What cultural etiquette should I know for Salzburg?

The greeting that matters in Salzburg is 'Grüß Gott,' not 'Guten Tag.' Use it when you walk into any shop on Getreidegasse, any bakery in Maxglan, any Tabak-Trafik in Lehen. 'Guten Tag' marks you as a German tourist, which is fine but earns a mild internal eye-roll from Salzburgers who take their Austrian identity seriously. Among younger people, 'Servus' works for both hello and goodbye. A firm handshake and direct eye contact are the standard when meeting someone for the first time. Look away during a toast and you might hear about it. Punctuality is non-negotiable. If you're meeting someone at 14:00, arrive at 13:55. Five minutes late feels rude here in a way it wouldn't in Rome or Barcelona. Address strangers and older people as 'Sie' (formal you), never 'du,' until they suggest the switch themselves.

At Stiftskeller St. Peter, which has been serving food since 803, you'll notice the waiter won't bring the bill until you ask. Say 'Zahlen, bitte' and they'll come to your table with a leather folder. Tip by rounding up or adding 5-10%. On a €34 meal, say 'Vierzig' (forty) as you hand over the cash, and the waiter pockets the difference. Never leave coins scattered on the table the way you might in New York. Credit card tipping is still awkward at smaller Gasthäuser along the Salzach, so carry some euro coins. Lunch has its own ritual. Colleagues and strangers at shared Stammtisch tables greet each other with 'Mahlzeit' around noon. Return it if someone says it to you at a Würstelstand near Hanuschplatz, where the smell of grilled Bosna sausages with curry powder and onions hangs in the air year-round.

The Sound of Music is the elephant in every room Salzburg won't acknowledge. The 1965 film put the city on the global tourist map, and about 300,000 visitors a year still take the bus tour through Mirabell Gardens and past Schloss Leopoldskron. Most Salzburgers have never watched it. Bringing it up tends to produce a polite smile and a subject change. It's not offensive. It's tiring. During the Salzburg Festival, which runs from late July through August, the city's social temperature rises. Performances at the Großes Festspielhaus and Haus für Mozart draw crowds in formal evening wear. You won't be turned away in clean dark jeans and a blazer, but shorts and sneakers at a Festspiel performance would feel wrong. The smell of wool suits and perfume fills the Hofstallgasse on performance nights. Champagne during the interval on the Festspielhaus terrace runs about €12 a glass.

Sundays in Salzburg are still observably quiet. Most shops close. Supermarkets close. The Hauptbahnhof Spar is one of the few exceptions. Mowing a lawn, drilling, or running a washing machine audibly on a Sunday afternoon will earn a neighbor's knock or a formal complaint. Ruhezeit runs from 22:00 to 06:00 on weekdays and all day on Sundays and public holidays. This matters for tourist behavior too. Loud conversations on Linzer Gasse after midnight, slamming apartment doors, dragging rolling suitcases over cobblestones at 5:00 before an early flight from Salzburg Airport. Locals hear all of it. The city has about 157,000 residents, and the Altstadt has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996. People live in these buildings.