As promised on Instagram I will be contining to post about my Travels and if you are looking for news, head to a news outlet! You may recall that we went on a family trip in November which included a few days in Salzburg and I realized I only shared the Sound of Music Bike Tour. One of the top things to do in Austria outside of Vienna is to visit the Fortress Hohensalzburg. The locals call it Hohensalzburg Fortress and it is one of the biggest medieval castles in Europe. Now I might need to take a history refresher because I thought Middle Ages meant 1400 to 1600 AD but this fortress was started in 1077 by the Prince-Archbishops of Salzburg.
I have been to many a castle and apparently this is the biggest fully preserved castle in Central Europe, which is fascinating as Corfe Castle which dates from the same period is in complete disrepair. To get to this fortress you either have quite an uphill trek or you can take the funicular railway, but clearly my family walked up to the top of Hohensalzburg Fortress.
We bought tickets for the whole fortress which included a tour of the various wings and then we explored the courtyards. I found it a bit odd that while there are timed tours there is not actually a guide – you get a headset in your language – but they only let people in at certain times. The tour goes through the history of the castle including all of the bishops and church history but I liked the facts about how it was used as a prison in the World Wars (shackles still intact). My favorite part was the top of the tallest tower which had great views over all of Salzburg.
Hohensalzburg
You can check out the website to pre-purchase tickets or find out more about the special events like the weekly, a fanfare is performed from the Trumpeter’s Tower every Sunday morning which apparently can even be heard in the main city!
Would you visit the Hohensalzburg Fortress?
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Casey says
Now I have another reason to visit Salzburg…I only ever thought of it as the Sound of Music spot. So now I have the salt mines which my boyfriend really wants to do and this too. Now if the virus will go away so we can start planning another trip that would be great. Let’s hope it ends soon for everyone’s sake.
Kathrine Eldridge says
Love seeing all these old world artifacts! What an incredible place to visit!
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Gary says
this post inspired me to look up the difference between a fortress and a castle. You use the terms interchangeably so I decided to educate myself.
The google definition: “Fortress. A fortress is a building designed to be defended, which means it was very hard for enemies to get inside. … There is little difference between a fortress and a castle. Fortresses normally have thick stone walls, thicker but less tall than in castles so artillery cannot break them.”
The height in your photos and the armor etc… certainly bodes well for the fortress name but it is nice inside lending itself to a castle. Very interesting and Iearned something today that was not virus related. How refreshing.
Rory says
What a suit of Armor on the left hand side of the photo of the two of them. I can’t imagine why they would take so much time decorating such a piece of equipment for battle unless there were fashion show for armor??? Were there? Or maybe for a ceremony or something. Weird but cool.
Rebecca says
So interesting how pretty they make a fortress. I was expecting something very utilitarian looking but this is really pretty.