Kapitelplatz and Domplatz under the cathedral

The cathedral's west front closes Domplatz on one side, and its arcaded arches close the other three, so the square is a stone room open to the sky; walk through the southern arch and you are on Kapitelplatz, a wider square with the fortress rock straight above it, a giant chessboard on the paving, the baroque horse pond in the corner and Stephan Balkenhol's golden sphere with a man standing on top. Together they are the old town in two frames: the formal one and the playful one.

Both squares are empty before nine, fill with groups from ten and thin again after five. The cathedral façade faces west and takes the afternoon light; the golden sphere and the fortress above it work from mid-morning on and best in the last hour, when the rock glows and the sphere picks up the low sun.

The calendar matters here more than anywhere in Salzburg. From late November through the New Year the Christkindlmarkt fills Domplatz and the Residenzplatz next door with stalls and lights, glorious after dark and shoulder to shoulder at weekends. From late July through August the festival builds its Jedermann stage and grandstands on Domplatz, which removes the square from the frame entirely — check the festival dates before planning a session there.

Everything here is public space and needs nothing for a couple and a camera; the cathedral interior has its own rules, and the market stalls are businesses. Kapitelplatz is also where the fortress funicular leaves from, at the top of Festungsgasse, so a session can go straight up afterwards.