A Trip to Austria – The Hills Are Alive
Beautiful green hills, storybook villages, long train rides with a window seat, these are a few of my favorite things. My trip to Austria was extraordinary, as you’ll be able to see through the many pictures I took. The hills were truly alive, and if you understand these references, then you know what my inspiration behind this adventure was.
The Sound of Music. One of my favorite films, with one of my favorite actresses. Julie Andrews, of course. For years I’d watch this movie and see the beautiful hills and places where this movie was set. And, for years, I would hope that I too could explore this beautiful country. My friend and I decided to make it happen. We decided on it right then, over dinner at an authentic Italian restaurant in Los Angeles. It was December, and we vowed to go around the time of my birthday, in March. We ended up officially locking in the dates later on, for May. As it would be warmer and greener.
Warm and green it was. We granted ourselves 12 days, and we made those 12 days incredibly special. I hope this article inspires your own trip to Austria, or anywhere in the world, because there is nothing more spectacular than adventuring Earth. At least, in my humble opinion.
Naturally, since the Sound of Music inspired Austria, we spent the majority of our time staying in Salzburg, where the movie was filmed. What a gorgeous town surrounded by 3 picturesque hillsides, Gaisberg, Mönchsberg, and Kapuzinerberg. Our Airbnb was less than extraordinary, but it came with a gorgeous view we got to wake up to every morning.
Upon arriving, we found out The Sound of Music is not popular in Austria. In fact, a lot of Austrians don’t know much of its existence. Those who do, mostly dislike it. It is something that is seen as gimmicky and unrealistic, as they have their own movie about that moment in time, and it was much more rooted in war. Our Airbnb host was the one that shared this piece of information, after I pointed out street art of Sound of Music. While that was disheartening to hear, we could share our love for the film with many of the tourists who traveled there.
Below, I’ll take you through where we went and what we did in Austria. The 4 major spots being: Salzburg, Vienna, Hallstatt, and Mayrhofen.
Sightseeing in Salzburg
I’ve put together a list of places we went to, along with the pictures I took.
Mozart’s Birthplace
Pretty self-explanatory. It was such a wonder to walk around the town that harbored Mozart’s first breath of life.
Festung Hohensalzburg
This castle is absolutely beautiful and a staple in Salzburg. It’s always in the distance, always in the view, and it’s a must to go here. Absolutely stunning lookout at the top. You’ll see my pictures below. Also, a must, lunch at the restaurant at the top. If you can snag a table by the edge I would do so. The views are UNNMATCHED while sipping on Aperol Spritz’s. Walk through the museum if you have time.
The Sound of Music Tour
The first thing I looked up before even buying flights, duh!!! Just, a must. 10/10. So fun.
They play Sound of Music songs the entire bus can sing along to while taking you around to all the spots, even giving you some history and fun facts.
The Mirabell Gardens
The Mirabell Gardens is also in Sound of Music! It is beautiful to go to.
We walked through it nearly every day walking around to our restaurants/shops, etc. Cute little winery right there too. Stop for a sip during your stroll.
Makartsteg Bridge (Love Lock Bridge)
One of these bridges was in Sound of Music. The Love Lock bridge is a couple bridges down.
Had to add our own lock to the bridge! We bought locks at a souvenir shop right nearby and borrowed their marker.
Food, Drinks & Sweets in Salzburg
Brau
First place we stopped at. Food was enjoyable but service was weird. It’s probably a culture thing but the server ignored us so much we couldn’t even wave him down. Like so ignored we could’ve walked out without paying and he wouldn’t have noticed.
Cafe Bazar
Our absolute favorite place for breakfast. We went multiple times during our stay. So cute.
Outside seating overlooking the river.
Delicious gluten free bread. And did I mention their fresh jam?? DELICIOUS.
Don’t get me started on the coffee…. Coffee in Austria is brilliant. This one is literally just a latte. Not flavored or anything. Smoothest, softest, silkiest, most delicious coffee. I still dream about it.
Love this place. I need to go back.
Panoramarestaurant zur Festung Hohensalzhurg
I briefly mentioned this restaurant above and it is a MUST for lunch while you’re at Festung Hohensalzburg.
It’s hard but try to snag a table by the edge overlooking the mountains!
Such a highlight.
