Why go
For gritty, zeitgeisty, down-with-the-kids urban action. Just kidding. Salzburg is all about fat, squidgy pastries and sugar-drizzled mountains; Mozart arias yodelled from castle turrets; doorbells and sleighbells and schnitzel with noodles. The whole city feels like a gorgeous set built for tourists. Don’t fight it. Slap on your lederhosen and embrace it.
The perfect weekend
As you gaze across Salzburg’s skyline from the salt-white battlements of the Hohensalzburg Fortress, it’s hard not to break into song. Just make sure it’s The Marriage of Figaro rather than The Sound of Music, or else you’re likely to get a wallop round the ear with a giant pretzel. Here they don’t like the movie and are mystified by all the Von Trapp claptrap – although if you insist, there’s a bus tour of the film locations (00 43 662 883211, www.panoramatours.com; £33). Mozart’s a different matter – Salzburg’s boy wonder is fêted everywhere, not least in the two stately townhouses where he was born and raised, now shrines to his genius (www.mozarteum.at; £11 for both). To hear him, head for the Marble Hall at the Mirabell Palace, which stages nightly concerts (www.salzburger-schlosskonzerte.at). Mozart-mania reaches a crescendo every summer at the month-long Salzburg Festival (www.salzburgerfestspiele.at; Jul 25-Aug 30). The city’s operatic architecture makes for some sensational strolling between the cathedral and the Mirabell gardens, via the jewelled boutiques of Getreidegasse. Even Salzburg’s best beer garden, the Augustiner Braustubl (Lindhofstrasse 7) is set in an old abbey. Quaffing a stein (or six) of lager here is a summer must-do – but the food’s overpriced, so instead head to nearby Krimpelstatter (Mullner Hauptstrasse 31; 00 44 662 432274), which serves hearty schnitzel-type staples for less than £10.
Where to stay
The stand-out hotel in the old town is the Goldener Hirsch (00 43 662 80840, www.goldenerhirschsalzburg.com; doubles from £135, room only), a grande dame with a Tyrolean touch and unfussy service. Twenty minutes away by bus is the Bloberger Hof (00 43 662 830227, www.blobergerhof.at; doubles from £61, B&B), a spotless pensione with views of the Alps.
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BA (0844 493 0787, www.ba.com) flies from Gatwick from £118 return; Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) flies from Stansted. Seasons in Style (01244 202002, www.seasonsinstyle.com) has three nights’ B&B from £575pp, with flights from Heathrow.