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Salzburg Mozart Music Birthday Tour, July 2006
Explore Salzburg, the city where Mozart was born in the year of his 250th birthday
with your Tour Host, Karin Winkler, a Salzburg native and Personal Chef.
Please note: This tour is limited to six participants only!
$2,967 per person.
Date: Saturday, July 8th (with departure on Friday, July 7th) - to - Monday, July 17th (10 days).

~~~As of today: , this tour still has two open places!~~~

Interested in this tour?
Please call (760) 366-4832 or

To assure each participant the best possible attention of your tour host, the tours are limited to six participants only. Please make your reservations NOW!

Summary of your Tour:

It is a pleasure for Karin to be your tour host for this truly marvelous Mozart Music Tour in Salzburg where you will celebrate Mozart's 250th birthday and enjoy Mozart music performances with their festive atmosphere. You will experience the important stations of Mozart's life in Salzburg and you will taste great food and will be pleased by the Austrian hospitality.
Your tour host Karin is a Personal Chef, who lives and works in Joshua Tree (near Palm Springs), California. Karin will take pride in showing you true musical adventures as well as Austrian lifestyle and she will assure you of her best possible attention, so that this Mozart Music Tour will present you with the most wonderful memories!
She will prepare a special traditional Salzburg dinner for you in a private home with great Austrian sparkling wine and a lovely surprise gift will await you there!

Further more our itinerary has lots of adventures - visiting the fortress, castles and other historically significant places, visiting churches and museums, with some time to relax in the lovely and comfortable four star hotel, where you will stay. Our tour further more includes two sacred music concerts, six classical concerts, an opera at the Marionette Theatre, five additional dinners to the Personal Chef dinner, a "Salzburg city at night" tour, a boat trip on the river Salzach, two trips to the country, a boat trip on the St. Wolfgang lake, ample time for shopping and enjoying traditional coffee and pastries in beautiful old coffee houses to take full advantage of the incredible surroundings.

Friday, July 7th

• Recommended departure from your airport of choice to airport Salzburg, Austria.
• You will be in the new "old" world the next day.

• If you fly to our recommended airport Salzburg, Karin will pick you up and transfer you to your nice four star hotel.
• Enjoy a gourmet dinner basket prepared by your tour host Karin.
• Relax the evening or enjoy an evening stroll through the beautiful city.

• Breakfast at the hotel, which consists of an abundance breakfast with specialties from Salzburg's countryside.
• Transfer to the pilgrimage church Maria Plain in Bergheim, near Salzburg, where we will listen to the sacred music Krönungsmesse, KV 317by W.A. Mozart and to the Protector noster by J.M. Haydn. For the famous painting "Maria Trost", which survived a huge fire in Bavaria and which hangs in this church, Mozart wrote his famous Krönungsmesse.
• After the concert we will transfer to Salzburg's "old town" and visit the Franciscan church (stylistically Salzburg's most interesting church), historic goldsmith's workshop, Georg Trakl memorial and research center, St. Michael church, Heimatwerk (folklore arts and crafts), Residenz fountain, the Cathedral and the Cathedral museum with the Cathedral treasure and it's special exhibition "Between Heaven and Earth. Mozart's Musica Sacra", art from the Salzburg archdiocese from the middle ages to the 19th century and the archiepiscopal art and curiosity chamber.
• Some free time for shopping and you will be able to enjoy a lunch of your choice.
• Transfer to the hotel. Freshen up.
• Transfer to the Stiftskeller St. Peter for a Mozart-Dinner and -Concert in the magnificent baroque-hall. The Salzburger Mozart musicians are wearing historic costumes.
• Transfer to the hotel.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Transfer to the "old town" to Collegiate church.
• We will walk through the famous Getreidegasse and Mozart's birthplace with it's "Special exhibition for the Mozart Year 2006". This exhibition will portray Mozart's life while Touring Europe.
• Visit of the old Rathaus and some free time for shopping, visiting coffee houses, pastry shops, etc
• Transfer to the "CONCERTS AT FIVE" in the St. Peter's Arch-abbey. International musicians will play on original instruments, mainly chamber music of the 18th century, works by Johann Michael Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
• Transfer to the hotel and dinner of your choice.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Transfer to the "old city".
