Michael and Pam's Travels Our European Motorhome Adventures and other Travels

Salzburg, Austria 2016 ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡น

Travelled : 143 kilometres from Munich to Bad Reichenhall, Bavaria.

Visited : Salzburg, Austria.

Stayed : Dedicated motorhome parking area at Rupertus Therme (Spa), free but no service.  N47.73096 E12.87276.  However there is a Municipal Stellplatz โ‚ฌ14 just down the street, with all services, so we serviced the Hymer there for โ‚ฌ1.


Wanting to avoid another day with our Italian neighbors we departed Munich on the A8 heading south-east.  Its an easy drive and we soon see a change in the countryside as the hills give way to some spectacular mountain scenery.  The farm land is a rich green and the farm houses and sheds have an alpine look.

Bad Reichenhall is the gateway to the Berchtesgaden National Park and only a relatively short distance from the city of Salzburg in Austria.  Surrounded by Austria on three sides, the National Park pokes like a sore thumb into Austria’s northern border.  We hadn’t specifically planned to visit Austria this year, so I didn’t add driving in Austria to our insurance schedule in 2016.  Don’t start me on English insurance companies.  But as we were passing this way it seemed a shame not the visit the city of Mozart.


Rolling along the A8, not as much traffic as we have seen lately, but that’s OK.


Our free carpark in Bad Reichenhall. Nice view apart from the dump truck, but he left before dark.  There was no room in the beautiful stellplatz just down the road. It’s adjacent to the river and cycleway and apparently very popular.  We missed the last spot by a few minutes, a lady said just go up the road it’s free there ! So we did, its actually much closer to the town here and it proved to be very quiet.
Just one of many grand old homes lining the avenue to the altstadt, most are now private hotels it seems. Bad Reichenhall was a spa town, how do we know because the Lonely Planet says so. Its not that complex, any town in Germany with a name that starts with ‘Bad’ was a spa town.  There are a lot starting with Bad.  Goes back to the late Roman Empire apparently.


Our first glimpse of the River Salzach in Salzburg.  There’s a regular bus service between Bad Reichenhall and Salzburg. Its not an express, just a regular local bus. Its about 15 kilometres and takes 40 minutes, โ‚ฌ18.40 a double, return.
A more impressive view of Salzburg.  How did Salzburg get it name ?  By charging a tax on the salt carried on barges passing along the Salzach River.  Have no idea how the Salzach River got its name however.
Statue of the great composer in the square that bears his name, Mozart Platz.
From Mozart Platz again but with Dom or Cathedral on the left and St. Michael’s Church on the right. It was a local festival day and by lunch time the Platz was packed.
Between the Dom and St. Michael’s there were carnival rides and a lots of kid’s eating giant pretzels.
The Dom looking toward the alter. It suffered significant damage near the end of the war, but it looked very special during our visit. Mass was just starting so we sat in for a while to enjoy the organ and the priest who had a lovely singing voice.
Just a random photo, would love to take this home. Pam would enjoy going to work in this in the mornings.
Our next stop is the Festung Hohensalzburg or Salzburg Fortress.  It sits high on a ridge above the city.  Accessible by a venicular or by foot.  At โ‚ฌ12 each we balked at the cost and considered walking up.  But OK we paid and up we went.  Although the fortress was originally founded in the 15th century most of it is 17th and 18th century.
From the Fortress looking south over the valley to the Tennengebirge in the distance.
From a gun turret in the Fortress, this time looking over Salzburg and the Dom.
A last look at Salzburg as we cross the Salzach. The bus only runs every two hours on Sunday afternoon so we need to be on time.

There are many other things to do and visit in Salzburg, but they can wait till our next visit.  Being festival day made it all the more interesting but made getting around much slower because of the number of people about.  Anyway it was an easy bus trip back into the ‘Motherland’ where the Hymer was waiting with cold beer and wine.


Michael and Pam


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