Anyway, continuing with my trip recap.
Day 4 - 18Jul2015
We check out at 820am and headed to Schwedensplatz to take the subway to Westbahnof station. We managed to get some breakfast while waiting for the Westbahn train to arrive. There are 2 trains to get you from Vienna to Salzburg - OBB or Westbahn. Research online showed that many people recommended Westbahn so that's what we went with. Caught the 938 train that was packed with people because you can buy your tickets on board so the number of passengers is not regulated. The 2.5h journey was pretty enjoyable because Austria has such awesome scenery!
Upon reaching the Salzburg hbf, their main station, we only had a short 10min walk before reaching our hotel, Wyndham Grand Salzburg Conference Hotel. It wasn't check in time yet so we left our luggage at the reception. This hotel is near to the train station but far from the city center, but it was fine because we only headed to the city center once but kept having to go to the train station.
We went back to the train station to get our 72h Salzburg cards for 37eur/person and is super worth it as it gives free entrance to lots of attractions and free public transport for the important buses too. From the station, we took bus 25 (free with Salzburg card!) to the last stop called Untersberg station for a cable card ride up Untersberg mountain! Once again, this was free with the Salzburg card. And we also bought some food at the eatery on the ground floor while waiting for the cable car, which comes every half hour. So we took the 2pm cable car up, and wow the view is magnificent.
Finally reached the top! We had lunch first - schnitzel and margherita pizza at the first restaurant you see upon exiting the cable car. And then we decided to climb up a short trail to go higher. Gorgeous scenery, wonderful weather that was windy and cool but not cold. We wore jeans, thinking it was 15deg Celsius, but we could have worn shorts. Anyway, this place is definitely worth a visit.
We took the 330pm cable car down, and this ride was significantly more crowded. This was when we also started to realise the disproportionately large number of Korean tourists in Salzburg.
Took bus 25 again to Hellbrunn Palace, which is built by an archbishop for his own amusement lol. Too much money....
Entrance was free again with the Salzburg card! We visited the gardens first - beautiful.
We then visited the museum, which had many strange exhibits. For example, there was an exhibit of a piano that has spikes to poke a cat's tail, and the cat's screams are the music. Isn't that very sadistic.....
The museum closed at 6pm and we were the last to leave, as usual. Headed to the souvenir shop to get a lot of pretty (and useless) things! And then bus 25 back to the train station.
We went to check in first. This was the only hotel we stayed in throughout the whole trip as the others were apartments.
And then we headed out to look for dinner. We had to walk quite a bit before finding a suitable place. It was a beer garden that was outdoors, but it started to pour so we headed to the restaurant that was so much nicer hahah.
There's a supermarket at the train station so we got lots of snacks and drinks there before heading back to the hotel.
Day 5 - 19Jul2015
Day trip to Hallstatt!
We left the hotel at 8am to catch the 839am train from Hallstatt to Attnang Puttcheim, then changed train to Hallstatt. The whole journey took a whopping 2.5h.
From Hallstatt station, you can just follow the crowd to get to the ferry terminal and take the ferry across the lake to get to the village. The ferry ride is only about 8min, so we reached around 1140am.
GORGEOUS VIEWS.
Oh, but the village is really crowded due to its reputation for being one of the prettiest villages in Europe.
We spent quite some time just exploring the town and buying souvenirs. Then we had lunch at a random restaurant. Love the Austrian noodles and the salad with pork!
To take the funicular up the mountain, you have to walk all the way to the end of the village. The Salzburg card offers a discount but it was still pretty pricey. We only got the funicular tickets, without the salt mine as we didn't have enough time.
Spectacular views of the mountains and lake.
We walked up the path to get to a higher altitude. The whole trip had been quite hot but it was cool in the mountains. But we still got ice cream at the top haha.
By the time we came down, it was already about 330pm. We got some ice cream (again! because it was so cheap) and spent the rest of the time walking back to the ferry terminal to catch the 445 ferry back to the station and the 1707 train back to Salzburg hbf. The train ride was really really long, I think about 3h in total, but it was really scenic. We even caught a rainbow!
When we reached back, we decided to buy food from the supermarket as we were slightly tired of eating restaurant food. The ham slices were wayyyy too large though!
Day 6 - 20Jul2015
Last day in Salzburg! We spent the day exploring the famous sights of Salzburg, mainly in the city center or Old Town area.
We left the hotel pretty early and went to the H&M at the mall just opposite the hotel to get some clothes! And then we had breakfast at a typical Austrian bakery. I'm quite amazed at the efficiency of the Austrians. 1 person can man the whole shop by him/herself! (A stark contrast to the Czechs as we later found out in Prague.)
It was about a 15min walk to Mirabell Garden and Palace, which is very famous for being in the Sound of Music, which I haven't watched. But it was still very pretty!
We also went in to visit the Marble Hall and this place that is used to hold weddings.
Continued on our journey to Old Town by crossing the river.
And walked all the way to the end to take the funicular up the fortress. (Free with Salzburg card again!)
Awesome bird's eye view of the city.
The tour of the fortress was really interesting. We got to walk up on of those tiny towers that you see in castles and fortresses and it was seriously claustrophobic!
By the time we got down, it was already past 1pm. We visited the Salzburg cathedral, which had a very different style from the Baroque ones in Vienna.
Lunch at an Italian place around 3pm. It was sooooo good, and a nice break from all the Austrian food we'd been eating.
Next stop was Domquartier to visit the residenz of the Prince Archbishop, considered head of state at that time. The tour was free with the Salzburg card. I found this very interesting also (I think I just like history.) It was quite interesting how in order to gain an audience with the Archbishop, you have to walk through several rooms which decrease in size and increase in grandeur since the more you walk in, the nearer you are to the archbishop's private quarters.
We also visited an art gallery that had alot of interesting stories about Greek and Roman mythology depicted in pictures. We got practically chased out of the museum haha cos Austrians seem to need to leave work on the dot. The place closed at 5pm and we spent 1.5h in total there but I felt that it was insufficient!
Last touristy stop was Mozart's birthplace! It's very obvious on the streets because there will be a crowd outside one particular house.
Oh and on the way, we managed to find these silver Mozartballs which are wayyy nicer than the mass produced ones in the golden wrapper.
Once again, entry was free with the Salzburg card. We are not very educated in music so it probably wasn't as impactful to us as it might have been to some music enthusiasts, but it was still an education and interesting attraction.
One final shopping spree at the shops around Old Town. And got chased out again!! By H&M at 7pm, so our shopping escapade ended.
We walked back to the hotel and found this tripadvisor recommended place called my indigo, which serves curry and this unique salad + rice thing that was really good!
End of the Austria leg of the trip. Headed to Czech Republic next!
