Salzburg City Guide - Overview

Encircled by mountains and straddling the river of Salzach, this beautiful Austrian city has a dramatic setting that matches its own baroque splendour. With its Alpine surroundings and historic centre that was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1997, Salzburg really is just as lovely as the city portrayed in The Sound of Music.

It has a long history going back to Roman times, but it was in the 16th century, thanks in great part to the strong will and grand vision of one of the city's famous Prince Archbishop rulers, Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau, that it became the Salzburg we know today, with cobbled streets, narrow alleyways, elegant, secluded squares and fabulous architecture.

Being the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Salzburg has developed an incredibly rich musical life that would no doubt have made the great composer proud. The Salzburg Festival is considered one of the most important musical festivals in the world, and there are plenty of other festivals in the city. Salzburg puts on some 4,000 cultural events (most of them musical) every year.

And the city mixes high-brow and low-brow with ease. While an air of cosmopolitan sophistication hangs over the elegant shops, restaurants, lanes and squares of the Old Town, an altogether different, but just as interesting culture is encountered in the many Bierstuben selling locally brewed beer.

Salzburg is Austria's second city and capital of the province bearing its name. It has a population of 150,000 and attracts close to 7 million visitors each year.