My favourite tourist destination in Salzburg is definitely the Hellbrunn palace with its famous trick fountains. The palace was built in the 17th century by Prince-Archbishop Markus Sittikus, who seems to have been quite the prankster in his day. Behind the palace, there are dozens of traditional and a little less traditional fountains ready to surprise any unsuspecting visitors: you never know from which direction you’ll get sprayed next. In addition, you can also find other curiousities such as dragons, unicorns, statues sticking out their tongue, and even a water-operated music-playing theatre.

In order not to spoil the fun for anyone planning a visit, I will only post a couple photos of the fountains. This place is an absolute must-see for any individuals with a mischievous sense of humour!

There is an admission fee to the trick fountain tour, but the park outside the palace has free entry. It appeared to be especially popular among joggers, and it isn’t hard to see why: the paths zig-zag between large grass areas, masses of beautiful flowers and tiny ponds where fat fish swim round and round. A keen eye may also spot the tiny pavilion that appeared in the Sound of Music. Armed with an adequate selection of snacks, it would be easy to spend an entire day just faffing about in the park.

The picture above hopefully brings some perspective on how huge the outside area is. Below I’ve added a couple bonus snapshots of fancy ceilings around the palace. I used to be very much into photographing ornate front doors, but it appears that during this trip I’ve subconsciously moved on to producing ceiling porn. Enjoy!