Hotels near Hellbrunn Palace and Trick Fountains (Wasserspiele)

Hellbrunn Palace (Schloss Hellbrunn) sits five kilometres south of the Old Town and was built between 1613 and 1619 by Prince-Archbishop Markus Sittikus as a summer pleasure villa. He had a wicked sense of humour, and the real reason to come here is the Trick Fountains (Wasserspiele) in the surrounding gardens, unchanged since the 17th century. Guided tours (leaving on the hour and half-hour) walk you past stone tables that suddenly spray guests from beneath, mechanical grottoes powered entirely by original 400-year-old hydraulics, and an animated theatre of 256 hand-carved wooden figures depicting a whole Baroque town. Expect to get slightly wet, especially if you sit at the archbishop's trick table. The palace interior has recently been reopened with an exhibition on Markus Sittikus and the culture of Baroque courts. In the wider park you will also find the small wooden gazebo used for the sixteen-going-on-seventeen scene from The Sound of Music, moved here from Leopoldskron in 1991 for practical reasons. Pro Tip: Take city bus line 25 from Rathaus in about 20 minutes, and go on a warm afternoon so the inevitable soaking is a relief rather than a shock.