As I exited Austria, I ventured through Salzburg and Innsbruck.  Both were very beautiful cities, but we’ll start with Salzburg.

If you’ve been following my facebook page or read my last post about hiking you would know that I’ve been following the footsteps of the Von Trapp family… and making some of my own.  If you’ve been living under a rock or have never encountered anyone who has seen The Sound of Music then it’s news to you that the movie was in fact filmed in and around Salzburg.  You can take the tour, but you can make your own tour and it will most likely be more interesting and I can guarantee it will be cheaper.  Outside of being well known as a film location, there was a famous musician that was born here as well, you may have heard of him, his name was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.  He spent most of his youth here, then packed his composing materials and moved to Vienna.  But that doesn’t prevent the citizens of Salzburg from celebrating the fact that the musical genius was born there.  Monuments, museums and festivals in his honor are common within the city, and not hard to find.

The sights of the city center (split by the Salzach River) can be seen in there entirety in one day, which leaves you time to hike the surrounding terrain.  There are, however, a few places I would recommend within the city.  The main central plaza is the Residenzplatz.  Within a stones throw of this plaza is the Dom (Salzburg Cathedral), which is free and very nice to roam around, for being yet another church.  The interior is equally as impressive as the outside (a common backdrop for the movie).   Just down the street is the Kollegienkirche (Collegiate Church), which happened to have it’s interior under construction but was still an wonderful site to see with a Baroque style featuring many curves and smooth corners.  The last big site you should see within town is the Festung Hohensalzburg (Hohensalzburg Fortress),  a massive fortress that overlooks the entire city.  Only about 7 euro to get in, it’s worthwhile, and the price includes a tour of one of the towers which provides unparalleled 360 degree views of the city and all that surrounds it.  I chose to hike the long way around (the Monchsberg Hill) to reach the fortress, and I would recommend it to get a feel of the surrounding area.  The day before I was trudging around the Kapuzinerberg area on the other side of the river (that’s where I found the daring radio tower).  The city itself is small, set right on the edge of the Austrian Alps, has such a quaint hill town feeling that makes it very easy to enjoy and really feel at home.

Let’s move westward into Innsbruck, where I spent only an afternoon.  There’s not much to see in terms of sights, but the surrounding landscape is absolutely breathtaking.  Surrounded by towering mountains (the Alps), this former Winter Olympic host city does not let you forget you are a little higher than sea level.  Within the small city center, as with Salzburg, there are a few sights I would recommend stopping by.  First on my list is the Dom zu St. Jakob (St. Jacob Cathedral), which was a yet again a small yet beautiful cathedral.  The only other site I stopped by was the Goldens Dachl (Golden Roof), a large bay window added to  the front of the ducal palace to commemorate Emperor Maximilian I’s marriage to Bianca Maria Sforza of Milan in 1493.  The roof is comprised of 2,700 gilt copper tiles, and is impressive, but nothing absolutely amazing.  You have to travel outside the city to see what made Innsbruck attractive to me… the mountains.  Close by there are 322 miles of well-maintained downhill runs at a number of ski resorts.  I happened to pass this area up for a future visit to tackle those cravings to carve powder.

If you are around the Austrian Alps and love the feel of mountain towns, without a doubt make a trip to either Salzburg or Innsbruck, you will not regret it.