Salzburg – Christmas Market

Salzburg is really smart and knows how to dress up for Christmas. The old part of the city is well worth a wander at this time or indeed any time of year.. There are loads of pubs, coffee houses and restaurants, as you'd expect in Austria, along with museums and concert halls and, of course, Mozart. He gets star billing in Salzburg as their most famous son.

Anyway, a restaurant we like is St Peters Stiftskeller. Its underneath a former monastery and has been serving wine since the 800's! It can be expensive but if you go right to the end of the menu you can find standards like goulash and pork steaks. We spent £40 for two. The upstairs now plays host to various stylish function rooms. See the pics.

Follow your nose to the Christmas Market. The smell of Gluwein pervades the whole area. Can't say I particularly like it but, hey its Christmas, and I don't like mince pies either. Fortified against the cold by the evil brew it qualified us for a quick circuit of window shopping, or the equivalent for market stalls.

We can get to Salzburg for about 12 Euro. on the train. Its not a vast city but is quite a contrast from our small alpine village of Bad Hofgastein.

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