Escape The Heat! Europe’s Safest Alpine Gem Awaits

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With temperatures rising across the pond and a new season of raging wildfires and unpleasantly hot temperatures looming, we wouldn’t blame you for considering giving Greece, Italy, Spain and the like a miss and heading somewhere a little cooler.

Austria may be best known as a winter destination, thanks to its family-friendly ski resorts and snowy landscapes, but for heat-intolerant tourists who can’t do life over 100 degrees, and who don’t care so much about the beach, it’s just the perfect summer getaway.

Though it’s often the national capital Vienna that steals the show, Queen of the Alps Salzburg is the chilled city break you’ve been looking for, offering safety, as well as culture and dramatic nature:

A UNESCO-Listed Alpine City With A Fascinating History

Located at the foot of Europe’s Eastern Alps, a range of towering mountains where the Austria-Germany border runs along, Salzburg is one of Austria’s cultural capitals and perhaps the country’s second most-important city culturally after Vienna.

Its entire Historic Center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in recognition of its historical significance and eclectic architecture, with buildings that date back to the Holy Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia and the once-far-reaching Habsburg Empire.

Unlike other European cities that have slowly given in to modernization in recent years, like London, Paris and Milan, where more skyscrapers spring up every year, Salzburg has stayed true to its medieval character, with a cityscape whose core has remained virtually unchanged in centuries.

Looking at the stone-built Old Town (or Altstadt) from one of the many elevated lookouts that surround it, you’ll see countless church spires, domes, narrow pathways flanked by skinny houses in pastel tones, and palatial complexes built out of white-grey marble.

Rising above it all, on a prominent mountain in the center, there’s Fortress Hohensalzburg, the real eye-catcher here: it’s watched over Salzburg since the Middle Ages, and being 250 meters long, and 150 meters wide, it’s one of the largest medieval castles in the continent.

Salzburg is also a ‘City of Music‘ of the sorts: though it’s Vienna that concentrates the highest number of stately operas and concert halls, Salzburg is the birthplace of renowned composer Mozart, and it’s where timeless classic The Sound of Music, starring Julie Andrews, was filmed.

For die-hard, nostalgic fans, the Original Sound of Music Tour taking you up to the main points of interest associated with the film is a must-do, with tickets starting from $71.79 on Viator––and in case you ever wondered where those verdant mountains sprinkled with snow in the opening scene are located…

Look no further than the majestic peaks that bound Salzburg to the East.

The Perfect Summer Weather

Whether it’s taking in the medieval sights, visiting art museums, or getting lost in the surrounding nature, Salzburg is a summer paradise for culture aficionados and outdoorsy folks alike, owing to its temperate climate:

You get plenty of sunshine and moderate heat, with temperatures typically peaking at 77°F in the daytime and dropping to a tolerable 57.2°F in the evenings, but none of Southern Europe’s inhospitable Mediterranean torridity: in Seville, Spain, it’s already 105°F and the season’s barely started.

As for outdoor activities, Salzburg offers plenty of hiking trails, including the 5-mile Krimmi Waterfall Trail, which takes you up to some of the largest waterfalls in Europe, dropping from a height of 380 meters, and the 7-mile Zell am See circuit, which laps around a picturesque lake.

Even if you’re staying in town, you’re never too far from the lush alpine green: there’s the elegant, fountain-dotted Mirabell Garden and the heritage Kapuzinergberg, a popular city walk that takes roughly 1h25 to complete and boasts incredible views of Fortress Hohensalzburg.

This Is One Of The Safest Cities In Europe

Crime has been a pressing issue for tourists visiting Europe lately: all around tourism hotspots, pickpocketing has become widespread, and across cities that have been overwhelmed by irregular migration, the overall sense of safety has dropped significantly.

Fortunately for Salzburg-bound travelers, other than the postcard-perfect Old Town and dreamy mountain views, it is known for being extremely safe: unlike other European cities with surging crime rates, the so-called Rome of the North has very low rates of crime.

According to Numbeo, only a small number of people feel worried about being attacked or robbed when walking in Salzburg, and nearly 90 percent report feeling safe walking alone at night; the same can’t be said of places like Athens, Barcelona, or even the actual Rome.

Salzburg Is A Transatlantic Flight (And Train Ride) Away

Salzburg hosts low-cost flights from numerous European destinations in summer, including Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London and Paris, but unlike Vienna, it is yet to open a Transatlantic route: for Americans traveling to Salzburg, the easiest option is flying into Munich, Germany instead.

The capital of Bavaria is a short 1h38 train ride from Salzburg, tickets costing only $33 one-way on Germany’s national railway Deutsche Bahn, and trains leave multiple times per day from the Central Station.

Delta Air Lines offers year-round flights to Munich from Atlanta, and this summer, Detroit and New York (JFK), while American Airlines operates on this route from Charlotte (North Caroline); meanwhile, United Airlines serves Chicago, Denver, Houston, Newark, San Francisco and Washington.

As for German carrier Lufthansa, they serve all of the following U.S. cities this season:

• Boston
• Charlotte
• Chicago
• Denver
• Miami
• New York (JFK)
• Newark
• San Diego
• Seattle/Tacoma
• Washington

As you can see, there’s plenty of flight options getting to Munich, and from there, Salzburg is just a stone’s throw away across the border.

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This article originally appeared on TravelOffPath.com

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