Are a Few Hours Enough to Enjoy a City: Vienna and Salzburg

Are A Few Hours Enough to Enjoy a City?

We were already in Innsbruck, Austria so why not visit Vienna and Salzburg, too? Vienna is two hours east of Salzburg, which is two hours east of Innsbruck. The solution was simple. Leave Innsbruck by 7:30 am, arrive in Vienna by 11:30 am, and retire in a Viennese Airbnb by 6:30 pm, giving us seven sight-seeing hours. The following day, we leave at 8 am, arrive in Salzburg at 10, and head back to Innsbruck at 5 pm, giving us seven hours, too. Or so we thought.

The Case of Vienna

We lost each other at the Innsbruck Hauptbahnhof (Main Railway Station). As soon as we found each other again, we jumped onto the train that was leaving. When the conductor checked our tickets, he told us we were going to Munich, in the opposite direction! We reached Vienna at 1:30 pm and had only five hours to enjoy the city of 2.6 million!

We still covered quite a few landmarks (StephenPlatz, Mozart Haus, KarlsKirche, Secession Building, Hofburg Palace, Museum Quartier), but we were running from one to the other with just time to take photos. It was not how to enjoy a city. Long lines at the Café Sacher prevented us from tasting the original Sacher torte, and we ended up having those ubiquitous puffers being sold on the sidewalks for lunch.

At the end of our frenzied walk, we had a quick dinner at Café Raymond, enjoying some wine and a slice of, albeit not the original, sacher torte. Our Airbnb was only four subway stops away, so we slept well but felt sad. Even seven hours would not have been enough for the Viennese allure.

The Case of Salzburg

But we had seven hours in Salzburg, smaller with a population of 150,000. From the Hauptbahnhof, we walked to the Mirabell Palace on the way to the Old Town Square. It was at this beautiful palace and garden where Maria (Julie Andrews) and the von Trapp children sang Do Re Mi.  

Across from the Palace, there was a raging Thursday farmer’s market at the Church Plaza. How lucky could we be? It was a haven for local food, produce, plants, and even dry goods. We did not leave until Bill had a version of the famous apple strudel and I got a 15-euro leather purse.

A bridge glistening from the number of love locks (the sun shone on it just right) led directly to 9 Getreidegasse where Mozart was born. Just a block away is the historic center of Salzburg called Residence Platz, a large stately square named after the Residence of the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg. In front of the building, beside the Cathedral, and in the middle of the Square is the beautiful Residenzbrunnen fountain, another point in the Sound of Music Tour.

The Salzburg Cathedral, St. Peter’s Abbey, and the Residential Building define the lovely Dom Platz where carriages can be hired for tours. Happy newlyweds were doing it at the time. You can see the Salzburg Fortress up the hill (you can also see it from the Mirabel).Finally, aA huge golden ball embellished the interesting craft stands.

The Visitors Information Center at Mozart Platz (with a statue of the man) recommended Swelter’s for an early dinner. My husband had wiener schnitzel while I loved my griesnockerlsupp. Wine capped our memories of the Sound of Music and Mozart, street food and shopping, and the love bridge. 

Yes, we enjoyed Salzburg and felt we didn’t miss a thing. But if a city is big, it would be better to allow for more time. We didn’t regret visiting Vienna, however, since we may not pass that way again, but we certainly enjoyed Salzburg a whole lot more.

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