Let's Go Europe 2019. Harvard Student Agencies

and Mirabellplatz, a major square just in front of Mirabell palace and a frequent rendezvous site for tour groups and open-air markets. To the west lies Salzburg’s Old Town. Here, pedestrian streets bustle with people from all walks of life, and most of the city sights, including Mozart’s birthplace and the Salzburg Cathedral in the DomQuartier, stand in all of their former glory. Areas to note on this side of the river include Judengasse, Linzer Gasse’s western counterpart, Residenzplatz, a main square in the middle of the Residenz Palace, the Salzburg Cathedral and the Salzburg Museum.

       ESSENTIALS

      GETTING THERE

      The airport, named for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, can be reached on flights from most major cities in Europe and many major cities around the world, though the latter requires a connecting flight. If you are coming from elsewhere in Europe, travel via train is often the most convenient, as the Salzburg Hauptbahnhof train station is situated just on the northeast corner of the city center, easily within a bus ride or walking distance of many sights and accommodations.

      GETTING AROUND

      Salzburg does not have an underground metro, but buses go just about anywhere you may wish to go, and 1hr tickets cost just over €2. Once in the city center, Salzburg is very walkable, and, in fact, you will often be forced to walk, as much of Old Town consists of pedestrian streets. Bikes are also a popular method of transportation. Rental stores can be found throughout the city.

      PRACTICAL INFORMATION

      Tourist Offices: Located in Old Town in Mozartplatz, a smaller square right off of Residenzplatz (Mozartplatz 5; 66288 98 70; www.salzburg.info/en; open daily 9am-6pm).

      Banks/ATMs/Currency Exchange: Most establishments in Salzburg only accept cash, but banks and ATMs are widely available to withdraw money.

      Post Offices: There are many post offices throughout the city, one central location is listed (Residenzplatz 9; 0800 010 100; open M-F 8am-6pm).

      Internet: Internet access is fairly standard at most accommodations in Salzburg, but worth checking ahead on.

      BGLTQ+ Resources: The brochure “Austria Gay Guide” includes information about gay resources and establishments in cities including Salzburg. Find more information online at www.gayguide.me.

      EMERGENCY INFORMATION

      Emergency Number: 112

      Police: Police stations are located throughout the city. Listed below is the information for the station located in Salzburg’s town hall (Rudolfskai 2; 059 133 55 88100).

      US Embassy: Austria’s US Embassy is located in Vienna (Boltzmanngasse 16; ([phone]; open M-F 8am-4:30pm). In case of emergencies, the US consulate in Munich, Germany may be easier to access (Königinstraße 5; 8928880).

      Hospitals: Unfallkrankenhaus (Doktor-Franz-Rehrl-Platz 5; 059 3934 4000; open daily 24hr)

      Pharmacies: Pharmacies in Salzburg are widespread. Pharmacies are called apotheke, and are marked with a red symbol that looks like a cursive “L” or the number four. Engel-Apotheke (0662 87 32 21) is the most central pharmacy.

       ACCOMMODATIONS

       NATURFREUNDEHAUS STADTALM ($)

      Mönchsberg 19c; 0662 84 17 29; www.stadtalm.at; reception open daily Sep-Apr 10am-6pm, May-Aug 10am-11pmt

      You’ll find this hostel on the second floor of a restaurant, housed inside a castle, and sitting on top of a mountain. Amid a combination of stone and wooden décor, you’ll feel like fairytale royalty, though in real life you’ll probably be a lot dirtier and sweatier, especially because getting up to the hostel on foot means hiking up the hill. Once you make it to the top, however, the recently renovated rooms and bathrooms will welcome you warmly. Another perk: the price of the room includes breakfast.

       i Dorms from €24.50; reservation required; no wheelchair accessibility; free breakfast

       YOHO INTERNATIONAL YOUTH HOSTEL ($)

      Paracelsusstrasse 9; 066 2879649; www.yoho.at; reception open 24hr

      Yoho International Youth Hostel is one of the youngest, most centrally located, and cheapest options in Salzburg. The rooms are clean, simple, and spacious, and communal areas like a bar and a lounge with daily Sound of Music screenings make Yoho a fun place to hang out with your new hostel friends. Plus, as a family-run establishment, staying here can mean sticking it to the man. Our only complaint is the name, which reminds us of Yoo-hoo chocolate milk (which we are missing dearly while abroad).

       i Dorms from €20; reservation required; max stay 1 week; Wi-Fi; limited wheelchair accessibility; towels €0.50; laundry €2.50 per wash/dry; breakfast buffet €4, dinner from €3.50

       SIGHTS

      CULTURE

       SALZBURG CATHEDRAL

      Domplatz 1a; 662 80477950; www.salzburger-dom.at; open May-Sept M-Sa 8am-7pm (subject to change for worship)

      The Salzburg Cathedral is a massive seventeenth-century Baroque edifice where Mozart once served as the church organist. If the exterior looks large, the interior feels even larger, with a nave that seems impossibly vaulted and a series of orange frescoes that heighten the intensity of the white walls. The decorative moulding inside is accented by unpainted groove-work, creating a stark aesthetic severity that may make you feel meek in comparison. It’s exactly the kind of self-esteem booster you were looking for.

       i Cathedral free, museum admission €12, students €10; limited wheelchair accessibility

       NONNBERG ABBEY

      Nonnberggasse 2; 662 841607; www.benediktinerinnen.de/index.php/adressen/2-uncategorised/26-nonnberg; open daily 7am-dusk (7pm in summer), visits not permitted during worship

      The Nonnberg Abbey in Salzburg, established during the beginning of the eighth century, is one of the oldest continuously active nunneries in the world. Created in the late gothic style, the abbey is also known for its smaller works of art and murals. Its true claim to fame, however, may be its role as the abbey of Maria soon-to-be-von-Trapp, whose story was brought to the global stage in the smash 1965-hit, The Sound of Music. When the von Trapps married in 1927, they wed at the church of Nonnberg Abbey, though the movie filmed the scene elsewhere. Today, there are 21 nuns living at the abbey.

       i Free; limited wheelchair accessibility

       ST. PETER’S ABBEY

      St. Peter Bezirk ½; 662 8445760; www.erzabtei.at; church open daily Apr-Oct 8am-9pm, Nov-Mar 8am-7pm; cemetery open daily Apr-Sept 6:30am-8pm, open daily Oct-Mar 6:30am-6pm; catacombs open daily May-Sept 10am-6pm, Oct-Apr 10am-5pm

      One of the oldest continuously-employed monasteries in German-speaking Europe, St. Peter’s Abbey was founded in the seventh century, more than a millennium before its female counterpart, the Nonnberg Abbey. Long connected to the likes of musical geniuses such as Johann Michael Haydn and the Mozart family, St. Peter’s possesses some 100 autographs of the former