2 Must Do Activities in Salzburg Old Town, Austria.

If you ask me, what were my favourite activities in Salzburg Old Town area, my answer will be taking the funicular train up the Hohensalzburg Castle and the Salzach River cruise.

What else I wish to experience?
Cycling and lazing by the Salzach River *smile*.

Hohensalzburg Castle

The queue! One thing about me is that I am not very patient with being idle and queuing is idle, if you are anything like me then my advise is to get the Salzburg Card to avoid queuing (Click HERE for more benefits). Despite being fussy on this, I really want to visit Hohensalzburg Castle as the view from the top is to die for, so die die lah I have to go up kan, queue or not queue, keh keh keh.... plus the fact that I get to ride on the funicular train excites me *wink*.

Got the picture I wanted but I bet it'll look great at sunset, so those going do check on whether they open till late in evening. The whole castle is rather huge, like a small township or a village, wondering around here probably takes 2-3 hours as it consist of courtyards, museums, chambers, shops and if you plan really well, you can either have lunch here or probably tea while waiting for sunset. Plan your visit well.

You can take the whole Salzburg Old Town area from here, make sure you wear a good walking to tawaf the whole castle and do take note that the castle have few floors of chambers and museums, in other words, alot of walking around this area. Bertabahlah yea...

History
Hohensalzburg castle was refurbished from the late 19th century onwards and became a major tourist attraction with the Festungsbahn cable car, opened in 1892, leading up from the town to the Hasengrabenbastei. It stands today as one of the best preserved castles in Europe. During the early 20th century it was used as a prison, holding Italian prisoners of war during World War I and Nazi activists (before the Anschluss with Germany) in the 1930s.

From Wikipedia.

This device is kinda cool and independent, all you need to do is insert coin to continue #eh, select the language and listen to the location narration, Cool kan! We should have this at some of our attractions.

Lepak area.

Salzach River Cruise

The cruise was just like any other typical cruise ride, nothing great seriously but the thing is, I do enjoy leisure rides like this and able to see the cities from the river at sunset adds to the thrill. My travel tips here is to take an evening cruise instead of sunset cruise, reason being after seeing my guesthouse mates night time pictures, night scene is definitely more beautiful than sunset. Sungguh tak tipu, of course, depending on season and month jugak lah.

If you hate queues and you think the queue at Festungsbahn funicular train was bad, the one for the cruise is even worst. Hahahhahahaa... Because it goes by hour and you need to purchase a ticket at the one hour you wish to take, and some get filled up pretty fast mind you. Being kiasu sangat-sangat saya encouragekan di sini. Perhaps you purchase the ticket before wandering around the old town.

This is the Salzburg Old Town area and the castle on top is the Hohensalzburg Castle that I mentioned earlier. Don't worry, the captain will point to you all the prominent buildings and the history behind it. OK, sungai ni takde river dolphin, jangan tanya soalan pelik-pelik, hahhahahhahah...

No. You can't stand outside the boat (in case you guys were wondering).

Lepak-lepak macam ni lah yang I nak buat, sambil picnic *cheeky smile*.

At end of teh ride, before docking, the captain will 'dance' the boat? Apa tuh? Kalau nak tau, naik ler... keh keh keh..... jahat dak?!?

Oh yah! There is tips box at the front if you wish to  tip the captain and crew, I think I gave EU1 kot, memang kedukut kan. Bluek.

Key take-away?
Get the Salzburg Card if you plan to stay 2 nights at least and start your day early to maximise the card usage.