 | Werfen Things To Do | Tips 1 - 10 of 39 |  |
Popular Things To Do | Miscellaneous Things To Do Tips | All Tips (39) Normally I never cared about such performances, BUT this time I had payed for it in my ticket already and it started exactely when the guided castle-tour was over, so I had a look and it was one of the best shows I ever saw : a lady and a man took position at different places of the large falconry-court, one of them had the falcon, eagle and other birds sitting on the arm and after a signal they were flying to the arm of the other person and landed there again, passing by the people in the audience without even noticing them, although the distance was less than 1 meter in many cases. It is a pity that my digital camera is very slow and takes a picture about 3-4 seconds after I press the button, so all I could do is press the button as often as possible and hope for some good snapshorts.
Some of them are quite good, some could have been better, next time I will be there with a more modern camera... Leave a Comment Directions: The Falconry-performances are in the "Falkenhof", step down the stairs at the restaurant, pass by Casemattes, get out into the next court and walk down the steep path to the right ! |
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The astonishing Werfen Ice Caves are the largest in the world. The cave network disappears 42 kilometres into the mountainside, but only the first kilometre, walls encrusted with ice, is open to the public.
Guided tours which last an hour show visitors the ice palace, reached by cable car from the valley floor below. The whole tour involves climbing 134 metres - equivalent to climbing the stairs in a high block of flats.
In summer, the average temperature inside the cave is 0°C, so do wear a warm coat even if the weather outside is boiling! The ice-covered floor starts straight after the entrance, and the walls of the cave have ice cascades of all sizes.
There is no possibility to take any photo in the cave!!!
I've downloaded the photo from the webpage You see below. Leave a Comment Address: Located 40km south of SalzburgDirections: From the car park everyone must walk 20 minutes up to the cable car statio which transports visitors from 1000m up to 1575m in 3 minutes. There is another 20-minute walk after the cable car to the mouth of the caves, which are at an altitude of 1641m.Website: www.eisriesenwelt.at |
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Fuerstenzimmer is one of the most beautiful rooms of the castle and you will get there at the very end of the guided tour. The original room dates back to the year 1566 but unfortunately it burned down completely in 1931. In 2003 it was rebuilt according to old photos by a local artist, specialized in wooden works of art. A small part of the furniture is from another room and you may not walk around in the room, you just enter at one side and may take pictures from behind a fence. It certainly makes sense, when not everbody may touch these precious wooden works of art !
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It could be that this room is accesible also by wheel-chair !
But I am not really sure about it, in any case it would be necassary
to talk to the castle-guide to open the backdoor for you
or you wait there, when the tour is over. Leave a Comment Directions: Fuerstenzimmer is at the end of the guided tour through Werfen castle |
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The castle of Werfen may be visited easily on your own, you may walk uphill or take the newly built funicular. Already at the ticket-box at the large parking you have the possibility to fix certain times for the tours on your ticket ! Audioguides are available in English, French, Italian, Dutch, Magyar, Spanish, Czech and even in Russian !! You may get those at the place, here the guided tours start next to the restaurant ! The guide will speakonly German !
the castle is open for visitors between
easter and november 1st
(in april except on monday !)
The funicular + guided tour + falcons are 13 euros a person
7 euros for children
guided tours start each hour between 10.00a.m. and 05.00p.m.
falconry is only at 11.00a.m. and 03.00p.m.
the first ride of the funicular is at 09.00a.m. Leave a Comment Phone: +43-(0)6468 - 7603Directions: Werfen castle is about 40km south of the city of Salzburg : take the highway (you will need a highway-sticker / vignette) or you take a bit longer and take the ordinary roads ! |
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Approx. 40 km south of the city of Salzburg, Hohenwerfen Castle towers above the Salzach Valley as a strategic bulwark built atop a 155 meter rock. The castle is majestically surrounded by the mighty Tennengau and Hagen mountain ranges. The fortification is a "sister" of Hohensalzburg Fortress and also dates back to the 11th century. The Salzburg district administration took possession of the castle in 1938. It was used as a training camp by the Austrian rural police until 1987. It was enlarged and renovated several times over the centuries.