• We will visit the Cajetan church, Erhard church and Nonnberg convent.
• Then we will walk through small romantic streets like the Bierjodlgasse (beer jodl street) to the Stieglkeller, a traditional brewery-restaurant where you will be able to enjoy a traditional Austrian lunch of your choice.
• In the afternoon we will visit the famous St. Peter's cemetery and church and the nearby Felsenkeller, a wine cellar in the mountain - open to the public - with walls decorated with coins.
• At 2PM you will take a guided tour through the Salzburg Festival Halls.
• After the tour visit of Cathedral place with some free time to visit a coffee house and to shop.
• From Kapitelplatz transfer to the hotel. Freshen up.
• In the later afternoon we will transfer to the river Salzach to the boat "Amadeus".
• You will take a boat trip on the river Salzach with the "Amadeus".
• After that we will transfer to the cable railway to the Fortress Hohensalzburg.
• Transfer with the cable railway up the Fortress' mountain to the Fortress Hohensalzburg.
• Dinner and a concert in the magnificent Prince's Chamber of the Hohensalzburg Fortress with spectacular view of the city. This event will remain an unforgettable experience.
• Transfer to the hotel.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Transfer to Hellbrunn palace. Visit of the castle Hellbrunn and it's beautiful water gardens. Hellbrunn is one of the finest examples of mannerist architecture with it's world-famous trick fountains. You will take a guided tour.
• We will visit (if weather permits) the Steintheater (stone-theater, where the first operatic performance on German-speaking soil was staged in 1617) and/or Monatsschlössl.
• Transfer to the "old city".
• Visit of the "Viva! MOZART" exhibition. This major exhibition is one of the main highlights among the wide range of Mozart events that are held in 2006 in Austria. The exhibition focuses on the idea of throwing a birthday party for Mozart. Real and virtual adventure areas are created with the interior's decoration. The visitor can experience an interactive exhibition festival visually, virtually, acoustically and through animated techniques of presentation.
• This evening we will go on a Salzburg at night tour to the Gaisberg mountain. The breathtaking view of the entire city of Salzburg from the Gaisberg mountain is one of the highlights of this day. In addition you will enjoy a dinner on top of the Gaisberg mountain in a restaurant that is famous for it's Kasnocken (small dumplings with Salzburger hard cheese and roasted onions). Salzburg natives find them especially delicious.
• Transfer to the hotel.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Transfer to Mirabell place in the city.
• We will visit the Mirabell palace and the Mirabell garden.
• Then the dwarf garden and it's Pavillon with it's special exhibition "Hans von Ach".
• Then the baroque museum with it's special exhibition "Die Hagenauer" - Artists, traders, clergy in the city of Salzburg during Mozart's time.
• Then we will stroll the amazing farmers market (Schrannenmarkt), where Karin will buy the freshest ingredients for this evenings Personal Chef dinner. Big business takes place in front of St. Andrew's Church from early in the morning until midday every Thursday. Salzburg's farmers come here to sell flowers, traditional handicrafts, eggs, local vegetables and fruits in any kind of weather. Sausages, home made cakes or native bakery specialities such as 'Bauernkrapfen', 'Buchteln' and 'Gebackene Mäuse' should be tried in any case.
• After that we will visit the University Mozarteum, the Mozart residence with it's special exhibition "The Mozart Family in Salzburg", Holy Trinity church, Loreto church (with the possible visit of the "Loreto-Kindl"=little ivory-made Jesus) and the St. Sebastian church.
• In the afternoon you will be picked up by Karin's friend and Salzburg Tour Guide Herta Gallée, who is a retired teacher. She speaks English and is a member of the Austrian American Society.
• You will spend this afternoon with wonderful surprises of historically important sites and Herta will do her best to explain to you some of Salzburg's rich history.
• Herta will bring you to your hotel, where you will have a short time to freshen up.
• In the following (later afternoon) Herta will transfer you to her lovely private home in the country, where in the meanwhile Karin is preparing a traditional Austrian dinner especially for you. Additionally a lovely surprise gift will await you there too. Karin, the Personal Chef specializing in Austrian cuisine, usually works where she lives, near Palm Springs, in California.
