this is a must-see! we took a train from salzburg to see the…read morecastle. it was rainy, which was disappointing but because of the weather our pictures came out spectacular - all the fog around the mountain and the fortress was just beautiful! From the train station it takes about 30-40min to get up to the castle. you pretty much have to walk a lot just to get to the foot of the castle, then u have to climb up. because it was raining, we decided to take the lift up instead of hiking, which was fine but the walk to the lift is still long. I would have liked to hike up there because im sure the view will be incredible on the way up. the fortress itself is very impressive. its rather big! we did the guided tour, which was interesting. I wouldn't have done it but if u wanna go inside the castle u have no other choice. if you do purchase tickets, be sure u stick around for the hawk show. its impressive to see.

Poor customer experience at the castle, not worth the trip. Just a castle after all with the whims…read moreand fancies of the employees as if they're in a real castle.

We took the funicular up and walked around the different museums in the fortress. The views of the…read morecity and the mountains were beautiful. Some of the major highlights of Fortress Hohensalzburg are the magnificent Princes' Rooms, the Magic Theater on the High Level, the Great Armory in the castle courtyard, the various museums (like the marionette museum, the tower and the historical museum) were all very interesting and detailed. Go up for the breathtaking views over the rooftops of the city. It was really interesting to learn how this fortress had evolved over a period of almost 500 years. If you want to do all, it would take 3-5 hours...it's huge.....

High on a Hill there's a lovely Fortress. Funicular up in 30 seconds as opposed to a 35 minute…read morewalk. The view from the Observation Tower is spectacular, an alp or two is always good eye candy. We spend about 2 hours wandering around, through the museum and courtyard. Look through every window you find and you can see why this Fortress was impenetrable. Also have a go with the bells on way out and if you have time come back to the bell area at 11.00am to hear the original mechanism working. A final drink and snack in the restaurant will afford those great views once more. We arrived early with few people around. Yes there are a lot of steps but they are well designed and shallow. The way down from the tower is separate to the way up so you don't get blockages. The rest rooms are fantastic just at the end of the Museum.

Large castle complex, nice for walking and biking. Castle palace museum has interesting collection…read moreof medieval,paintings and some art, and you can see small chapel. There are other exhibits you can pay extra for to view in other castle complex buildings. The torture museum was lame, would advise skipping it.

Of course when in Salzburg, we had to visit the Mirabell Gardens and not just for the Sound of…read moreMusic movie spots! Flowers and gardens were in bloom. The heatwave that hit the EU didn't deter visitors but it was still good that we visited in the morning before it got hotter or crowded. There were a few die hard SOM movie fans prancing around the Pegasus fountain before running up the steps, posing by the gladiator statues at the entrance or running through the Hedge Tunnel. The garden of dwarf statues was quieter and I wondered if visitors knew they had to cross a bridge (near the Pegasus Fountain) to gain access. The Mirabell Palace was somewhat open as we could really only climb the Angel Staircase but couldn't enter the hall where Mozart played or really anywhere else unfortunately. Still worth seeing. Lastly make sure to check out the Orangerie where the Panorama Museum was just relocated and opened in a very modern setting in June. The Sattler Panorama painting inside was a 360 degree view of Salzburg from the early 1800s. Make sure to also view the interactive terminals to do a side by side comparison between the panorama of now and the . Admission was included as part of the Salzburg Card.

I don't know why I felt like singing Do a Deer, a female deer, as soon as I entered and kept…read morelooking up at the trees! Famous for the filming of the Sound of Music, these gardens are beautiful. Definitely a must stop when in Salzburg. I was here in November and they were so well maintained. I can only imagine how beautiful they are in the spring and summer with all the flowers.

The honest draw here is the Sound of Music gazebo, and it does deliver, though it's worth knowing…read moreupfront that the pavilion was actually relocated to make it easier for the public to visit. So it's not technically where they filmed the scene, but it's the real gazebo on very beautiful grounds, and standing in front of it in Salzburg still feels cool The palace and park themselves are a bigger win: a 17th-century pleasure palace with enormous, well-maintained grounds that are genuinely gorgeous to wander on a good day. The trick fountains are a legitimate reason to come, although they were off on the day of our visit which was a bummer. If you're in Salzburg and have any interest at all in the film or just want an afternoon outside the old town, this is worth the trip.

Since we had the 24 hour Salzburg Visitor card, we stopped at the Hellbrunn palace on the way back…read morefrom the Untersberg cable car experience. I wanted to come here since the Gazebo from the Sound of Music (where Liesl sings 16 going on 17) is here. The tour of the palace highlights the "Trick Fountains" which are really interesting, fun and surprisingly artistic. As you walk around these fountains, there are times when they suddenly spew water, getting unsuspected guests a bit wet.... The palace was built in 1613-19 and named for the "clear spring" that supplied it. Hellbrunn was only meant for use as a day residence in summer, as the Archbishop usually returned to Salzburg in the evening; therefore, there is no bedrooms in Hellbrunn. The place has plenty of beautifully landscaped green spaces and it is just a marvel of what hydraulics can do. There's a cute cafe and a souvenir shop on the grounds.