When I was living in Helsinki, the joke was that the best tourist attraction of Finland is Stockholm. In the same way, Salzburg is the best kept secret of Bavaria, the southern German land. Carefully tucked in the Austrian Alps, just some 150 km away from Munich, Salzburg is a true fairy-tale city. Due to its supreme location, the city has never been conquered and, serving a central point of many trade routes, became fabulously rich. Carefully kept by its 150,000 inhabitants in its original state, Salzburg is not a subject to time: it looks today exactly as it did five centuries ago, with all the window shops of its most famous street Getreidegasse (and even McDonalds’) made in the same, adorable Medieval style.
Mozart’s motherland, Salzburg is a fantastic idea any time of the year. Which makes its magic double as Christmas approaches. Christmas markets are a tradition of German-speaking countries, with the first ones sprawling in Vienna in as early as 13th century. The idea of the market was then close to what we experience today: open-air strolls with seasonal crafts, foods and other delights, flavored by hot mulled wine. While every country today rushes to adopt this tradition, Germans (or German-speakers) still do it better. When I was living in Munich, Salzburg was my heritage, I would drive there when I wanted to be somewhere peaceful, gorgeous and pristine. It was there that I first celebrated the beginning on winter season, – for me, the most magical time of the world.
Without much further talking, I invite you to plunge into this winter fairytale with me.
And now, when you get the feeling of walking these festive lights-kissed streets, take a closer look at the decorative Austrian arts. I love these decorations so much that I could buy all of them – which is pretty much what I did. I mean, wouldn’t you like to take a piece of this magic with you?
So, can you feel it?..
🙂
I absolutely love your photos of Salzburg’s Christmas Markets, they really capture the atmosphere. The photo of the sarcasm quote made me laugh too!
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Thank you Rosie, I am super happy that I could spread my Christmas mood on you 🙂
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Oh MY GOD! It’s really fantastic! It’s really fairy fairy tale! I like this ball with a cat! or white bear (or is it dog?) with wings!!!! I want all of them! I ve never been in Salzburg:( but oneday i was stay for work in Leipzig at Christmas eve’s time. My dear collegues ask me to bring the german christmas cake Stollen:) I belive that the customs officers were surprised when they checked 8 kilos of the cake full of a sugar poudre :))))
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Hahaha, the story with the cake is the best! 😸⚡️my favorite reader is back 😻
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It would be really nice for us to come back in Christmas. Choices…hmm. What should we do…
Well we don’t want a sarcastic answer…hehe
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Hehe, it’s a good problem to have, isn’t it? 🙂 Singapore should be amazing for Christmas, too: I visited a month ago and it was already sparkling with lights and decorations.
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Absolutely! Was just walking around the malls today and yep its bubbly! Too bad we will not be here though, will be on a plane to China on Christmas eve!
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Hehe, I will be landing in Havana on that day, so a non conventional celebration as well 🙂
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Christmas in Havana? wow sweet. Ok ours will be in Harbin in the frostbiting cold!
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Havana should have a great Christmas, I am guessing! :)) wow, Harbin, I don’t think I can even imagine it properly 🙂
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We’ll post updates where we can, provided the phone does not freeze up
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Haha, so will I, in the rare case of Internet being a viable option 😀
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Such beautiful pictures. I love your blog.
Lara
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Thank you Lara 🙂 music to my ears 🙂
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I was in Salzburg almost 5 years to the day at those same xmas markets. Thanks for renewing my fond memories. I had the best ever hot chocolate in an upstairs cafe near the square
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Ah yes, I remember this café from My summer trips! It is around the corner from this Goldgasse’s entrance (and the market square). 🙂 glad I could bring some great memories to you!
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I am trying to remember the name. Is it Dimmi’s or such like?
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Dont remember either and could not find on the map :)) tucked somewhere between Mozartplatz and Residenzplatz. I could easily find it in the city but not on the map. We should go again!! :))
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Absolutely!
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I just did a google search and it seems it was Cafe Demel. Despite being really popular when I was there, it closed its doors in 2012….
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That explains why I could not find it on a map! 🙂 then we need to go to look for new ones 😀
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Next time I am there, I will!!
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Merry Christmas! Salzburg markets looks beautiful! 🙂
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…and thanks again! All the love you are giving me end of this December.
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