Switzerland/Salzburg comparison/advise
 

Please advise on the comparison of touring Zurich and surrounding areas to Salzburg and all it has to offer. We have toured in little towns such as Zug in Switzerland and have visited the "Top of Europe" viewing all it's spectacular scenery. (I would like to see Salzburg, but wondered how very similar they are? I'm guessing very similar.)

I guess what the problem is here, is that we have just so much to spend on vacations and seeing great places, but have to keep our funds in mind. If taking a cruise, it would probably be our one and only time for that kind of vacation due to the money spent and not replaced! We would have to do something different the next time we go on vacation. So, if seeing what I consider the most spectacular scenery in the world on our trip to Switzerland, then would I be wrong for not choosing Salzburg?

Don't get me wrong, I realize that Salzburg should get its due praises, and I chose it because of viewing "The Sound of Music" when a young girl. Why not continue with my journey into Southern Italy to tour the towns that I have not seen, Capri, Naples, Pompeii, etc.? We have been to London, Paris, Venice, Rome, Switzerland and Florence, each for about 4 nights. on consecutive years. So few nights each time due to funds. (We fly standby because of relative's airline benefits.)

We've not been to Ireland, Amsterdam, Sicily (ancestry), Rothenburg, Munich, Vienna, Heidleburg. Don't even know if it will be possible to travel to these places in later years. We are 60 & 64 years and one day we will retire and really have not funds for traveling!!

Please help me sort things out. Thanks.

Oh, I want to add that I thank God every day for His blessing us with our health, jobs and the opportunity to be able to travel. Also, for allowing my daughter to continue in her Airline job, for we really would not be able to afford the airfares overseas. Also, I praise and thank God for His beautiful, amazing creation, - - - the Ultimate Artist!!!

We choose to vacation overseas because you can't drive a car over water, and there will plenty of time for that, here in the US, if and when she should lose her job.

Well, the Salzburg of Sound of Music is a myth. The pictures of the buildings are accurate of course, but most of the places where the movie was made are private property and scattered.

Salzburg is unique, somewhat, in that it has a small but attractive old town.
The features include that well preserved fortress up on the hill, the Festspielhaus where the Salzburg Music Festival is held, Schloss Hellbrunn and its strick fountains, which are out om town, a few nice churches, the Mirabel Gardens, the Marionetten Theater, and Mozart memorobilia including a house that purports to be where Mozart was born.

Mozart lived in so many different places that if you start adding them up the total gets quite high. Lord knows how many places he lived in during his short life.

I have been to Salzburg 3 times for a visit, and I must confess that as pleasant a place as it is, the old town part is very touristy. The rest of the city is a modern light industrial and business town.

Most of Salzburg is

I agree with Brookwood. Some of the movie exteriors were filmed at the Schloss Leopoldskron which is now home to the Salzburg Seminar. And that (in)famous gazebo featured in the dance scene I think has finally been closed down after a tourist tried to re-create the "dance scene" and apparently fell and was injured!

Just a suggestion, but you have absolutely the right answer within your own problem explanation.

You will get an altogether different flavor if you do Amalfi Coast trip and/or possible cross into Sicily.

It's a perfect time in your life with good circumstances for fare as well.

I've been to all the places you have, plus Amsterdam, and my all time favorite trip was on the Amalfi Coast and then Sicily.

Capri and Amalfi Coast is another great combination. It will be totally different and absolutely wonderful. I did mine in March and would suggest shoulder seasons and not when everyone is there in summer. August is their vacation shut down, so never plan for that month.

Oh, my gosh! It wasn't Samantha Brown, was it? Ha! Ha! I do know that about the movie and I guess it would be nice to just see the places. My trip is still up in the air. I did book hotels for 4 nights, but maybe 3 nights would be fine. My husband and I would see the sights that you mentioned and I already got a response of the availability of seats to see the Marionette Theater. Haven't made any decisions yet about which opera to see.

Hi Princess,

Congratulations on your birthdays. I think you will have a wonderful trip to Europe!

THE most beautiful sites I have ever seen have been in the Alpine areas of Austria and Switzerland, and through-out Bavaria. I think they are especially glorious at the end of summer, partiularly September.

If I were you, I'd stick with Salzburg. I don't think much of Zurich as a tourist destination.

From Salzburg, you could easily drive (or train) northwest to Munich, and tour Bavaria and the Garmish area. Or you could travel southwest, and visit Innsbruck, Chur (Switzerland), Stein am Rhine (Swiss on the German border).

In either case, I'd end at Lake Constance (Bodensee), staying in Konstanz, and visiting the Isle of Mainau.

Just my two cents worth to give you some more food for thought.

Please let us know where you end up, and how you liked it! :)

Thank you for your comments. We will most likely take our vacation in Salzburg for 3-4 days.

Hi again, Princess...

I didn't realize when I posted earlier that your trip to Europe was 4 days total. I thought it was the first leg. Sorry for my rambling post. I still think it's a great destination in and of itself! Perhaps you can take a long day trip by train to visit another area as well, such as Berchtesgaden in Germany's Bavarian Alps. Great scenery along the way. At any rate, I'm sure you'll love Salzburg and have a wonderful trip! Best wishes.