Beer gardens in Salzburg, Austria

The “beer garden” is a wonderful thing – to me, it’s a representation of fun days spent outside with friends and loved ones enjoying life, where time always passes by way too quickly.

Our travels began three days earlier in Munich in the Bavaria region of Germany, where the concept of the “biergarten” was invented. Consequently, when we arrived in Salzburg, I did not expect to see anything that compared. That is, until we discovered the Augustiner Braustubl Tavern…

Augustiner Braustubl beer garden

AUSTRIA’S LARGEST BEER TAVERN

Augustiner Braustubl

Founded by Augustinian monks in 1621, monks who had been called to Salzburg from Bavaria, the Augustiner brewery has a longstanding history and a strong focus on the craft of brewing.

Stone litre-sized mugs

Entrance to Braustubl

Where: A 10-15 minute walk from the main tourist sections of Salzburg’s old town. See map.

Why you should visit: For the complete beer garden experience. The tavern includes a working area of over 5,000 square meters (53,820 square feet!) and an additional 1,500 seats in the shaded beer garden outside.

Overall experience: The entrance led us down a set of stairs where a beautiful painting of the monastery was etched into the walls. I felt like I was stepping into a King’s palace. As we turned the corner and headed in the direction of the outside beer garden, we passed by a spacious food hall bordered with rows and rows of traditional Austrian specialities.

To get your beer, a simple, efficient process is in place:

1. Visit the cashier stationed outside and purchase the amount of beer tokens you want
2. Choose a heavy stone beer mug (available in half litre or full litre sizes)
3. Rinse it with water and then hand your token to the bartender, who pours it from a traditional wooden barrel.

Cleaning out my beer mug

my beer getting poured from the wooden barrel

A lively atmosphere, the beer garden was already filled with at least 500 people, only a half hour after opening.

A pretzel, a beer out of a stone mug and some cards…

If I were a Salzburg resident, I have no doubt Jim and I would be regular, frequent customers and have our own engraved mugs…!

______________________________________

BEER GARDEN WITH A VIEW

Stiegl-Keller

Where:  Centrally located in the heart of the old town area of Salzburg. See map.

Stiegl-Keller entrance in the distance

Why you should visit:  For the Stiegl beer combined with an amazing view of Salzburg

Overall Experience:  Our first night in Salzburg and the weather was not looking good, so after a few hours of walking around the town, we spotted a Stiegl beer sign and followed it.  The Stiegl Brewery is a private, independently owned brewery that has brewed beer in Austria since 1492.  Unfortunately, we didn’t make it to the actual brewery, but the Stiegl-Keller was an ideal spot to have our first taste of the beer!

Jim & I at the Stiegl-Keller outside beer garden area

Shortly after we arrived, the weather took a turn for the worse. As we crowded under the roof waiting for the rain storm to end, we talked to a lovely couple from Fort Smith, Colorado who love beer as much as we do (Mark and Jamie – if you’re reading this, hope we can meet up again in the US one day).

View from Stiegl-Keller beer garden

The rain continued…so we finally managed to secure an outside table under the roof , where we proceeded to spend another few hours! Considering the horrible weather conditions, we could not have asked for a better first night in Salzburg.

Salzburg is an amazing town. It has 35 churches of notable baroque, roman & gothic architecture.  Its musical heritage is strong – Mozart was born here and it’s also the home of the real Von Trapp family (the inspiration for The Sound of Music movie).  The town is surrounded by the Alps.  There’s absolutely no shortage of things to see and do.

But don’t forget to set aside time for the beer! The beer garden experience is a must see.