Which bank (right or left (old side)) should we stay on if mom has a bad knee? She walks but gets tired after a while...I have been planning on being in Old Town (and have seen some places like Weisse taube that we can afford) but the more I read the more confused I get...HELP...we go in December so keep in mind there could be snow too...

Well many thiings are IN or accesible from Old Town. but, much of old town is pedestrian. How far is your mom comfortable walking?

I wold think old town better - but if she can only walk a block or two - you may be better further out and using a cab.

Hi K,

What's your budget?

Most of the sights are on the altstadt side of the river or very close to the river. We prefer to stay on the old town side for the convenience and the charm.

Check the prices at the Goldenen Ente or the Weisses Kreuz.

I took my 79 yo Mom to Salzburg last year. She got tired easily as well. One thing that really worked well for her (well, for both of us) was having a decent restaurant right in the hotel so at night, if she was tired after coming back from the day's sightseeing, we just took the elevator down to the lobby, had dinner in the restaurant and then headed right back up. It was cold and very rainy for our trip, so it was nice not to have to go out in the rain at night for dinner.

We stayed at the Zum Hirschen, which is not in the old town, but it worked best for us because of the good onsite restaurant (as noted above) and because there was a little shopping center across the street, and also a bus stop less than a block away. We got weekly bus passes and took the bus everywhere. The hotel also was just over a block to the train and postbus station, which was helpful for our day trips, as we caught a local bus up to the station then caught the postbus to Bad Reichenhall, Zell am See, etc., which minimized walking.

For price comparisons, we paid 115€ for a large twin-bedded room, very spacious bathroom with tub and shower, and breakfast buffet. The hotel had a sauna and small fitness center that we never used and a computer for free Internet access (we did use that). On average, dinners cost us about 20€ per person--the cuisine wasn't fancy, but the ingredients were very fresh with a strong emphasis on organic food (and beer...Hirter's bio pils is quite tasty!).

Hi all - thanks for the quick replies...
NY- Mom can probably walk 3 or 4 blocks at a time...maybe more, but she is recovering from knee surgery so it all depends on the day and how much walking we did the day before...it might improve a bit by the time we go.

Ira - budgetwise I am looking at about $200/night...

I think I am leaning toward Old Town b/c Dad will want to walk as often as we can and I don't think mom will feel overwhelmed by any of the distances. I also like the charm of old town...that is big, esp since we will be there over Advent w/Xmas markets. I have been looking at Weisse Taube, Golden Ente and Kasererbrau...any preferences b/w those??