Many adjectives are applied to Salzburg – picturesque, fairytale, bewitching – and most of them are true. It becomes immediately obvious why tourists have always been drawn to the city – even before the Sound of Music came on the scene. Not only that, but take a day trip out of Salzburg and you can end up with stunning scenery, real movie magic and a unique underground adventure.
The countryside around Salzburg – stunningLet’s say this right up front: There’s no escaping the fact that the 1965 Julie Andrews film is what brings many visitors to Salzburg. The Oscar-winning musical was filmed in and around Salzburg, and many of the venues from the film can be visited as part of a popular Sound of Music tour.
The first major stop-off is in town, at the Mirabell Schloss. We’re told it was built by a naughty Catholic archbishop for his girlfriend, with whom he had six kids. But the children that everyone else knows it for are from the film – this is home to the famous ‘Do Re Mi’ fountain that they all danced around whilst chirruping away.
Smaller than it looks on film.The tour moves onto Leopoldskron Castle, the front of which doubled as the Von Trapp house in the movie. Outside is a glorious lake – the one where the boat overturned in the film. Our guide lets us in on an interesting trivia snippet – the girl playing Gretel couldn’t actually swim, and had to be rescued from the water.
There’s no chance of anyone drowning on this cold winter morning, however. The lake is fully frozen over, and is swarming with ice skaters. Some children have even turned it into an impromptu curling rink.
From there it’s on to another grand building – the Hellbrun Palace. Built in the 17th century as the key lodging on a hunting estate, it now hosts the gazebo from Sixteen Going On Seventeen. It’s a lot smaller than you’d expect from the film – partially because much of the scene involved studio trickery. It also boasts fabulously expansive gardens and a series of trick fountains that are designed to soak the unsuspecting.
Lake District and Mondsee
The tour continues out to what is known as Austria’s Lake District, and it is here that the scenery is at its most beautiful. It’s hard to go wrong with mountains and lakes, but a window seat is a good idea for anyone wanting to do some serious gawping.
The final stop is in the lakeside town on Mondsee. It’s a pretty lakeside town that exists almost exclusively for tourists these days. If you want to buy a cuckoo clock or a yodeling bear, this is the spot for you.
For the Sound of Music fans, however, it represents the end of the journey. Mondsee’s cathedral is where Maria marries Captain Von Trapp in the film. It has Gothic interiors and a baroque facade, and is undoubtedly pretty, but it would be improved immeasurably if some nuns would burst into song as you enter.
Berchtesgaden and the Bavarian Alps
It’s not the most impressive church in the region, however. That award goes to the chapel inside the extensive salt mine under Berchtesgaden in the Bavarian Alps. It contains weird columns and formations made from salt and illuminated for effect. Berchtesgaden is a short jaunt away from Salzburg, but it is actually in a different country – it is just over the German border, and is the main town in the Bavarian Alps.
Before heading down the mine, we stop to peer at Eagle’s Nest. High up on the mountainside, this was the Nazi regime’s secret retreat during the Second World War. It’s possible to go up and explore in the summer, but we have to content ourselves with watching cross-country skiers disappearing into the forests and ploughing down gently inclining tracks.
The Salt Mine
The white powder on the mountains is nowhere near as the ‘white’ gold underneath them, however. In truth, the salt isn’t white – it’s all sorts of colours on the range from yellow to brown via pink. But it is valuable.
A typical day in the salt mineThe name Salzburg means ‘salt fortress’ and the region’s fortunes have been tied to salt mining and exporting since Roman times. It has been used as currency in the past and, interestingly, the word ‘salary’ is derived from the Latin word for salt – ‘sal’. Much of the history of salt and its uses are covered within the mine – it is dotted with rather snazzy looking exhibitions. Y
ou learn things such as why salt is used on winter roads – its lower melting point prevents water from crystallizing and forming ice – and why you use it in cooking.
Apparently salt raises the boiling point by two degrees, and pasta cooks more quickly at hotter temperatures.
You’re taken through the minutiae of how salt is extracted, right from the hand-drilling of 1517 to the modern machinery, flooding and brine extraction methods of today. A million cubic litres of brine are extracted every year, and it’s from this that the salt comes via a combination of hot air driers, other dull stuff and er… maybe fairy magic?
Crazy transport
But stats and facts aren’t what make Berchtesgaden’s 500-year-old salt mine so brilliant – it’s the absurd ways you get around it. Once you’re kitted out in miner’s overalls, you enter the mine via what feels like a toy train. It chugs through a darkened tunnel until you get to a clearing with a gigantic slide in it. It brings back memories of the playground as you plunge down that into the lower depths.
The ridiculous transport keeps on coming – there’s another slide, a funicular and even a raft to contend with. The latter glides across an underground lake as a light show plays out overhead, reflecting off the water.
It is almost the perfect tourist attraction – unusual, fun and educational.
Salzburg itself has more than enough to keep the average visitor occupied for a few days, but venture beyond the Mozart Balls and pretty cobbled streets and there’s a world of lakes, mountains and weirdness to explore. Just be prepared for the odd cohort launching into The Hills Are Alive…
