When the weather warms up, Europe is the best place for summer holidays. It’s because if you suck at skiing like me, the colder countries don’t hold much allure when they’re bunked down in snow for six months and there is not much more to do then eat strudel and just imagine what the voluptuous German girl across the restaurant looks like in a tank top rather than her formless wool sweater.
Spain,most of Italy and Greece are hot as hell in the summer months, so visiting the central European countries with a little elevation makes the perfect destination for a fun getaway with plenty of outdoor activities, luscious landscapes and just enjoying the quaint cities of Austria, Germany, and Switzerland.
My favorite city in the region (well that I’ve been to at least) is Salzburg, Austria. Easily accessible by road, rail or plane, and nearby such bigger cities as Munich, Vienna and Budapest, it makes the perfect place to spend a couple days on a larger itinerary. It is a small, easily walkable city that showcases some very nice architecture, lot’s of great churches, an impressive ancient castle perched on a high hill in the center of town, some great beer gardens, good and affordable accommodations (my reccomendation is the Yoho House Hostel) and lot’s of fun things to do outside like hiking and mountain biking.
Salzburg is famous for a few things, one being the birthplace of Mozart, but a little more recently, the backdrop to The Sound of Music. I actually went on a sound of music tour (pretty ridiculous), but it was a great way to see some of the sights in the city as well as the surrounding countryside and have them explained in English. The only annoying thing was all the people singing along on the bus as the driver played music from the movie.
There are a bunch of nice little towns that surround Salzburg (of course I don’t remember any of their names) but they are definitely worth checking out if you have a car or can go on a half day tour.
I think I liked Salzburg so much because it was chill, clean, actually had a good amount of stuff to see for a small city and it was super easy to get to. Winning in my book (and charlie Sheen’s too)