Design your very own trip. choose your route around our network and stop where you want. Our Flexitrip is the ultimate flexible travel option, you can choose anywhere you'd like to go and then buy the number of corresponding flexistops. This is ideal if you really want a true trans-continental adventure or have a clear idea of what cities you want to experience.
How it works
A Busabout Flexitrip Pass (6 or more flexistops) will give you access to the entire Busabout coach network. A flexistop is any time you jump off the coach overnight - compulsory overnight stops are indicated with red dots on the map below.
Flexitrip Passes are perfect for travellers who are looking to go from point A to point B without wanting to get the whole "Loop". Your Flexistops are valid for the entire operating season giving you maximum flexibility (thus the clever name). Break away from the network and explore destinations like Greece or Morocco. Start and finish anywhere - just keep travelling until you run out of stops, or buy more as you go.
For example : Start in Paris, Bruges, Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Munich, Venice and finish in Rome - all with only 8 'flexistops'. Stay in each city as long as you like. If you'd like to make an extra 'stop' in say Salzburg, simply buy an extra 'flexistop' from your On-board Guide.
The Flexitrip Pass is valid for the entire 2008 operating season (May to October). Each "sector" may be travelled once and departures from each city are every other day.
-
Start and finish anywhere.
-
Travel at your own pace.
-
No 'time-limit'
-
Minimum recommended travel time: 18 days
-
Break your loop - make it into more than one trip.
-
Door to door.
-
Every other day service.
-
Travel Dates and Accommodation
We recommend that you utilise the "MyBusabout" feature on the website, so you can make confirmed seat reservations and pre-book you budget accommodation. Once you have booked your Busabout pass you can just log-on to the website with your booking reference number and start planning and booking your trip.
< back to network
|
 |
| Population : 145,000 |
The joke ‘if it’s baroque, don’t fix it’ would make a perfect motto for Salzburg; the picturesque old town nestled below steep hills looks much as it did when Mozart was born here, presenting postcard vistas from every angle. Ornate 17th-century buildings still line the narrow, cobbled streets beneath the landmark fortress, while manicured gardens surround the baroque Schloss Mirabell (Mirabell Palace).
Of course, in more recent times the surrounding hills have been alive to The Sound of Music, with movie locations in and around Salzburg, Austria’s capital of kitsch.
Click Here for our Guides Top Ten!
Orientation
The pedestrianised old town, with most attractions, is south of the River Salzach. On the north bank is the new town plus Mozart’s Wohnhaus and Schloss Mirabell
Sights
A Unesco World Heritage Site, Salzburg’s old town is entrancing both at ground level and from the hills above.
Residenzplatz, with its horse fountain, is a good starting point. Head south to the Dom (Cathedral), with its bronze doors symbolising faith, hope and charity. From here, head west along Franziskanergasse and turn left into a courtyard for St Peterskirche. Among lovingly tended graves in this abbey’s grounds is the entrance to the Katakomben (Catacombs; adult/student €1/0.70; h10.30am-5pm summer, 10.30am-3.30pm winter). The Stift Nonnberg (Nonnberg Abbey), where The Sound of Music first finds Maria, is back east of the Festung Hohensalzburg.
You can also walk along the crest of the hill behind the old town. Climb the steps from Toscanini Hof, behind the Festival Halls, or take the Mönchsberg lift (one-way/return €1.30/2.60) from Anton Neumayr Platz.
On the north side of the river, follow the stairs from Linzer Gasse 14 to the lookout at the Kapuzinerkloster (Capuchin Monastery).
Festung Hohensalzburg
The many archbishop-princes who ruled Salzburg lived in the fortress ((842 430-11; www.salzburgburgen.at; Mönchsberg 34; adult/concession for grounds only €3.60/3, with interiors & audio guide €7.20/6; h9am-6pm 15 Mar-14 Jun, 9am-7pm 15 Jun-14 Sep, 9am-5pm 15 Sep-14 Mar). The current incarnation dates from 1077 and houses ornate state rooms, torture chambers and museums.
It takes 15 minutes to walk up, or catch the funicular Festungsbahn ((849 750; Festungsgasse 4; adult/concession one-way, incl admission to fortress grounds €5.60/5; h9am-9pm May-Sep, 9am-5pm Oct-Apr).
Schloss Mirabell
The formal gardens, with their tulips, crocuses and Greek statues, are the main drawcard at this palace, built by the prince-archbishop Wolf Dietrich for his mistress in 1606. Standing at their western end and looking east towards the fortress gives you an iconic Salzburg view. Having featured in The Sound of Music, the gardens are now popular for weddings and open-air concerts.
