Most visitors travel to Salzburg for its alpine beauty and its historic Old Town streets but it’s also a great town for beer lovers.

They’ve been making quality beer in Salzburg for 500 years thanks to the purity of the local water, which is always the foundation of great beer, and Salzburg is watered beautifully by the melting snows of mountains all around it. Salzburg Tourism’s website gives you all the stations on a fine beer filled itinerary at .

The Salzburg State, surrounding the city of Salzburg, is home to 10 major breweries. The place to begin an exploration of the local beer in town is the Stiegl Brauwelt. Founded in 1492, this is the city’s top beer location. As is the tradition in this part of Europe, the tables are open to everyone as strangers mix together as swimmingly as the beer flows into steins.

Die Weisse is a more modern pub selling wheat beers. It features a restaurant that is situated in its center. The restaurant and the pub treat beer with the same culinary reverence that wine receives.

In 1621, the Augustiner Brewery, a.k.a. the Augustiner Brau, was founded by Augustinian monks. Today visitors can take the Brewery Tour and witness the craft that goes into craft brewing.

Of course there’s more in Salzburg than beer makes.

St. Peter’s Restaurant is the oldest in Europe at more than 1,200 years. There’s also a pharmacy dating back to 1588 at the Alter Markt. And of course, the quest for fine coffee and strudel, which often ends at the classic Café Bazar.