Planning Your Time

Salzburger Festspiele. The biggest event on the Salzburg social calendar—as it has been since it was first organized by composer Richard Strauss, producer Max Reinhardt, and playwright Hugo von Hofmannsthal in 1920—is the world-famous Salzburg Festival, usually held late July through late August. The most star-studded events feature top opera stars and conductors and are very expensive, with keen audience members pulling out all the stops—think summer furs, Dior dresses, and white ties. However, other performances can be more relaxed and more reasonably priced, and events outside the main festival halls, the Grosses Festspielhaus (Great Festival Hall) and the Haus für Mozart (House for Mozart), located on the grand promenade of Hofstallgasse, are even cheaper. This street is especially dazzling at night, thanks to the floodlighted Fortress Hohensalzburg. There are also concerts and operas at other theaters in the city, including the the Summer Riding School (Felsenreitschule), Kollegienkirche, and the Mozarteum. Order your tickets early, as major performances sell out several months in advance. Hofstallgasse 1, Salzburg, Salzburg, A-5020. 0662/8045–500; www.salzburgerfestspiele.at.