• Transfer to the hotel.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Transfer to the "old city".
• Ride in a horse-drawn carriage around town.
• We continue our tour of the city with visits of the Residenz State Rooms (former official chambers of the Salzburg prince archbishops). Take a wonderful guided one hour tour through the Salzburg Residenz with a welcome drink and a Mozart chocolate. The tour is followed by a short concert exclusively played for our group.
• We will continue to the Salzburg Festival halls building, Pferdeschwemme, summer riding school building, toy museum and musical instruments, Blasius church, Trachtenmuseum (traditional costumes museum) and the museum Carolino Augusteum.
• For lunch Karin recommends the famous Bosna (sausages) in the Getreidegasse.
• Ride the Mönchsberg elevator to one of the most beautiful vantage points of the city.
• Visit the Museum of Modern Art with it's special exhibition: "Forget Mozart. Medial Reflections on distance and proximity".
• We will take a nice short walk on the Mönchsberg to Mülln (part of the city) and visit the Müllner church.
• Visit of the Augustiner brewery (a monastery brewery since 1621), where you will be able to enjoy a dinner of your choice. We recommend to choose from the elaborate buffet. Very good is the hot Leberkäse with cut white radish and fresh bread.
• Transfer to the hotel to freshen up.
• In the evening transfer to St. Peter, where you will enjoy Mozart's piano music with international soloists..
• Transfer to the hotel.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• We will tke an exciting trip to the country to the city of Grossgmain by bus. There we will visit the Open Air Museum and learn about farming, living and economy in rural Salzburg, from the 16th to the 20th century. The exhibits are displayed over an area of 50 hectares. Particularly characteristic houses and farmyards have been transposed to the Open-Air Museum and rebuilt to their original state and authentically furnished. Displays of ancient handicraft techniques, old tools and farm machinery are equally a part of the Open-Air Museum's offering as are the events depicting local culture and special exhibitions.
• After our return to Salzburg we will visit the modern Aircraft museum, built by the owner of the beverage company "Red Bull", who created one of the most interesting aircraft collections in the world. A vision was born to create a place that would bring together a love of aviation and of art. To create, instead of a simple, functional building, a place that would be uplifting in every sense of the word. A unique combination of aircraft hangar, art gallery, catering and adventure. There you might want to enjoy a nice dinner.
• In the evening you will be able to enjoy the opera "The Magic Flute" from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, performed by the Salzburg Marionette Theatre.
  

  ABOUT THE MARIONETTE THEATRE:
  Attending a performance at the Salzburg Marionette Theatre is an absolute must during a visit to Salzburg.
  The baroque theatre with its auditorium seating 350 visitors is in itself worth seeing. This world-famous jewel is undoubtedly the leading theatre of its kind. The operas, operettas and ballet performed on the small stage by marionettes never fail to enchant audiences.
  Anyone who believes that the Marionette Theatre is only something for children is very wrong because here the great operas found in the repertoires of real opera houses are performed. World-class artists, especially stage-directors and designers, come back again and again to work for the Salzburg Marionettes.
  The Marionette Theatre has now been in existence for more than 90 years and has become world famous not only through its 160 annual performances in Salzburg but also through its countless international tours.

• After the opera transfer to the hotel.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Transfer to the cathedral in the old town.
• At 10:00 AM we will listen to Mozart's organ mass with the Hungarian cathedral choir Pécs.
• After lunch we will take a tour to the Lake district in the country of Salzburg. The Lake district with its natural beauty and exceptional landscape already hosted the Austrian Emperor Franz Josef and his family for their summer vacation. Splendid hunts were held there by Salzburgs Prince Archbishops. On this tour we will experience the breathtaking beauty of one of Austria's most beautiful regions - the lake district just beyond the gates of Salzburg. With a view down to Salzburg we begin our excursion to the scenic and historical landmarks of the surroundings. We will point see the impressive hunting castle Fuschl, today a luxury hotel, where the Prince Archbishops spent many seasons.
