How do I get around Salzburg?

Your feet do most of the work. The Altstadt on the left bank of the Salzach covers roughly 800 meters, from Mozarts Geburtshaus on Getreidegasse to Kapitelplatz beside Salzburg Cathedral. The cobblestones on Getreidegasse have been polished smooth by centuries of foot traffic. Easy underfoot. Cross the Staatsbrücke and you're on Linzergasse in 3 minutes, where the crowds thin and the roasted-coffee smell from the cafés along the lane hits the pavement. The one real climb is Hohensalzburg Fortress. It sits about 120 meters above the river. You could walk the Festungsgasse path in 15 minutes, but in summer the stone retaining walls throw heat back at you and the climb feels twice as long. The Festungsbahn funicular runs every 10 minutes for around €6 one-way, and the fortress has occupied that hilltop since 1077. Take the funicular up, walk down.

Salzburg runs one of Europe's last trolleybus networks. The Obus system has operated on electric overhead wires since 1940, and you'll hear the quiet hum before the bus rounds the corner at Makartplatz. For visitors, the essential line is the 1, which connects Hauptbahnhof to the Altstadt via Mirabellplatz. Several routes run south to Schloss Hellbrunn, about 20 minutes away, and separate lines serve Hangar-7 near the airport. A single ticket from a Tabak shop or the SalzburgMobil app currently costs around €2.20. A ticket bought on board tends to run about 40 cents more. The 24-hour pass is €6 and covers the full network. Mind you, most lines stop around 23:00 on weekdays. Friday and Saturday nights get a handful of Nightline services, but they run only once every 30 minutes or so.

If you're visiting the fortress, Mozarts Geburtshaus, and Schloss Hellbrunn in a single day, the Salzburg Card likely pays for itself. The 24-hour version runs around €30, roughly $34 at the current rate of 1 USD to 0.879 EUR. It bundles all public transit with free entry to those sites and about 30 others, including the Salzburg Museum on Mozartplatz (open since 1834). The 48-hour card is around €39, the 72-hour roughly €45. Worth noting, the card also covers the Festungsbahn, which saves you that separate fare. Pick one up at the tourist info desk inside Hauptbahnhof or at the Mozartplatz office.

Taxis line up at Hauptbahnhof and Hanuschplatz. A ride from the station to the Altstadt runs about €8 to €10, which is a distance you'd walk in 20 minutes flat. Uber technically operates here, but the fleet appears thin enough that 10 to 15 minute waits are normal. You might find Bolt marginally more responsive at the moment. For day trips, S-Bahn trains from Hauptbahnhof reach Berchtesgaden in about 50 minutes with a change at Freilassing, and Bad Reichenhall in around 30. The flat bike paths along the Salzach work well, and the city's bike-share stations sit near Mirabellplatz and the Staatsbrücke. That said, if you cycle into the Altstadt itself, expect to weave past pedestrians on tight lanes where the smell of fresh Brezen drifts out of every second doorway.