Austria
 

Hi. Can anyone give me some advice on Salzburg and Innsbruck? My husband and I and our 11 yo granddaughter will be in Austria in April. I have just found out that the Eagles nest - near Salzburg wont be open until May. Is it worth changing dates to see it? Also we have 1-1/2 days in Innsbruck and would like to see the famous Castle near there. Is it easy to reach by ourselves (remember child) or should we do a day tour if we can find one. Regards Pawsha

There is plenty to see - just read up on it a bit, at http://www2.salzburg.info/praktische...tm?ID=87001167 and elsewhere, then decide which targets you want to put on the short list. Never mind the Eagle's Nest, lots more rewarding things are waiting as you will see on this website.

There is a funicular that goes up to the Hohensalzburg Fortress, then you walk around, easy.

After 3 visits to Innsbruck, I am yet to figure out a reason to return. If you are fond of the ski slopes, there are good ski sites in the area.

Salzburg, after several multi day visits, still offers some charm where the old city is concerned. The old city area is relatively small, but it does feature some lovely churches and interesting shops.

My visits to Salzburg have been only in the spring and summer when the weather was good.

My favorite places in Salzburg include these attractions:

Schloss Hellbrunn
The fort on the hill - Festung Hohensalzburg
The Festspielhaus - provided you can get a tour behind the scenes
any one of several churches
The Marionetten Theater

There are quite a few interesting restaurants and taverns in the old town area as well.


Other people will undoubtedly have many different places to suggest. All of them are excellent candidates for a visit.

Hi Paw,

I think that your "famous Castle" is at www.hohenschwangau.de/552.0.html

((I))

There are several "famous" castles in Bavaria, but I don't recall any in Austria per se in the vicinity of Salzburg unless, of course, you classify Hohensalzburg as a castle.

The so-called "Mad King Ludwig" just about drove the kingdom of Bavaria into bankruptcy by building several lavish casles. The closest one to Salzburg is the one known as Herrenchiemsee which is on an island in a lake in the vicinity of the rail stop of Prien a Chiemsee, which is on the line between Salzburg and Munich.

Getting there involves a train ride, a short walk, a bus, and finally a ship to the island itself. The castle or palace is a well known tourist attraction because it has a hall of mirrors that attempted to emulate, if not surpass, Versailles. (Of course by the time Ludwig II ordered his mirrors about 1880, technology was more advanced than in 1680 when Louis the Tetchy, King of France, dazzled the royal world with his extravaganza. Perhaps Louis was so tetchy because he lacked running water; he had to make do with running servants.)

Our family spent part of an evening and one night in Innsbruck in June 2002 and it made for a nice stopover--we were driving from Munich to Venice.

We did not stop at the Eagle's Nest but sounds like the view is awesome.

I don't recall any castles near Innsbruck but on our way to Innsbruck from Munich we stopped at King Ludwig's boyhood castle, Hohenschwangau, and the famous Neuschwanstein near the village of Fussen in southern Bavaria. Sorry, I don't recall how long it took to get from these castles to Innsbruck.

Several palaces are in or very near to Innsbruck.
The Imperial Palace is 2 minutes walk from the Golden Roof in the old town.
Original construction from the 1400s with renovations in the 1700s in more Baroque style.

Schloss Ambras is just above and outside the city. Very nice style and good collections of armor and paintings.

for more on Ambras

www.khm.at/ambras

I would suggest an excursion to Hall in Tirol which is only a few miles outside Innsbruck and is reachable by train or bus. The "old town" is much larger than Innsbruck as Hall was a wealthy salt town. Their is an old mint that is now a museum as well as a salt mining museum. Plenty to see and do in a few hours.