  In St. Wolfgang there is time to visit the famous winged Gothic altar by Michael Pacher and a stop at the 'White Horse Inn' for refreshments. From St. Wolfgang we will go by boat to St. Gilgen on the other side of Lake St. Wolfgang. After 25 minutes we will land in St. Gilgen, where Mozart's mother was born. Passing Castle Hüttenstein we continue along the Mondsee. The ever changing and contrasting scenery will make this tour an unforgettable memory.
• Transfer to Mirabell palace to enjoy a delicious dinner and then Mozart's finest music in one of the most beautiful music halls, the marble hall.
• Transfer to the hotel.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• If you fly from our recommended airport Salzburg that day, we will pick you up from your hotel and transfer you to the airport.
• You will arrive in the United States the same day with full of memories of an unforgettable experience...

This itinerary is subject of change at any time and/or the sites included, should it be deemed necessary due to local conditions, time restrictions, or other circumstances.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on January 27, 1756 as the seventh child of "Salzburg's royal chamber musician" Leopold Mozart (1719 - 1787) and his wife, Anna Maria Walpurga née Pertl of St. Gilgen near Salzburg (1720 - 1778). At a very early age, the two surviving children, Maria Anna, known as "Nannerl" (1751-1829) and her younger brother Wolfgang, displayed an extraordinary musical talent. 

Their father neglected his own musical work to devote himself to the education and exploitation of his children. On January 12, 1762 Leopold Mozart embarked on a journey with his family which he had planned with great circumspection and skill.

For Wolfgang a time of traveling began, a time of restlessness which was to fill almost a third of his short life. The journeys took him to the most magnificent royal courts of his time. He won great acclaim in Munich and Vienna. In the summer of 1763 the Mozarts set out on an extensive tour of western Europe, taking them to Germany, Belgium, France and London.

After interest in the child prodigy had subdued, the goal of the first journey to Italy was to learn the skills of music where music had originated and to obtain a commission to compose an opera. Wolfgang was very successful on this trip: he became a member of the Philharmonic Society Academia Philharmonic of Bologna and was awarded the Order of the Golden Spur by Pope Clemens XIV (1705/1769-1774). The performance of the first opera seria composed for Italy "Mitridate, Re di Ponto" (Mithridates, King of Pontus) K. 87, was received with great enthusiasm in Milan. The desperate attempts of the young musician and composer, who had been without a salary since 1769 and concert master of the Salzburg royal orchestra since 1772, to find a permanent post during subsequent journeys to Italy, Vienna and Munich were unsuccessful. The family moved to the house on Hannibal Square (now Makart Square 8, Mozart's Residence/Mozart-Wohnhaus in the autumn of 1773, where he wrote countless symphonies, serenades, divertimenti, five concerts for violin and piano ("Lützow-Concert" K. 246, "Jeunehomme Concert" K.271), "Il Re pastore" K. 208 as well as parts of "Idomeneo" K. 366.

The political and social changes resulting from the installation of the new Archbishop of Salzburg in 1772 - Prince Archbishop Hieronymus Graf Colloredo (1732/1772-1803/1812) had put an enlightened ecclesiastic on the throne, forcing Mozart to lead a highly restricted life. This led to a prolonged conflict with his employer (Wolfgang had received the post of court organist in 1779 with an annual salary of 450 gulden) which caused a permanent rift with the Archbishop after the successful performance of "Idomeneo" in Munich at the beginning of June 1781. Mozart tried to establish himself as an independent composer in Vienna, which appeared to be "the best place in the world for his metier" and earned a living mostly by composing operas ("Die Entführung aus dem Serail" (The Abduction from the Seraglio) K. 384, "Der Schauspieldirektor" K. 486, "Le Nozze di Figaro" (The Marriage of Figaro) K. 492), as a piano virtuoso of his own compositions and as a teacher. On August 4, 1782 he married Constanze Weber (1762-1842) without his father's blessing. She is criticized by posterity as being extravagant, unfeeling and extremely enterprising after the death of her husband.

