Looking for something interesting to do in August? Up your cultural quotient at the Salzburg Festival (July 25-Aug 31), the five most buzzed-about weeks of opera, concerts, and straight theater in the world.

And believe us, there’s more to Salzburg in August than just quality performances from the most famous soloists (Anna Netrebko, René Pape) and orchestras in the world. There are parties, art openings, and a veritable who’s who of the European aristo-crowd that fill the Salzburg airport with Gulfstream G5s.

While in town, Rudolf Budja Galerie hosts some of the best art shows of the festival- right now Christophe von Hohenberg's photographs "Andy Warhol: The Day the Factory Died" are on display. Or hideaway like a star at Hotel Schloss Fuschl, a fairytale castle dating from 1450 that overlooks one of Austria’s grandest lakes, or the Intercontinental Resort Berchtesgaden with its world class spa. (Point of interest: the property just over the hill is the Bergof, the house where Hitler plotted his dirty deeds, and though that thought sends a chill down our spine, long before the Third Reich, Goethe, Brahms and Freud vacationed here).

In Salzburg, eat upscale Austrian fare at Restaurant Goldener Hirsch in the Hotel Goldener Hirsch or try Restaurant M32 in Salzburg’s Museum of Modern Art, which has the best view in the city. And don’t leave town without a coffee and cake at Cafe Demel, the most famous chocolatier from Vienna.

Music, atmosphere, old-school luxury… what’s there not to love about Salzburg.