Burg Hochosterwitz
The castle
Hochosterwitz Castle is located on a mighty rock formation that rises high above the landscape and can be seen from afar as you drive towards it.
This medieval castle is definitely worth a visit, especially as dogs are also allowed. In fact, dogs are even allowed inside the small museum.
How to get on top of the castle
If you enter Burch Hochosterwitz in your satnav, it will take you to the car park. From this area, you have two options: you can go up on foot or take the very steep lift. Note: the lift is quite small and on busy days it can be so crowded in the lift that it is not pleasant for your dog.
In our case, it was not that busy, so we went up by lift. There were only five of us in the lift, but this was already quite cramped. For a small dog, this can be annoying.
We went down on foot and this is really quite manageable. It is a gradual path towards the castle that only has a few stairs right by the castle to get to the courtyard. We carried Shampoo, but basically your dog can also walk up via the path next to the stairs.
Parking
As for parking: it can be crowded upstairs. We chose to park the car downstairs and walk to the ticket office via a forest path. This is about a 10-minute walk. If you choose to continue on foot after this as well, you should count on another 10/15 minutes or so.
When you arrive at the castle
Once you reach the castle, you are treated to beautiful views of the countryside. You can walk to the little church, you can see the chapel, you can have a drink or a meal on the terrace or in the restaurant, but what is also fun: you can walk your dog through the small museum. In the museum, you can see paintings, armour and old weapons. You are not allowed to take photos in the museum, but the experience of visiting a museum with your dog is also worth something 🙂
