one of my favorite Salzburg sights: Augustiner Bräu

I get a lot of emails with questions about Salzburg; where to stay (where not to stay), what to do/see, etc.

Here’s a recommendation for those of you who care:  Augustiner Bräu.  {Interesting Fact #1: It was founded by Monks in 1621.} {Interesting Fact #2: When you pronounce “Bräu” correctly, it sounds like “broy”, not “brow”.}

Year round, Augustiner is the place to be in Salzburg.  You can either lounge outside in the biergarten or cozy up to one another at a booth inside in one of the massive bier halls.  Yes, it’s a brewery so nearly everyone has a beer in hand but it’s a beautiful enough place to enjoy even if you choose not to partake in the drinking.  Also, they serve food (and lots of it) in many varieties (though all Bavarian-esque).

Back when I lived in Salzburg, my friends went to Augustiner all the time; it was the place to celebrate birthdays, holidays, Tuesdays, etc.  Kayla even knew it so well, she once identified that a Facebook friend of hers was sitting in the Augustiner biergarten… just by seeing the thumbnail version of his profile picture.

***

(last spring…)

When selecting your beer, you choose between a half liter (what us girls usually choose) and a liter, which you then rinse out at a communal fountain before selecting your beer.  Kayla and I always opted for Radlers instead of beer (half lemonade-half beer).  Anytime I ordered this in front of local friends, though, they made fun of me.  Personally, beer is not my drink of choice but I’m told the beer here is as good as it gets.

(…summer …)

Just walking around the beer hall/biergarten, you’ll see plenty of people sporting traditional Bavarian dress (lederhosen/ dirndls).  Come to think of it, though, you’ll see that anywhere you go in Salzburg.  Note: this guy is my friend Robert.  From Ohio.  He’s an Austrian-imposter, don’t be fooled.

 

(…fall…)

The only downside?  It’s located very much outside the city center; either a 30 minute walk or a 15 minute bus ride.  We rode the bus there when we celebrated my 24th birthday in Salzburg just a few months ago!

 

(…and winter.)

You never know what kind of people you’ll encounter at Augustiner.  When Pierce and Brett visited me in Salzburg, I brought them here, where we witnessed a family giving their 5-year-old son a little cup of beer.  To Bavarians, it probably seems weird that we even took note of this.  But, to Oklahomans, a beer-drinking child is a sight to behold!

***

official augustiner website