Trip to Salzburg: Fortress Hohensalzburg

On one side of the river in Salzburg is the new town and on the other is the old town. Although we stayed in the new town, The Fortress can be seen from almost anywhere in the city. After we finished our cereal bowl sized coffees for breakfast we headed towards the funicular railway that runs almost vertically to the top of the mountain and into the Fortress.  

The river is such a beautiful colour under the clear sky. We were really lucky to arrive on a perfectly clear day. On our visit to the castle the clouds broke up the perfect blue skies. We were lucky though. By the time we came down from Mountain the clouds had taken over completely and fog covered the mountains including much of the spectacular view. 

The Fortress is very grand. You don't wander aimlessly through its many rooms, rather there is a strict guided tour that takes a maximum of about 30 people at a time. We made our way into a torture room that looks down into a dungeon. Although they held prisoners at the castle, torture wasn't necessarily carried out here. I was glad of it. Some of the contraptions were pretty brutal. As we carried on into the museum we were then allowed to look around more. The architecture is so different from room to room. In fact they uncovered some hallways as recently as 1998 that they had no idea previously existed. I guess that isn't surprising, The Fortress dates back to 1077 and is one of the largest medieval castles in Europe.

The sun is always a welcome visitor in these colder months. This is the warmest we've been since we arrived in Europe. The temperature reached a balmy 8 degrees Celsius today!

The Fortress is enormous. It's fun to imagine what this place might have been like in medieval times. Pretty much anywhere you go has 360 degree views of Salzburg City.  

Joe and a tiny door! 

There were many treasures from The Fortress reconstructed (glued back together) and on display in the museum. It's amazing to see how the decor changes across the centuries. My favourite was much of the intricate timber carving in furniture that dates back to roughly the 1500's.

and this is just a photograph... It was pretty spectacular in real life too. You follow a spiral staircase up to the top of an old tower and stand on a platform with 360 degree views of the city from The Fortress. This place is truly amazing (I'm running out of expressive vocabulary to describe these places)...

- Kate