “Anglos” in WWII, and of visiting the World’s fair in Seattle. A special encounter. 
I see this picture and immediately recall the experience. It is Sunday morning and the only two sounds you hear are the rhythmic clopping of the horses on pavement and the tolling of the church bells, both echoing off the stone walls. 
This is the smaller of the two churches that flank the old town, with breathtaking rococo trappings. 
This picture was taken just after I lost my phone and just before I figured it out, which is why we are both smiling.