Nur Coffee
Super cute place we stopped at for coffee. They even have something called a “Waffolino” which is a shot of espresso and foamed milk served in a waffle cone. Check it out!!
Cafe Mozart
Based off the name alone, you know it’s gonna be cute.
Not only that, but we also saw they served Salzburger Nockerl, which is a Salzburg specialty. It’s naturally gluten free, and something we needed to cross off the food bucket list. It has 3 “mountains”, representing those that surround Salzburg!
Di Renzi
Needed to fill that Italian craving.
Di Renzi is delicious and of course has gluten free pasta.
We went here twice and enjoyed every moment of it.
IMLAUER Sky
We stopped here for refreshing blended drinks on a warm day before our Sound of Music Tour! Who doesn’t love a good rooftop spot?
Pepe
Someone suggested Pepe for drinks, and it was cool!
Schnaitl Pub
Another stop: we went to where they had pool tables and other games!!
Leo HILLINGER Wineshop & Bar
The little wine bar that I mentioned right near Mirabell Gardens.
Ristorante Pizzeria Beccofino
Cute casual Italian place we walked to a couple times. Gluten free options. We had pizza, bruschetta, and wine!
A Side Quest to Vienna
While in Austria, Vienna waits for you! We kept our Airbnb in Salzburg and packed a smaller bag to take with us to Vienna. It made traveling easier so that we didn’t have to pack and unpack, lug around big luggage, and book multiple stays. Our Airbnb here was quite enjoyable. I will link it down below. We went for 2 days, 1 night over the weekend.
Here are the few things we did in Vienna.
Vienna Opera House
We were like OMG we have to go see the opera at the Vienna Opera House! Oh gosh. It was almost miserable. We were way up in the “nosebleeds” basically.
Crowded by people. I had never felt so tired in my entire life. I fell asleep. And we didn’t realize it was four hours long. FOUR. It was all in Italian. There was a translator screen in front of us but still. We left at the first intermission. Beautiful inside though!
St. Stephen’s Cathedral
A stunning cathedral. I would pair this with the restaurant Onyx, which has a fabulous view of it while dining.
Maria-Theresien-Platz
It was nice to walk around this area. Lots of people and very lively. There was a young violinist playing and he was amazing. Very talented and skilled and there he was just serenading the square.
Kunsthistorisches Museum
This is in the square as well. We bought tickets and went inside because we thought the Spear of Destiny was located here. We were wrong. But we walked around anyway, and it was quite nice.
Imperial Treasury
The Spear of Destiny is located here, at the Imperial Treasury, in Hofburg Palace. Which was just down the street a bit from the square.
I wanted to cross this off my bucket list, especially since it’s been on my father’s for so long. He had been wanting to see it all his life, and it was all he talked about when I told him I was visiting Vienna. A quick bit of history for those who don’t know, The Spear of Destiny is allegedly the lance that pierced Jesus Christ during his crucifixion. It is known to be an object of vast power and is said to make its owners invincible.
Napoleon tried to capture it, and Hitler was obsessed with it. It was quite interesting to see with my own eyes. And I’m glad I did.
Vienna Eats
all the bites in Vienna!
Trude & Töchter
Nice indoor/outdoor restaurant. We sat outside and it was so nice! Our server was a bit rude but whatcha gonna do.
Onyx Restaurant
Fancy sushi restaurant directly across from St Stephen’s Cathedral. We made reservations and luckily got a spot right by the window!
Bio Cafe Blütezeit
A cute place we stopped at for breakfast! Super friendly staff and Gluten free options as well.
Ein Tag in Hallstatt
While we were looking up all the best stops in Austria, we stumbled upon Hallstatt. The most charming and beautiful little village.
Although denied being inspired by, many compare the town to the movie Frozen‘s Arendelle village. And truthfully, this place is straight out of a storybook.
I wish I had longer time to spend here, but a day trip from Hallstatt was more than enough to satisfy our awe.
SeeCafe
Right after we ferried over to beautiful Hallstatt, we followed the coast to SeeCafe for breakfast. We sat right near the water, and it was absolutely beautiful.
We had some food, some prosecco, and of course, I also got a coffee. Remember how I was saying the coffee in Austria is so good? I didn’t think it could get better. For some reason, this coffee at SeeCafe, was just like the ones I had before, but, softer. Silkier. It was so smooth. Like…SO SOFT. Like, sipping on clouds. I don’t even know how to describe it. I remember commenting on it several times. My friend had to have been annoyed with me. Wow. Delicious.
