Neither Susan or I had been to Salzburg before, so we didn’t really have a sense of what to expect. All I’d heard were ominous warnings about tourist trap status, and Sound of Music tours. Well, it’s really none of that, at least not in mid January. Salzburg was a joy to visit: compact and walkable, with winding cobbled laneways, viewpoints aplenty on the cliffs overlooking the town, and cakes and sausages and schnitzels galore for little boys (and their parents) to gobble.

Sure, there’s maybe a bit too much Mozart-y content, but compared to what I’d expected, it’s not that intrusive, and a corollary is that you can listen to multiple concerts each and every day.

Built between the Salzach river and the crags of the Mönschberg cliff, with the Alps soaring behind, the city is so picturesque it seems a bit unfair.

There is also super castle-related content here, perfect for the 4-6 year-old demographic:

We left Salzburg feeling like we’d not spent enough time there. Certainly we’d not really been able to make the most of the surprisingly large number of very fancy restaurants (given the younger members of the party), nor had we ventured to a number of palaces, museums, markets and more. So, auf weidersehen, Salzburg…