The Flachgau is the district that surrounds Salzburg on nearly every side, stretching from flat agricultural plains near the Bavarian border in the north to the lake-dotted foothills of the Salzkammergut in the east. It is a district of contrasts: commuter suburbs and ancient market towns, quiet lakes and motorway corridors, bog wetlands and forested ridges.
The Story
The name Flachgau, meaning the flat district, describes the northern half accurately. From Salzburg northward, the landscape opens into wide, level farmland, a southern extension of the Bavarian plain, broken by small market towns, wetland remnants, and a string of shallow lakes. The Wallersee, Mattsee Lake, and Obertrumer See sit in this flat belt, close enough to the city that generations of Salzburg families have come here for summer weekends.
The Salzburg Lokalbahn threads north through this landscape, connecting Salzburg to Oberndorf bei Salzburg and onward to Burmoos. It is a working commuter line that also functions as a slow-travel corridor through the Flachgau's ordinary communities, the kind of places that rarely appear in guidebooks but that carry the district's actual daily life.
East of the city the character shifts. The terrain rises into hills, the lakes deepen and cool, and the villages take on the look of the inner Salzkammergut rather than the suburban fringe. The Fuschlsee and the communities around it, including Hof bei Salzburg and Faistenau, belong administratively to the Flachgau but feel geographically different: more enclosed, more alpine, and far better known to international visitors.
The southern edge of the district runs up against the Untersberg massif, connecting the Flachgau's flat terrain to the mountain edge that defines Salzburg's visual backdrop to the south.
Planning
The Flachgau has no single arrival point; access depends entirely on which part of the district you are targeting. The north (lake district, Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Burmoos) is best reached by the Salzburg Lokalbahn from Salzburg, or by car on the B156 and B155. The east (Fuschlsee area, Hof bei Salzburg, Faistenau) is a 20-30 minute drive from the city on the B158. Summer is the peak season for lake villages; spring and autumn are good for cycling the lake circuits. Most communities are visited as day trips from Salzburg.