Salzburg City - Day 1 26 June 2008 (Altstadt and Festung Hohensalzburg)

We reached W.A Mozart Airport, Salzburg around 9:30am local time. The immigration check in went smoothly. The airport is small but has few shops around. To save our precious time, we took a taxi to the Star Inn Hotel. The taxi fare is by meter and cost us around Euro 8.50 from the airport to our hotel. After putting our luggage temporarily at the hotel's luggage room and bought the Salzburg Card for 72 hours from the hotel receptionist, we went straight to the old town area (Alstadt). The hotel location is very strategic. We walked less than 10 minutes through the Siegmundstor Tunnel to to reach the old town. This tunnel was built between 1764 and 1767.


The first thing we came across after coming out from the tunnel is the 16th century Pfersdeschwemme (Horse Pond and Fountain). The fountain was built to serve as a washing area for the prince archbishops' horses. We walked towards the Universitats-platz. From the road,we could see the famous Hohensalzburg Fotress. Then we ventured around the popular high street in Salzburg City, Getreidegasse. There are many passageways between the Universitatz road and Getreidegasse. We passed through few of the passageways just to feel the uniqueness of the city. Along Getreidegasse, there are many beautiful shops/buildings. Ohh don't forget the wrought-iron guild signs of the shops. There are beautiful! We passed few touristic places, but decided to visit them later. Our main priority is to reach the Hohensalzburg Fotress before the ugly weather sets in.

We used Festungbahn (furnicular) to reach the fortress. The entrance fees for the festungbahn and the fortress are all included in the Salzburg Card. It is also possible to climb the steep path to reach the fortress. For us, yeaa right! Anyway, this magnificent fotress was constructed in 1077 during the Archbishop Gebhard era. Then, it had undergone further development during the era of Leonhard von Keutschach in 15th century. From the fortress, the views overlooking the city of Salzburg are stunning!

Inside the fortress, there are 6 places that you should not miss: the Golden Chamber, the Golden Hall, the Salzburger Stier, the Rainer Museum, the Fortress Museum and the Marionette Museum. We spent around three hours educating ourselve about Austria and Salzburg history.
On the way out from the Festungbahn station, we took some photos around the area. We're really impressed with the local government's efforts in promoting their tourism industry.