The natural starting point for any visit is the long Main Square (Stadtplatz), divided into an upper and a lower half by the central axis of the historic town. At its centre stands the Christopher Fountain (Christophorusbrunnen), a 1963 work by the sculptor Hans Wimmer, whose large basin was conceived as a symbol of the river wealth that shaped Schärding: the trade on the Inn, the energy of the Inn hydroelectric plants, and the warm and cold-water cures that became part of the town's later identity as a spa destination. The square is lined with pavement cafés, ice-cream stalls, antiques shops, and shaded benches, and serves throughout the year as the town's social and architectural centrepiece. From here, almost all of Schärding's other landmarks are within a few minutes' walk in any direction.

The most photographed face of the town stretches along the north-eastern side of the Upper Stadtplatz and bears its own name: the Silver Row (Silberzeile), a continuous row of 17 late-Baroque gabled houses painted in some of the most distinctive guild colours of medieval central Europe. The blue of the bakers, the red of the butchers, and the yellow and green of the innkeepers run side by side along the bell-shaped pediments, with the Schönbrunnergelb (Schönbrunn yellow) of churches and aristocratic houses adding further variations along the line. The name Silver Row comes from the silver coins that filled the pockets of the merchants who built the houses, when the Inn was still one of the most important trade routes between Bavaria and Austria. Together with the surviving city walls and several medieval city gates, the Silver Row makes Schärding one of the finest examples of the Inn-Salzach Baroque style anywhere in the region.

The eastern entrance into the old town is guarded by the Linz Gate (Linzer Tor), the former upper town tower at the head of the road to Linz. Its distinctive double portals stretch across the street, with a covered guard's walkway above them, and a small chamber that once housed the town warder who controlled access to the square beyond. The pastel-painted façade and the elegant onion turret give the gate its characteristic silhouette, and its central archway frames one of the most photographed views in Schärding, looking straight into the Silver Row from outside the walls. Together with the Passau Gate (Passauer Tor) on the opposite side of the old town, the Linz Gate marks the historic axis along which travellers and goods once moved between the river and the inland trading routes.

A short walk downhill from the Stadtplatz, the western edge of the old town reaches the river itself through the Water Gate (Wassertor), a narrow tunnel that runs beneath one of the riverfront houses and opens directly onto the quay along the Inn. The gate was formerly known as the Inn Gate or the Customs Tower (Zollturm), because every load of salt, grain, and merchandise arriving by boat on the river had to be brought through this passage and assessed for customs before being allowed into the town. The exterior carries a Baroque fresco that depicts the cannonade of Schärding in 1703 during the War of the Spanish Succession, when the town was heavily bombarded by Bavarian troops, and the inner walls are marked with the levels of past floods along the Inn, some of which reach more than two metres above the cobbles. The neighbouring Granite Museum (Granitmuseum), open from spring to autumn with free admission, displays sculptures and historical objects relating to the local Schärdinger granite, including a detailed reconstruction model of the medieval Schärding castle.

Above the old town, on the high ground overlooking the river, lies the small but evocative Castle Park (Schlosspark) on the site of the former ducal castle. Of the Gothic fortress that once stood here, almost nothing remains beyond the semicircular ring wall and a reconstructed fountain house from 2003, but the open lawn has been laid out as a public park with shaded benches and viewing points along the riverside. From the wall edge the view stretches across the Inn to the village of Neuhaus am Inn on the Bavarian side, with its small castle rising on the opposite bank. The adjoining Castle Gate (Schlosstor), once the residence of the ducal castle warden, today houses the Town Museum (Stadtmuseum), which traces the development of Schärding from its medieval salt-trading origins through the wars of the eighteenth century to its modern role as a Baroque resort town.

Tucked into a quiet corner just off the main square stands the Parish Church of St George (Stadtpfarrkirche St. Georg), the spiritual centre of the town. The earliest parts of the church, including the gate hall accessed through the tower portal, date back to 1307. After heavy damage during the war of 1703, the church was rebuilt in Baroque style between 1720 and 1726 by the Passau cathedral architect Jakob Pawagner, with the project later completed by the celebrated Munich master Johann Michael Fischer, one of the leading Baroque architects of southern Germany. The French bombardment of 1809 caused further damage and a major fire inside the church, after which it was restored in 1814. A comprehensive renovation since 1975 has returned the interior to much of its eighteenth-century glow, with finely worked Baroque altars, stucco work, and a calm white-and-gold atmosphere that contrasts with the colourful animation of the square outside.

Schärding's railway station sits at the southern edge of the town, about ten minutes on foot or under five minutes by bike from the Stadtplatz and the Silver Row. The walk into the old town is gentle, well signposted, and passes through quiet residential streets before opening out into the main square. The historic core itself is compact, mostly pedestrianised, and entirely walkable, with the Linz Gate, the Silver Row, the Water Gate, the parish church, and the Castle Park all within a five- to ten-minute walk of each other once you arrive. Bike racks are available at the station for shorter stops. For onward travel, the same line connects back toward Passau and Germany on one side, and east toward Wels and Linz on the other, so Schärding works equally well as a half-day excursion, an overnight stop, or a quick stepping stone between the German and Austrian stretches of the EuroVelo 6..