salzberg

After the unique Sound of Music tour our second day in Salzburg started more sedately with a walk through the city and a look at the large fortress on the hill. The fortress began life in the 15 Century and has since been expanded and reinforced to become one of the most impressive medieval fortresses still standing in Europe. There are a lot of loose comparisons that could be drawn between the fortress and the big city in Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. Moving through the different defensive layers revealed an older part of the castle until you reached the centre which contained a very impressive quarters for the ruling King. There were a few museums and exhibitions within the fortress but compared to Bath's Roman Baths the tours themselves were a little disappointing.

After the fast paced nature of Munich the quiet trip across the Austrian border to Salzburg was a nice change. Salzburg is the home of 'The Sound of Music' and its surrounding landscape is at times breathtaking. We stayed at the Yoho Hostel which had a definite Sound of Music (SOM) flavour. Every morning at 10:30am the SOM movie is shown for guests and discounted tickets for the twice daily SOM tour can be purchased at reception. Consequently the hostel has a higher than usual number of female occupants and on the whole a very nice feel.