Museums
Although Mozart is a major Salzburg attraction, the man himself couldn’t wait to leave. Consequently, Mozart’s Geburtshaus (Birthplace; (844 313; Getreidegasse 9; adult/concession €5.50/4.50; h9am-6pm Sep-Jun, 9am-7pm Jul & Aug, last entry 30 min before closing) and his Wohnhaus (Residence; (874 227-40; Makartplatz 8; admission & has for Geburtshaus) only cover his early years before he left town in 1780, aged 24. A combined ticket for both is €9 (concession €7). The more extensive Wohnhaus houses the Mozart Sound & Film Museum (admission free).
Ask the tourist office about secondary Salzburg museums
Getting around
Bus drivers sell singles for €1.70. Other tickets, including day passes (€3.20), must be bought from the automatic machines at major stops or Tabak shops.
Top Bike ((0676-476 7259; www.topbike.at) rents bikes at the Intertreff Café, outside the train station, and on the main city bridge.
Information
Internet Access
Prices are €1.50 to €1.80 for 10 minutes.
Bignet ((841 470; Judengasse 5-7; h9am-11pm, 9am-midnight summer)
Cybar ((844 822; Mozartplatz 5; h9am-10pm)
Piterfun (Ferdinand-Porsche-Strasse 7; h10am
-10pm)
Laundry
Bubble Point Waschsalon ((471 14 84; Karl Wurmb Strasse 2; h7am-11pm)
Money
There are ATMs around the train station and at the airport.
Train station currency exchange counter
(h8.30am -7pm Mon-Fri, 8.30am-2.30pm Sat)
Post
Main post office (Hauptpostamt 5010; Residenzplatz 9; h7am-7pm Mon-Fri, 8-10am Sat)
Tourist information
Commission for hotel reservations is €2.20, or €4 for three or more people.
Main tourist office ((889 87-330 for information, (889 87-314 for hotels; www.salzburg.info; Mozartplatz 5; h9am-6pm May & Jun, Sep & Oct; 9am-7pm Dec, Jul & Aug; 9am-6pm Mon-Sat Nov & Jan-Apr)
Tourist information counter (Platform 2A, main train station; h9.15am-8pm) Opening hours occasionally vary.
FESTIVALS & EVENTS
The famous Salzburg Festival (www.salzburgfestival.at) of classical music is held from late July to late August. Book online well in advance if you want cheap tickets. In 2006 Salzburg is having a huge bash for the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birth
Eating
Bio Bistro Spicy Spices ((870 712; Wolf-Dietrich-Strasse 1; mains €5.50) Go through a time warp back to the 1970s, where this compact restaurant serves ‘holistic’ Indian meals and salads, advertises self-help courses and sells herbal tea.
Picnic (Judengasse 15; mains €4.90-9.50; hclosed Tue Oct-Apr) This charming grotto of vintage advertising signs and plastic flowers is great for sandwiches and pizzas and keeps longer hours than most. Give the gratins a miss however.
Wilder Mann (in the passageway off Getreidegasse 20; mains €5.20-12; hMon-Fri) Traditional Austrian food is served in a friendly, bustling environment here. Tables, both inside and out, are often so packed it’s almost impossible not to get chatting with fellow diners.
Stadtalm ((841 729; Mönchsberg 19C; mains €5.50-9.90; h10am-5pm Tue-Sun Apr-Oct) The meals here are standard Germanic fare – wurst, Wiener schnitzel and Züricher Geschnetzeltes (veal in cream sauce) – but the look of the food is completely overshadowed by fantastic hill-top views.
Some of the cheapest eats are available at the university Mensa Toskana (Sigmund Haffner Gasse 11; €3.50-4.20; h8.30am-5pm Mon-Thu, 8.30m-3pm Fri).
There are market stalls and fast-food stands on Universitätsplatz and Kapitelplatz. A Eurospar supermarket (hMon-Sat) is opposite the train station.
Drinking
Augustiner Bräustübl ((431 246; Augustinergasse 4-6; h3-11pm Mon-Fri, 2.30-11pm Sat & Sun) It’s Oktoberfest year-round at this huge hillside warren of beer halls. Well, perhaps it’s not always quite so boisterous, but the local monks’ brew – served in generously sized ceramic mugs – certainly keeps the huge crowd humming.
Stieglkeller (Festungsgasse 10; h10am-10pm Apr-Oct) Below the fortress, this beer hall’s best feature is its terrace overlooking the town. On weekend evenings, the crowds stream along Rudolfskai, Salzburg’s most famous stretch of bars, clubs, Irish pubs and discos. However, most punters are barely out of, or still in, their teens.
Bar Flip ((843 643; Gstättengasse 17) This dark, low-ceilinged bar is the popular student option among the small cluster of hip bars around Anton Neumayr Platz. Serving cocktails and cheap beer, it stays open until 4am on weekends (2am other nights).
© 2006 Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd. All rights reserved
We and our content providers (‘we’) have tried to make the information on this website as accurate as possible, but it is provided ‘as is’ and we accept no responsibility for any loss, injury or inconvenience sustained by anyone resulting from this information. You should verify critical information (like visas, health and safety, customs, and transportation) with the relevant authorities before you travel.