Austria: sleeping in a castle from Vienna to Graz
Get lost among castles and legends in the most romantic and green Austria. And far become the fairy tale reality. This is the little big dream possible this estate. Above, in the photo, the park of Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna.
Holidays in Austria: between myth and legend
He should never have met, Ferdinand II, son of Emperor Ferdinand I, and Philippine Welser, daughter of a rich merchant from Augusta.
Instead, the archduke and the beautiful bourgeois not only saw each other in 1547, but fell in love and married ten years later. Forced into secrecy by imperial will, they were free to reveal their union only twenty years later. It is one of the many stories hidden by the walls of fortresses and manors scattered throughout theAustria: scattered among the fields, perched on the mountains, overlooking the lakes.
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Sleeping in a castle in Innsbruck
Ferdinand and Philippine’s is the Ambras castlea Innsbruckinhabited by the couple since 1567. It still amazes today, thanks to the gardens, the Renaissance Sala Spagnola and the Kunst und Wunderkammerthe chamber of wonders commissioned by Ferdinando, collector of art and precious rarities.
A place already defined as a museum.
Not only the past: from 16 June to 2 October the castle hosts A worldexhibition investigating the four elements (air, water, earth, fire) from a contemporary perspective.
The Jagdschloss Kühtai Resort40 minutes by car from Innsbruck, it is instead the address to sleep in imperial history at 2,000 meters above sea level, another stop on a journey through Austrian castles, palaces and parks.
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Austria: sleeping in a castle in Salzburg
The Hellbrunn Castlea Salzburgborn as a summer residence of Prince Archbishop Markus Sittikus, it preserves the splendid Renaissance project by the architect Santino Solari and Wasserspielethe water games, to which part of the garden is dedicated.
Caves encrusted with shells, animal statues, human figures conceal hidden fountains that create surprising effects.
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Austria: sleeping in the Habsburg suite
The neighbor is also on the subject Leopoldskron Castle: home of Prince Archbishop Anton Freiherr von Firmian, the place of residence of celebrities such as Max Reinhardt, one of the founders of the Salzburg Festival, today it is a boutique hotel with princely rooms.
Even more regal are the sleeps in the Grand Suite del Schönbrunn Palace, in Vienna: 167 square meters that can accommodate up to four people and offer an unparalleled view. The panorama embraces the Gloriette, the Neptune Fountain, the Crown Prince Gardens and the 160 hectares of the castle park. An ensemble that for 300 years was the summer residence of the Habsburgs and which, since 1996, has been a Unesco heritage site.
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Austria: what to see in Styria
The princely discoveries are not lacking either a Grazin Styria. In the Eggenberg castlewanted by Prince Hans Ulrich von Eggenberg, personal advisor to Archduke Ferdinand II of Habsburg.
It is a baroque universe that plays with numbers: it sports 365 windows, like the days in a year, 31 piano rooms, like the days in a month, 24 state rooms, like the hours of the day.
All around there is a large park where the garden of the planets and the fragrant rose garden stand out.
And for fairytale nights, an hour’s drive takes you to the Kapfenstein Castlealso in Styria: former border fortress, it offers toasts with organic wines and picnics among the vineyards that stretch inside.
For information: austria.info
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