Mozart and his wife traveled to Salzburg (1783) and twice to Prague in 1787 to attend the performance of "Le Nozze di Figaro" and the première of "Don Giovanni" K. 527. His last two successful operas were "La Clemenza di Tito" K. 621, which premièred in Prague on September 6, 1791 and "Zauberflöte" (Magic Flute) K. 620, at the Freihaustheater in Vienna. Mozart died in the house in Rauhensteingasse in which he had composed "Zauberflöte" and his unfinished "Requiem" K. 626 on December 5, 1791 at the age of 35 years of "heated miliary fever".

The Significance of Salzburg:

The city of Salzburg - and especially its historic city center ­ is in fact one of the loveliest places in Europe, winning international acclaim in 1997 when it was designated a world heritage site by UNESCO.
The Salzach River, flowing from the Prealps in the south, winds through the city as its historic lifeline and separates it into two halves.
The Old City is picturesquely surrounded by the Mönchsberg, crowned by the Fortress which is visible for miles, and the mighty Capuchin Mountain on the right banks of the river.
The Old City with its variety of building styles is a true architectural delight. A walk through the countless narrow streets features buildings from the Middle Ages, Romanesque, Baroque and Renaissance periods.
The city's most famous squares include Residence Square with its splendid fountain, the neighboring Old Market, University Square, as well as Mozart Square with the memorial of the city's genius loci.
There are many imposing buildings, the most striking of which include the Cathedral, Hohensalzburg Fortress, the Residenz, St. Peter's Monastery with its impressive cemetery, the Franciscan church and Collegiate church as well as the Large and Small Festival Halls and the Summer Riding School in the Festival District.
On the right banks of the Salzach is the Mirabell Palace with the romantic Mirabell Gardens or St. Sebastian's church with its charming cemetery.
Hellbrunn Palace with its trick fountains and the zoo is situated just outside of the city gates.
Salzburg has an abundance of attractive venues and charming facets.

The History of Salzburg

Salzburg has a proud heritage as the capital and residential city of an ecclesiastical principality. Prehistoric findings have revealed that it is situated on ancient settlement soil whose civilization dates from the New Stone Age. The Romans founded a town they called Juvavum as the seat of a major administrative district located along an important military road which crossed the Salzach River. Foundations, mosaics and numerous artifacts were found throughout the old city districts.

After the chaotic mass migrations, a bishop named St. Rupert came to the area at the end of the seventh century and revived a monastic order, founded a convent on Nonnberg and became the founder of today's Salzburg. Under Charlemagne Salzburg became an archbishopric, sovereign over all of the Bavarian dioceses. The first cathedral erected by St. Virgil was one of the largest in the mighty Franconian Empire. The archbishops used their privileged positions as papal legates and primas germaniae to expand the archiepiscopal territory, ending in the 13th century, and had a decisive influence on the history of the Empire. The extension of the Cathedral, revealed by recent excavations, was a sign of their religious and secular power.

Many of the townspeople became quite wealthy as a result of the flourishing trade between Italy and Germany, the town, however, remained under the archbishop's rule. Whereas the archbishops of the Middle Ages were primarily involved in politics, their successors during the 17th and 18th centuries were mainly preoccupied with beautifying their residence. Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau, Markus Sittikus and Paris Lodron gave Salzburg the appearance it has today. Through Paris Lodron's clever diplomacy, the city was able to escape most of the hardships of the Thirty Years' War.

The city was further perfected through buildings designed by Fisher von Erlach. The turmoils of the Napoleonic Wars abruptly ended the long line of prince archbishops and Salzburg was secularized. After being passed back and forth, the city was finally given over to Austria in 1816. This not only resulted in complete political irrelevance but also in the loss of the most valuable objects of art. After emerging from a lengthy Rip van Winkle sleep, Romantic painters discovered the beauty of the city and its environs and made the city known throughout the world through their works. On a political basis Salzburg succeeded in regaining a certain independence in 1850 as a province of the monarchy with its own government and administration. This independence was to continue through the First and Second Republics. The establishment of the Salzburg Festival in 1920 was a decisive step towards the burgeoning of the city.

Above text courtesy of: Tourismus Salzburg GmbH, Auerspergstraße 6, A-5020 Salzburg

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Tour Application | Terms & Conditions

For more information please call (760) 366-4832 or