Mainly known because it’s famous citizen Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Salzburg, the fourth largest city in Austria, is located on the banks of the Salzbach river, north of the Alps.

The old town, rich of history and baroque towers, palaces, churches and the „Festung Hohensalzburg“ (castle) is surrounded by the mountains „Kapuzinerberg“ and „Mönchsberg“, creating a unique atmosphere. The beautiful setting has been used to create the film and musical „The Sound of Music“ which features landmarks in Austria but heavily concentrates on Salzburg.

With it’s narrow cobblestone streets and tidy gardens the city creates a neat atmosphere. Although it may sounds now that Salzburg is more a historical place, do not be blinded by it’s prettiness. Due to the three universities, the city is „busy“ and „humming“ at all times with lots of opportunities to go out and have fun.

All the negatives about equality in Salzburg and Austria in general should not obscure the fact Salzburg offers a broad variety of cultural, culinary and shopping experiences that are not specifically gay and lesbian in character but are still fun. The city is proud of it’s history and can enchant visitors back in time. Salzburg was given the title of World Heritage Site in 1997.

Today, as in Mozart's time, numerous classical-music festivals and concerts fill the city's calendar on a regular basis. Music was, is and will be a major influence on the city and it’s development. How can you better experience Salzburg than on a four hour “Sound of music tour”? History, important sights and more all in little time (www.salzburg-sightseeingtours.at),

Numerous cultural museumsm exhibitions and other tours await the visitor. Here are just a few (as we do not want to bore you):

Salzburg also had a few well known locals:

Believe it or not but in terms of political and legal equality, Austria is still pretty far behind other countries in Europe.

The government has tried to catch up in recent years and a few changes have been enforced. The minimum legal age for homosexual relations is now 14 years but there is still no civil partnership status or anti discrimination law in force. 

Only recently (2007) has the Minister of Finance instructed the Customs Office to confiscate pornographic gay and lesbian material when conducting searches during regular VAT and custom tax operations. Although gay and lesbian pornography was legalized in 2000 and the act clearly breaches existing law, the Minister refuses to revoke his orders.

Having said the above, caution is good but Austria is generally not an unsafe place to be. Cities have recently made major improvements in actively engaging with the gay community and passing necessary legislations.

However, if you want to go to a gay friendly city in Austria, you are better off to travel to Vienna. The city has made major improvements in the daily interaction with the gay and lesbian scene and is definitely up to European Standards.

Salzburg is approximately 150 km east of Munich, and 300 km west of Vienna.

Salzburg Airport (SZG): Salzburg's Airport, the W. A. Mozart Airport, is located 2 km from the German border and 4 km away from Salzburg city center. You can get to the airport by train from the Salzburg Hauptbahnhof in 15-20 minutes. There is also a bus from the train station to the airport. A taxi to the city is quite cheap (in the region of 10-15 Euros)

Salzburg Train Station: Salzburg's main station is called the Salzburg Hauptbahnhof. It's located in the north on the right bank of the Salzach River at Südtirolerplatz. It is within walking distance from the city center.

Salzburg Public Transportation: Quite a selection of services. Best is to get a road map from the tourist office.

The local ticket office sells „The Salzburg Card“ which grants you free transportation and free entrance to some of the attractions.

Salzburg City Tourist Office: Auerspergstrasse 7. Phone: +43 (0) 662 889 870