Hohenwerfen served as a prison for many centuries. Rulers such as Archbishop Adalbert III (1198), Graf Albert von Friesach (1253), the Styrian governor Siegmund (1525) and Archbishop Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau (1611) were held captive here. Leave a Comment |
The old casemate Cellars of Burg Werfen are dating back to the year 1125 and these halls used to be the living-quaters for the ordinary soldiers and defendors of the castle. Nowadays it is used as an exhibition-hall and you may find it many steps below the Burgschaenke / Castle-restaurant, on your way to the court of the falcons.
This part of the castle may be visited on your own and the guided tour will not go there at all.
There is also a museum about the salt- and silver-mining in that area and about local customs at christmas-time and at the carnival in the area south of Salzburg.
On my last picture at the right : Perchten are a local custom in parts of Austria : they are trying to push out the winter by noises and also some nasty behaviour against the local population. Search the local newspapers for "Perchten - Lauf" Leave a Comment Address: WerfenDirections: This museum is below the restaurant, on your way down to the falconry-court. |
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Of course such a large castle in a narrow valley had the sense to protect at one hand the people living in that area, and at the same time toll had to be payed by all merchants passing by on the pass-road or on the river. And of course it was essential for the guards at the castle to know exactely, what time and how many merchants, soldiers or other travellers might want to get through the valley.
Therefore several cannons were posted next to the large windows in order to defend the castle.
On my last-but-one picture you may also see a small wooden unicorn, left of the large cannon: It is ment for tournaments and you may throw the rings from a larger distance to the unicorn's horn. This is also part of the games that could be booked for your private festivities, marriages etc. at Werfen castle.
On my last picture : The "Schandgeige" was a popular punishment in medieval times and is also part of the "Ritterschmaus" today : Your head and hands are fixed and you will be forced to drink wine... Leave a Comment |
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The belfry of Burg Hohenwerfen dates back to the year 1535 and inside of its basment you may get inside and find the souvenir-shop there, the upper part of the tower is part of the guided tour and you may see the large clockwork and the bells that were ring in case of fire or enemies approaching. On the very top of the belfry you will have a great panorama-view, but there is just a quite steep stair to climb up.
When you are lucky to arrive as one of the first persons at the castle - like I did at shortly after 09.00a.m. - you may see the gates of the bellfry still closed, while lateron during the day the beautful painting of the double-eagle will be unvisible, as long as the shop-doors are open and the beautiful painting is split into 2 directions. Leave a Comment Address: WerfenDirections: The Belfry / Glockenturm is in the main court of Burg Hohenwerfen, opposite of the place, where you enter by the funicular! |
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The chamber for the castle-guards is a small room that you may look into through a window and it shows some old furniture and a tiled stove and of course that funny iron armour, so the knights did not have to hang their clothes at night over the chair, BUT it was standing alone and waiting for them during the night.
There are several such rooms that you may see in Werfen castle easily on your own, in case that you don't have enough time to wait for the next guided tour.
This chamber is next to the round tower with the clock, where the cannon is facing the landscape below the castle (see my last picture) Leave a Comment |
Eisriesenwelt
Eisriesenwelt is the place most of the tourists are coming to Werfen for. I did not go there, because photography is forbidden inside that ice-cave !
A cable-car is taking you uphill, and then you have to walk quite a bit before you get to the caves, lots of bustours are going there from Salzburg and sometimes it gets quite crowded, so I decided to explore the castle of Werfen instead and show a picture of an ice-cave here, that I made in Jungfraujoch / Switzerland.
Take a look at their web-page, many pics that are shown on VT are taken from that web-page !
This is the biggest ice-cave in the world and all of the summer the temperature is an average of Zero celcius, so you better get warm clothings, the cave has a length of 42 km, 1 km of wich you will be shown in the guided tour.
The caves are open between
end of April and end of October
in 2006 that was April 29th till October 26th, 2006
the 1st day might be flexible the end
is the Austrian national holiday
that might stay the same each year !
guided tours are available between 9.00a.m. and 03.30p.m
(in july and August till 04.30p.m.)
17 euros is the fee for the cablecar+the caves
children pay 8,50 Euros Leave a Comment Directions: Eisriesenwelt is in the north of the village and the castle of Werfen. They alsohave a large car-parking there !Website: http://www.eisriesenwelt.at/ |
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on November 4, 2006
on July 19, 2004
