Salzburg in a day from Vienna, two and a half hours by train and the whole Baroque old town.

Salzburg can be seen in a day from Vienna if you get up early: there are two trains an hour without changing, the journey takes about two and a half hours and the station is a quarter of an hour's walk from the old town. The day covers the essentials of Mozart's city: the Mirabell garden, the street of wrought-iron signs, the flat where the composer was born, St Peter's Abbey, the Baroque cathedral and the fortress above the Mönchsberg, and ends with a mug in the Augustinian monks' brewery before the last comfortable train.

The day, hour by hour

7:30 · Railjet from Vienna. It leaves Wien Hauptbahnhof and stops at Meidling. The ÖBB Sparschiene fare is cheaper the earlier you buy it, up to six months ahead. The WESTbahn also runs, from the Westbahnhof.

10:15 · Mirabell Gardens. A fifteen-minute walk from the station, on the new bank. The Baroque garden has the fortress as a backdrop and is open from 6:00; entry is free.

11:00 · Getreidegasse. You cross the Salzach by the Makartsteg footbridge and enter the old town's shopping street, with its wrought-iron signs and passages between houses.

11:30 · Mozart's birthplace. At number 9 on the same street, the flat where he was born in 1756, now a museum on three floors: €18, or €25 with the Mozart Residence. Allow an hour.

12:45 · Lunch at St. Peter Stiftskulinarium. The restaurant of St Peter's Abbey, which boasts of serving meals since the year 803. Signature Austrian cooking; it is the expensive meal of the day, and you can swap it for the Bärenwirt if you prefer something simpler. Book.

14:30 · St Peter's Cemetery. Next to the restaurant: wrought-iron graves and catacombs cut into the rock of the Mönchsberg.

15:00 · Cathedral. The first Baroque cathedral north of the Alps, with the font where Mozart was baptised. €7.

15:45 · Hohensalzburg Fortress. The funicular leaves from the Festungsgasse, behind the cathedral. With the basic ticket and the funicular, €15.50. From October to April it closes at 17:00; in summer, at 20:00. Up top, the ramparts and the whole city at your feet.

18:00 · Augustiner Bräu Mülln. About 25 minutes on foot along the river bank to Mülln. Beer served from a wooden barrel in a stone mug and food stalls in the corridor for something to eat for dinner.

19:30 · Return. The main station is a quarter of an hour's walk away. You reach Vienna around ten at night.

With children or in the rain

Children like the funicular and the fortress ramparts, and the full ticket adds the magic theatre. In the rain, extend the birthplace and the cathedral and go up to the fortress all the same: its museums are under cover.