Best time to visit Hellbrunn Palace

Hour of day

The fountains are walked at your own pace with the audio guide, so a crowd is not a queue for a tour, but it is a crowd at the prince’s table and in the grottoes, and the jets are more fun with room to dodge. Opening time at 09:30 is the quiet hour; so are the last ninety minutes before closing, which in July and August means from 17:30. Last admission is an hour before closing. The hours, month by month.

Month by month

Late March and April open the season with 17:30 closing and cool water; the park is greening and the crowds have not arrived. May and June are the sweet spot: closing moves to 18:30, the weather is warm enough for the wetting to be welcome, and the summer crowds are still weeks away. This is also when the Salzburg Card, which covers the admission and bus 25, is easiest to use across the city without queues at the other sights.

July and August have the longest hours, to 19:00, the warmest afternoons, and the most people; come for opening or after 16:00. September keeps the 18:30 closing and loses most of the summer crowd. October to 1 November is the autumn park at its best, 17:30 closing, and a cold wetting; bring the layer. After 1 November the water is off and the palace shut; the park stays open 06:30–21:00, and in the Advent weeks a market fills the courtyard and forecourt, on dates the palace publishes each year. What is open in the park all year.

Weather

Salzburg’s wettest months tend to be the summer ones, with afternoon thunderstorms, and the fountains are open regardless. A shower changes nothing about the visit except that fewer people come, which is an argument for it. A light layer and something to cover a phone are the whole kit. How wet, exactly.

Concert afternoons

The palace concerts are 45 minutes of Baroque works and Mozart arias on a historical harpsichord, in the afternoon, inside the palace; one reviewer attended on a Monday at three. The concert ticket does not include the fountains, so the good afternoon is fountains at lunchtime, the concert, and the park after. The concerts, and the pairing.

Pick the hour yourself with the card

The Salzburg Card covers one entry to Hellbrunn and unlimited bus 25, so the quiet 09:30 slot costs nothing extra to reach, and the fortress, Mozart’s birthplace and the zoo next door are on the same card for the rest of the day. It comes in 24, 48 and 72-hour versions; the online purchase is a voucher exchanged in person at Tourist Information before it works. The card, the exchange and when it pays.

Book the Salzburg Card and come at opening

Hellbrunn admission, bus 25, the fortress, the Mozart houses and the zoo on one card for 24, 48 or 72 hours. Free cancellation up to 24 hours before.

Frequently asked questions