Mozart desired a composer's position in Vienna, city of music

Theater an der Wien - Vienna/Wien
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During Mozart's formative years, his family made several European journeys in which he and sister Nannerl performed as child prodigies. These began with an exhibition in 1762 at the court of the Prince-elector Maximilian III of Bavaria in Munich, then in the same year at the Imperial Court in Vienna and Prague.

A long concert tour spanning three and a half years followed, taking the family to the courts of Munich, Mannheim, Paris, London, The Hague, again to Paris, and back home via Zürich, Donaueschingen, and Munich. During this trip Mozart met a great number of musicians and acquainted himself with the works of other composers.

These trips were often arduous. Travel conditions were primitive,[10] the family had to wait patiently for invitations and reimbursement from the nobility,[11] and they endured long, near-fatal illnesses far from home: first Leopold (London, summer 1764)[12] then both children (The Hague, autumn 1765).[13]

After one year in Salzburg, father and son set off for Italy, leaving Wolfgang's mother and sister at home. This travel lasted from December 1769 to March 1771. As with earlier journeys, Leopold wanted to display his son's abilities as a performer and as a rapidly maturing composer.