The Mönchsberg viewpoint over the old town

The Mönchsberg is the wooded ridge that walls the old town on its western side, and the terrace beside the Museum der Moderne at its northern end is the city's panorama: the domes of the cathedral and the Kollegienkirche, the roofs of the Getreidegasse, the Salzach with its bridges, the Kapuzinerberg across the river and the fortress on its rock to the right, all in one frame. It takes a minute to get there in the Mönchsberg lift on Gstättengasse, or ten minutes on foot up the steps from Toscaninihof or the Festungsgasse, which are free.

The terrace looks east and south-east, so it is backlit in the morning and comes into its own in the afternoon; the last hour before sunset lights the whole old town from behind you, and the blue hour afterwards puts lights in the windows with the fortress floodlit above. The lift runs year-round, with a small fare and hours that change by season — check the last descent before planning an evening.

From the terrace a path runs south along the top of the ridge for about half an hour to the fortress, past the Humboldt terrace and other openings in the trees, each with a different slice of the view; it is quiet at any hour and the best way to make a session out of a single viewpoint.

In winter the trees are bare, which opens more of the view, and snow on the domes with the fortress above is the classic Salzburg Christmas card. The terrace is open to the public without a museum ticket; the museum's own rules apply on its premises and to tripods, so check before setting up anything heavier than a camera.