Austria · Self-guided walk
Salzburg in one walk 8 sights, 50 minutes
A self-guided walking tour of the Salzburg Old Town: 8 sights on one 3.4 km loop, about 50 minutes on foot, back where you started.
No two days to spare? Here is the short version: the big sights in one loop. I would take longer. I always take longer.
At a glance
The walk in numbers.
- Distance
- 3.4 km, a loop
- Time
- about 50 minutes of walking at 4 km/h, plus however long you stop
- Sights
- 8
- Start and finish
- Schloss Mirabell
- Steps
- on Mirabellplatz, Imbergstiege
- Cost
- free: no guide, no booking, no tip
The route
Map of the Salzburg walk: 8 stops, one loop.
The gold line is the walk. The numbers are the stops, in the order you reach them. The pale lines are every other street in the Old Town.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
The stops
8 sights in Salzburg, in walking order.
Each stop says how far the next one is and which streets take you there.
1. Schloss Mirabell
the start · inside open Mon–Sat 08:00–18:00, Sun closed
Do not stop at the railings. The pull here is the garden: stand at the top of the steps and the rock on the far side of the water drops neatly into the gap between the hedges, which somebody arranged on purpose a long time ago. Afterwards go inside and find the staircase. It is crawling with small stone figures, it is the most excessive object on this side of the river, and standing on it costs nothing.
Next: Hettwerbastei, 620 m, about 9 min, along Dreifaltigkeitsgasse.
2. Hettwerbastei
about 9 minutes of walking from the start
A ledge halfway up the quiet side of town, and one of the few high places here that costs nothing and has no queue. The climb to it is short and unkind. What you get for it is the entire opposite side laid out flat, roofs first, with the fortress sitting on top of the arrangement like a lid.
Next: Mozartsteg, 470 m, about 7 min, along Steingasse, Imbergstraße, Giselakai, Mozartsteg.
3. Mozartsteg
about 16 minutes of walking from the start
So narrow that two people have to be polite about it in the middle, and the middle is the place to stop. From there the whole left-hand skyline lines up in one row, and what is underneath you is the fastest thing in this town. Then keep going. Moving water under a street changes the texture, and I notice.
Next: Kajetanerplatz, 410 m, about 6 min, along Sebastian-Stief-Gasse.
4. Kajetanerplatz
about 22 minutes of walking from the start
The far end of the left bank, where the crowd finally thins and the paving gets wider. Most visitors turn round before they get this far, which is exactly why I recommend it. Bring an empty bottle with you. There is a reason, and I am keeping it to myself.
Next: Salzburger Dom, 520 m, about 8 min, along Kajetanerplatz, Kapitelgasse, Kapitelplatz.
Lunch break
MA MAKERS, Kaigasse 26, about 10 m off the route, open Mon 09:00–18:00, Wed–Sun 09:00–18:00, Tue closed.
Kaigasse, in the Kaiviertel. More on what to eat in Salzburg.
5. Salzburger Dom
about 30 minutes of walking from the start
You will meet this one from three sides before you ever face the front, because the open stone wraps right around it. Come at it through the arches on the south flank rather than across the paving: it lands harder when you have been in the shade first. Then go in and look up. Main course.
Next: Haus für Mozart, 290 m, about 4 min, along Domplatz, Franziskanergasse.
6. Haus für Mozart
about 34 minutes of walking from the start
The whole festival quarter is dug into the cliff, and this is the piece of it you can stand right under without a ticket. Walk into the yard at the foot of the wall: sheer rock on one flank, doors on the other, and a stair climbing the face between them. In summer the yard belongs to everybody. In winter it is mine.
Next: Mozarts Geburtshaus, 290 m, about 4 min, along Max-Reinhardt-Platz, Wiener-Philharmoniker-Gasse.
7. Mozarts Geburtshaus
about 39 minutes of walking from the start · inside open Mon–Sun 09:00–17:30
Yellow, narrow, and impossible to miss in the busiest lane on this bank. Do not just join the queue at the door. Step back across the cobbles and look up: the shop signs hang far out over the street on wrought iron, because these buildings were too thin to spare any width for lettering. Then go in. I will wait out here with the ironwork.
Next: Makartplatz, 460 m, about 7 min.
8. Makartplatz
about 46 minutes of walking from the start
A wide open space on the right bank that most walkers cross at speed on their way to somewhere else. Slow down in the middle of it. One side is shut off by a church whose face curves inward instead of bulging out, which is a difficult and expensive way to close a space, and at the bus stop nobody ever looks at it. I do.
Back to the start: Schloss Mirabell, 370 m, about 6 min.
Every stop counts from the street; the hours are for going inside. Opening hours from OpenStreetMap, © OpenStreetMap contributors. Check before you go.
After the walk
The rest of Salzburg.
This loop is 8 sights. The Old Town is 98 streets, and I have opinions about all of them. Every street of the Salzburg Old Town, with what to eat and where.
Cobble Gobble is a walking game for iPhone: every street is a line of dots you collect by walking it, and the phone stays in your pocket. Your first city is free.