Choose from 151 Fun Things to Do in Austria
Forchtenstein Castle
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Academy of Fine Arts (Akademie der Bildende Kunst)
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Getreidegasse
Lose yourself in medieval-era Salzburg on a stroll through Getreidegasse. The atmospheric laneway is lined with upmarket boutiques and shops.
Getreidegasse is as historic as it is pretty. Harking back to Roman days, the thoroughfare has always been the city’s high street, connecting Salzburg to Bavaria.
The street is lined with beautiful medieval and Baroque buildings, built by rich merchants over the centuries. It was in one of these buildings that Mozart was born in 1756.
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The Getreidegasse runs south of the River Salzach in the Old Town, heading east to Mozartplatz.
The only way to experience it is on foot, as the street is pedestrianized. Glance up while you walk, to admire the wrought-iron craft signs hanging overhead.
Burggarten
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Alpenzoo Innsbruck
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Eggenberg Palace (Schloss Eggenberg)
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Freyung Square
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Donaupark
Donaupark, or Danube Park, is huge - 2,600,000 square feet (800,000 square metres). Located on the north bank of the impressive Danube River, it even has beaches for the summer months. There is a stage with live entertainment, a mini train to ride, a giant chess board, tennis courts, a skater park, bike paths and a small zoo!
Until 1945 it was a military firing range, then it was used for landfill. Finally it became a park, originally for the Vienna International Flower Show of 1964. At this time, Vienna's tallest structure, the Danube Tower, was also built in the park. It's 826 ft (252 m) high and has a revolving restaurant and viewing platforms. In 1983, Pope John Paul II celebrated a mass at the base of the tower. And of course, people bungee jump from the tower.
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Catch the U1 metro to the Alte Donau stop. The park is only 2.5 miles (4 km) from the city centre and easy to reach by road also.
Bank Austria Kunstforum
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Danube River at Vienna
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Georg Trakl Memorial (Traklhouse)
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Danube Bike Path (Donauradweg)
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Cathedral Museum
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Baroque Museum (Salzburger Barockmuseum)
Set in the lovely Orangery of Mirabell Palace, Salzburg’s Baroque Museum hosts an unusual and rare collection of sketches by legendary artists of the Baroque era.
The only museum to focus solely on preliminary artworks, the collection includes drawings and studies by Rubens, Tiepolo, Guardi and Fragonard.
The sketches provide insights into the artists’ creative processes, and a rare glimpse into the birth of a work of art.
While you’re here, take a stroll around the impressive gardens.
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The Baroque Museum is on the northern bank of the River Salzach, in the classically landscaped gardens of Mirabell Palace.
To get here, cross the Staats Bridge and follow your nose west to the gardens.
Church of St Michael (Michaelerkirche)
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Burgtheater
The opulent interiors, the handiwork of local architect Karl von Hasenauer, are similarly breathtaking, with highlights including the 60-foot ‘Worshippers of Bacchus’ relief by Rudolf Wyer and the dazzling foyer, featuring hand-painted staircases and ceiling frescoes by Ernst and Gustav Klimt.
Today, alongside being a popular tourist attraction, the Burgtheater’s varied program shows over 800 annual performances with everything from classical to contemporary to experimental theatre from some of the most renowned directors, playwrights and actors of the German-speaking world.
Goldenes Dachl
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Albertina
The Albertina’s gigantic permanent collection is broken into 4 principal departments, most notably the aforementioned Graphic Art Collection, of which highlights include the world’s largest collection of Dürer drawings (totaling around 145) and a large number of works by Raphael, Rembrandt and Schiele. Equally impressive is the Rita und Herbert Batliner Collection, one of the largest private collections of classical modern art in Europe, which came to the Albertina on permanent loan from Liechtenstein in 2007 and features iconic pieces by Monet, Renoir, Cézanne, Giacometti and Picasso, among many others. The Architecture Collection, which displays plans and models by architects like Francesco Borromini, Otto Wagner and Lois Welzenbacher, and the sizable Photography Collection, make up the remainder of the museum’s archive.
Alter Markt
Salzburg’s Old Market Square (or Alter Markt) dates way back to 1280. The medieval buildings have long since gone, replaced by grand Baroque townhouses that line the square.
Take a seat at an outdoor cafe, or pick up some handmade chocolate Mozartkugeln balls at Fürst chocolatiers.
You’ll want to take a photo of one of the buildings lining the square at number 10a; you might miss it as it’s the smallest house in Salzburg.
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The Alter Markt is in the Old Town on the southern bank of the River Salzach. The old market square is hidden away between the medieval Getreidegasse and the Cathedral.