5 ways to enjoy the festive season in Salzburg

With Christmas markets in full swing and a skyline of baroque spires and domes guiding the eye to snow-frosted mountains, Salzburg is the most festive of cities. Travellers who stroll around its medieval streets during winter will glimpse trees glistening with fairy lights, hear the angelic voices of carollers singing Silent Night (a carol whose first ever performance was in the city) and catch the alluring smells of gingerbread and glühwein (mulled wine) in the air. Beyond the city there’s the beauty of the Alps, best enjoyed on skis or from a horse-drawn sleigh. Here are the best ways to enjoy the city of Salzburg during the festive season.

1. Visit the Christkindlmarkt

Bringing sparkle to cathedral topped Domplatz and regal Residenzplatz, Salzburg’s Christmas market (Christkindlmarkt) dazzles with thousands of lights from 17 November 2023 up until New Year’s Day. Brass bands play, carollers sing their heart out and huts do a brisk trade in everything from glühwein and hot chestnuts to candied almonds, schnapps and intricately carved decorations, nativity figurines and nutcrackers. Nearby, the Mozartplatz welcomes skaters to glide across its ice rink and those looking to explore smaller markets can head to Schloss Hellbrunn, home to illuminated trick fountains, 700 glittering trees and children’s attractions such as a Christmas post office and Christmas train. The baroque palace's 24 windows are also transformed into a huge advent calendar.

2. Feel the Christmas music

Birthplace of Mozart and a film set for The Sound of Music, Salzburg has a long musical legacy. And at Christmas the city pulls out all the stops with a flurry of festive concerts. High on a hill, medieval Hohensalzburg Fortress resembles a scene from a children’s story book and has dress-circle views of the old town’s rooftops. During Advent, it’s a bewitching backdrop for concerts, with Mozart’s symphonies and traditional Austrian carols reverberating in the castle’s halls.

The Grossen Festspielhaus is another venue that brings the Christmas nativity to life through its advent concerts, while classical, folk music and Christmas carols resound in the gothic hall of St Blasius Church.

Time your Christmas market visit to catch the choirs performing on Domplatz and Residenzplatz at select times and listen to The Turmbläser (a brass band) play festive tunes from the three towers rising up above Residenzplatz in the build-up to Christmas.

3. Ride a horse-drawn sleigh in Grossarl

Riding a horse-drawn sleigh over snowy slopes and through frozen woodlands is among the most magical experiences you can have in winter. Just over an hour’s drive or train ride south of Salzburg is the Grossarl Valley, where, snuggled up under blankets, you can watch the Alpine scenery unfold, as horses stamp and snort through the snow.

Rimmed with timber chalets, the town hosts Salzburg Mountain Advent, with a traditional Christmas market, a nativity scene with life-sized figurines and parish church resounding with carollers. On Fridays during Advent, torchlight walks lead through the town to the sound of alphorn players. In early December, you can also see the horned, hairy, whip-cracking Krampusse (a devil-like horned figure) running riot through the streets according to age-old tradition.

4. Tune into Silent Night

One of the world’s best-loved Christmas carols, Silent Night, was born in Salzburg and those who roam down the narrow cobbled Steingasse off the city’s right bank will find themselves at No. 9, the birthplace of Joseph Mohr, who penned the lyrics. It’s an atmospheric lane for a wander, especially when the morning sun catches its pastel-painted townhouses. To continue the carol quest, take the train to the late-medieval town of Hallein, where the Silent Night Museum dives into the origins of the carol in the former home of Franz Xaver Gruber, who composed the melody on his guitar in 1818. Swinging north brings you to Oberndorf, nudging the border to Bavaria, home to the St Nicholas Church where Joseph Mohr was pastor. It’s here the carol debuted on 24 December in 1818, as recounted in the museum built in its honour, and it’s a magical experience hearing the carol sung here, on a snowy Christmas Eve.

5. Go from city to slopes

The Austrian and Bavarian Alps are on Salzburg’s doorstep, making it easy to glide from city to slopes. With ski resorts festooned with lights and full of festive cheer, skiing in the region is particularly special over Christmas. If you don’t want to stray far, nip across to the peaks of Untersberg and Gaisberg. But an hour or so by train south of Salzburg, you hit a great white wilderness: the vast Ski Amadé region, home to over 470 miles of immaculately groomed slopes spread across 25 ski resorts. One of them is Grossarltal-Dorfgastein, which has preserved lots of its rural character, with a traditional feel, a varied mix of runs to ski and board, and wooden huts where you can huddle over a pot of bubbling fondue as the flakes fall and Christmas draws closer.