Dog Friendly Salzburg
- fajndogwear
- Feb 18
- 4 min read
Updated: Mar 2
Dog Friendly Salzburg Bars and Restaurants:
Gasthaus Hinterbruhl (up there with the best food we had all trip!)
Gasthaus Zwettlers (average food, but dog friendly and nice inside for a cosy drink)
220 Grad (posh cafe)
Dog Friendly Salzburg Activities:
Hohensalzburg Fortress and Festungsbanh (furnicular)
Old Town (Cathedral, Sphaera Sculpture, Residenzplatz)
Untersberg and ‘Untersbergbahn)
Salzburg Zoo
Our Journey
Train from Munich to Salzburg - 1 hour 50 minutes
Dog ticket required in Germany - we risked it and didn’t buy it (and got away with it!) as it would have been very expensive!
Art by Emily Flanagan 
DAY 1 - City Centre Sights
The third destination on our European tour was Salzburg, just a couple of hours from Munich by train. We arrived at Salzburg Hauptbahnhof before midday. The public transport system is incredibly efficient and reliable, so we hopped on a bus from the terminal outside the main station entrance and reached our hotel, within 20 minutes of arriving in the city.
Tip! If there is one thing you need to do to make your trip both cheaper and easier, it’s to buy a ‘Salzburg Card’. Available in 24- to 72-hour options ranging from €77 to €205, the card grants unlimited public transport access and free entry to all the major attractions. It covers everything you’d want to visit, from the fortress (including the funicular) to the zoo, and even includes an option for hotel stays!
After dropping off our bags, we wasted no time and set of to find food. Our hotel was less than five minutes walk from the old town and as we wandered into Kajetanerplatz, we sat down in the first restaurant we came across, Restaurant Gasthaus Hinterbruhl. The food and service were incredible - one of the best meals of our entire trip (made even sweeter by the fact we stumbled upon it completely by accident)! We sat outside, and as expected in Austria, the restaurant was dog-friendly, so Nora was well accommodated.
A short walk away, we reached Kapitelplatz where we stopped to see the famous ‘Sphaera’ sculpture and the Salzburg Cathedral. Wandering through to Residenzplatz we were greeted by a huge cycling race (Cyclodome Salzburg) which was just about to start! So we grabbed a delicious sorbet from Hoefinger Eis and sat down to wait for some of our family members who were travelling down from the Czech Republic.
Next, we made our way up to the Festungsbahn station and, using our Salzburg Card, took the funicular to Fortress Hohensalzburg. The funicular and fortress are both dog-friendly, and while signage suggested that dogs should be muzzled on the funicular, this wasn’t enforced, and Nora was fine without one. Inside the fortress, dogs are allowed in all outdoor sections- which, to be fair, are the best parts! The panoramic views across the city are absolutely breathtaking.
Residenzplatz was still taken over by the cycling event, so we strolled back towards Mozartplatz for dinner at Zwettler’s Wirtshaus, a recommended spot known for serving traditional Austrian meals and being dog-friendly. Unfortunately, the food was very average—quite the contrast from our earlier meal at Gasthaus Hinterbrühl. However, the cosy bar area with its traditional decor was nice for a quick drink, where we enjoyed a nightcap before heading back to the hotel.
DAY 2 - Untersberg Mountain
Our second day started early with an unexpectedly expensive coffee and a pistachio & chocolate croissant from 220 Grad enjoyed while waiting for our bus. Making use of our free transport via the Salzburg Card, we hopped on the No. 5 bus for a 20-minute journey to Grödig.
Grödig is home to the ‘Untersbergbahn’ cable car, which takes visitors up into the Untersberg mountain range. The cable car runs every half hour and takes around 10 minutes to reach the top. Again, the Salzburg Card covered our fare, but note that they strictly enforce the requirement for dogs to be muzzled (Our muzzle is a standard Don Pare 103 from eBay). We had to pay an additional €11 for Nora to join us on the round-trip journey. The ride itself is spectacular, offering stunning valley views as you climb nearly 1,500m to Bergstation, though it’s probably not ideal for those who struggle with heights!
Despite a sunny and pleasant start to the day at ground level, the summit was completely clouded over when we arrived. It was also dramatically colder, so definitely pack extra layers! Even Nora ended up in her fajn jumper! Luckily, the clouds cleared quickly, revealing breathtaking long-distance views across Salzburg. Several viewpoints around the cable car station offer fantastic panoramas, and we also walked along the ridgeline to reach the Untersberg summit.
After descending back to Grödig, we caught the No. 25 bus and headed straight to Salzburg Zoo! Entry is included with the Salzburg Card, and surprisingly, the zoo is dog-friendly! While we probably wouldn’t have visited otherwise, we made the stop to entertain our family- two kids under five, and it turned out to be a great experience for Nora, too. Despite its relatively small size, the zoo has a diverse range of animals and exhibits worth checking out.
We spent the evening with family, enjoying a BBQ and beers, so we didn’t explore much more of the city centre. But overall, Salzburg is an incredible destination, packed with history, beautiful sights, and a variety of experiences, definitely worth a visit!
Any questions about our time in Salzburg? Just drop a comment in at the bottom of this blog and we will try to answer!
Sighthounds Seen...
Comments