"Salzburg - The Stage of the World" a Salzburg Travel Page by mallyak

Salzburg's Altstadt (old town), on the south bank of the river, is a Baroque fiesta of churches, plazas, courtyards and fountains, oozing the waves of charm that you would expect from this Mozart Mecca. Museums, houses, squares, chocolate bars and liqueurs are all part of one giant homage to Wolfgang

Dreaming spires, green hills and romantic gardens – the city's attractions are loved by millions of visitors from all over the World starving for Salzburg sightseeing. With a tourist-per-capita ratio higher than Venice or Florence, the city is among the busiest places of Europe all year round.

The best way to kick off a day in Salzburg is with a klein Brauner (black coffee with a dash of milk) and a slap-up breakfast at one of the city's countless cafes. My favourite is the funky Café Bazar, which has a lovely riverside terrace overlooking the old city, although traditionalists would head for the Café Tomaselli, allegedly the oldest cafe in Austria. Then it's time for some sightseeing - essential items include the city's fabulously extravagant cathedral, the gorgeous Mirabellgarten and the dizzying climb up to the Festung Hohensalzburg, the impregnable hilltop fortress that dominates the Salzburg skyline. For something more contemporary, I'll make a beeline for the Museum der Moderne, which hosts regular exhibitions of modern art and photography - if you think the views from the Hohensalzburg are impressive, just wait until you step out onto the patio of the museum's clifftop cafe. Then it's back down to ground level for a stroll around the boutiques of the Getreidegasse (the oldest street in Salzburg, and still a top place for some retail therapy) before heading off to a biergarten for an evening brew or three; there are several scattered around the city, but my favourite is the Augustiner Bräustübl, where the beer is brewed by Augustinian monks and served in ceramic mugs. Later, as night falls, how about a twilight cruise along the River Salzach or a spin around the city from the back of a horse-drawn carriage?