"Bad Reichenhall" a Bad Reichenhall Travel Page by Britannia2

We found this wonderful town quite by chance when we were invited to take our son to an ice skating week in the town. The town was a total delight and we were able to leave our son in the ice arena and explore on our own. We enjoyed it so much we went back the next year!
As the name suggests this is a spa town and also a health resort - there are several hospitals here and many convalescent homes. It is known as the Bavarian state spa.
There is a new part of town and an old part. The shopping area is in the newer part of the town and this is all precincted making access very easy. Wikipedia states there are 330 shops here which may be a slight exaggeration but there are certainly enough for a half day of browsing and shopping.

This area is totally missed by many visitors - in fact from the party we travelled with in 2002 I was the only person to find the old part of town. As the photo shows this is a very photogenic part of the town where the buildings are decorated in true alpine fashion.
It is mainly car free and best explored on foot but the incline up from the town made it impossible to take a wheelchair up and older people found the walk difficult.
There is quite an impressive church here - St Zeno - and I found the ruins of an old fortress which I now know is called Gruttenstein.

The Mozart family were regular visitors to the Kaitl Inn in Thumseestrasse and knew many important people in the town. He attended St Zenos church in what would have been the main town in the late 1700s. He would have known the town from when he was boy and from the days when his family stopped here on their way to Italy from Salzburg.
Today he is linked with confectionery in the town but there is also a Mozart festival each year.