FestungsBahn — Local services in Salzburg

The man selling tickets was extremely rude, belligerent and very unhelpful. We had a Salzburg Card printout and didn’t know if we needed to swap it for a card in order to access the FestungsBahn. We made the mistake of asking him. His reply was gruff and unnecessarily rude “I ONLY SELL TICKETS” he yelled at us and then waved us away. Absolutely no need for that arrogant behaviour. I asked the question again a few minutes later (being careful to try not to antagonise him) but his response was exactly the same as the first time. Unbelievable!! It gives a bad name to Salzburg and FestungsBahn in particular. He is not the type of person that should be employed in the tourism business. If he doesn’t like dealing with people, perhaps he is working in the wrong job. Not good for your business. I can see from a lot of other reviews that I am not the first to complain about this individual. Looks like nothing will...

FestungsBahn @ Salzburg 🚡🇦🇹 📍 Old Town, Salzburg

The FestungsBahn is Salzburg’s funicular railway, connecting the Old Town near Salzburg Cathedral to the Hohensalzburg Fortress at the top of Festungsberg Hill. It’s a quick, steep, and scenic ride that saves you the uphill climb while offering beautiful views over the city rooftops.

I boarded from the lower station after exploring the Old Town, and within a couple of minutes, I was at the fortress entrance. The ride was smooth, well-maintained, and efficient—perfect for maximizing time if you want to fit more sights into the day. From the start, I planned to take the FestungsBahn up and then hike down later to enjoy the scenery at a slower pace.

🧭 Tip: The return ticket is often included if you purchase a fortress entry ticket package. Sit on the right side going up for the best views...

21st Sept 2018 about 4pm: The staff at the funicular was EXTREMELY RUDE. Being Asian, I'm already a little desensitized to such behaviour in Europe but this guy in black was just obviously trying to ignore me when I asked for help (there was no queue at the ticket counter he was doing NOTHING) and even when he finally had to acknowledge me to give me instructions to make my QR code smaller in order to scan it properly (because I bought an online ticket beforehand) he shouted and made it very obvious that he felt I was dumb. Totally made me regret my excitement of buying the ticket online in anticipation to see the castle. If this is how you treat customers who buy online tickets then don't make them available.

I was absolutely appalled and disgusted. I wanted to go back and take a picture of him to put it here when I came back down but...