Salzburg Castle, Austria

The spectacular Hohen Salzburg (Castle) is built high above the city. A Funicula railway carries people from the city up to the first level of the castle.Tickets on the Funicula are about €11 for adults. A Salzburg Pass includes entry to the Funicula and entry to the castle.

We had a guided tour of the castle built and maintained by a series of prince archbishops of the city who were both head of the church and rulers of the city.

Part of the castle is a restaurant with sweeping views across the old city and the river. It would be well worth booking Panorama Restaurant for a special dining experience in the castle.

A famous marionette museum housed in the castle is well worth seeing – I’ll write an article on it shortly – and the prince archbishops’ state rooms dating from the mid1400s are well worth the stair-climbing.

Austrian central heating was far more advanced than in other European countries as the fires were contained in huge ceramic stoves. The ceramic stove in the state rooms is highly decorated with glazed pictures and crests relating to the prince archbishops who ruled from the castle over hundreds of years.

After touring the castle we walked down the steep dirt and gravel road to the Nonberg Abbey (famous as the convent in The Sound of Music as the one Maria lived in before being sent to the Von Trapp family home). From the convent we walked down the steps which also serve as a street with houses and doorways either side, back into the old city.