Housed in the baroque Neue Residenz palace, this flagship museum takes you on a fascinating romp through Salzburg past and present. Ornate rooms showcase everything from Roman excavations to royal portraits. There are free guided tours at 6pm every Thursday.
A visit starts beneath the courtyard in the strikingly illuminated Kunsthalle, presenting rotating exhibitions of art. Upstairs, prince-archbishops glower down from the walls at Mythos Salzburg, which celebrates the city as a source of artistic and poetic inspiration. Showstoppers include Carl Spitzweg’s renowned painting Sonntagsspaziergang (Sunday Stroll; 1841), the portrait-lined prince-archbishop’s room and the Ständesaal (Sovereign Chamber), an opulent vision of polychrome stucco curling around frescos depicting the history of Rome according to Titus Livius. The early-16th-century Milleflori tapestry, Prince-Archbishop Wolf Dietrich’s gold-embroidered pontifical shoe, and Flemish tapestries are among the other attention-grabbers.
The Panorama Passage also provides some insight into Salzburg's past, with its Roman walls, potter's kiln and models of the city at different points in history.
Salzburg’s famous 35-bell carillon, which chimes daily at 7am, 11am and 6pm, is on the western flank of the Neue Residenz.