Restaurant Am See
For a late lunch before we took the ferry back to the train station, we went to Restaurant Am See. We sat outside much closer to the water. The food here was delicious and the service was great. It was a bit fancier than the other restaurants we saw walking around. But it was just what we were looking for as far as views, ambience, and food selection. Would definitely make my way back here again!
Hallstatt Salt Mine
Hallstatt is known for its ancient salt mines, known as being one of the oldest in the world. There is lots of history here. A very popular activity would be to go explore the salt mines. If we had more time here, it is definitely something we would have wanted to do. But that’s okay, that just means there will be more things to try on the next trip! To quench our salty thirst, we bought some of Hallstatt’s very own salt at one of the shops there. There is so many different salts to choose from, and it makes great souvenirs!
Mysteries of Mayrhofen
Oh, Mayrhofen. You were never to be explored. We took several trains, big to small, to finally reach this town, which was supposed to have buses take you to a mountain cabin called Olpererhütte. There, we were to embark on a wonderful hike to the suspension bridge. A known spot to be beautiful for pictures. It is a rather popular hike. At the top by the bridge there’s a hut to get food.
It was a wonderful plan we thought to have figured out. But alas, after all these train switches and finally sitting on the bus bench at the station in Mayrhofen, we were wondering why our bus hadn’t come yet. After waiting for about 20 minutes, we went to go ask the woman working the station. Unfortunately, this is where we find out that Olpererhütte and the bridge is closed for the season. And that it doesn’t open, until, next weekend. The disappointment was real!
So instead, we explored Mayrhofen.
Let me tell you, Mayrhofen was a ghost town. There couldn’t have been more than 50 people there, and half of them were construction workers or employees of the only places open at the time. My friend and I were so confused. Where is everyone?! It is such a cute and charming town. The desertion of it made it feel as though we were in a movie. We were trying to find any single place open for food. We walked up and down the streets and there was nothing. Finally, we found an Italian restaurant. I talk more about it below. We ate there twice during our time in Mayrhofen, as it was the only place open.
After speaking with the waitress of this restaurant, we learn that this is a ski town, and we were there during off season. Very weird experience, but I can see how that little town would be bustling and cute and full of life during winter. Definitely someplace I’d want to come visit during it’s prime. Thought I definitely had fun having the place to myself to explore.
Restaurant Pane e Vino
The one and only restaurant open! Honestly, we couldn’t have hoped for a better place. We sat outside and enjoyed the quietness and prettiness of the town.
The waiter and owner were so nice and welcoming. It’s an Italian restaurant and the workers were also Italian. I think they were very pleased to hear that I’m Italian as well! Just overall very kind. The food was great both times. That pasta was one of my favorite meals on the whole trip actually.
Gluten free too!! Wow!!!
Olpererhütte and the Suspension Bridge
The infamous hike and bridge we came all the way here for. So, to be very clear, it is only open from the end of May, to the mid of October. We had just missed it, as it was opening in just a few days after our arrival. It looks stunning and is definitely something I will come back for in the future.
Mayrhofen – Steinerkogel Hike
While dining at Pane e Vino I was looking up some other hikes to do. We came all the way here and it was so pretty, so we were trying to make the best of it! I landed on this hike, and I will link the Alltrails below. It was absolutely stunning.
The views were unlike anything I had seen before.
The view in the picture of both of us is at the beginning of the trail, so if you wanted to hike to this point and go back down, you can. But we decided to keep climbing.
We had to stop before we got to the top because we were on a time crunch to get to our trains back to Salzburg. I am so glad we continued adventuring here because for me, it was all a very fun experience.
Fly2095 Paragliding
While trying to find things to do in the area, we learned that paragliding was an option. We were soooo close to doing it but at that time the winds were just a bit too much for them to recommend us going. Otherwise, we would’ve been up there!! Definitely something I’d recommend if you find yourself in Mayrhofen during the summer months. After seeing all the views, I can just imagine how insane it would be to paraglide there.
So Long, Farewell!
It was a beautiful trip in Austria. From there, we took some trains through Germany, Switzerland, and made our way to Paris, France. An unforgettable experience, and I know I’ll be back! Till next time!!!
xoxo, Jess!
