Sisi's Road by Motorhome
Sisi's Road follows the most important stages in the life of Princess Elisabeth of Wittelsbach, who was born in Bavaria and was nicknamed "Sisi" in her childhood and youth. Through her early marriage to the Habsburg Emperor Franz Joseph I, the 16-year-old became Empress of Austria and later Queen of Hungary. The unconventional Elisabeth (she had a penchant for sporty riding and travelling) was considered the most beautiful woman of her era.
In her honour, the Sisi Road was created in 2002, a travel route to gardens, palaces and towns associated with the life of the empress. All the places on this route had a very special significance for Sisi. Today, as in the days of the travel-loving empress, the Sisi Road is all about garden art, music and poetry, life, pleasure and joy.
A cultural bond across 5 countries
The five countries of Germany, Austria, Hungary, Italy and Switzerland are joined by Corfu, the Greek island with Sisi's Achilleion. Without the philosophy of the ancient Greeks, which was characterised by courage, understanding and emotion, Elisabeth's view of the world would have been different. These are precisely the values that are important to the members of the Sisi Street Working Group today. It is cities, hotels, museums, memorials, gardens and organisations that keep the memory of Sisi alive.
Travelling along the Sisi Road ensures a cultural tourism exchange in Europe. Because culture unites, creates understanding and thus ensures peace. It is therefore fitting that the management of the working group is based in Germany, in the City of Peace, Augsburg, which is also the starting point of the Sisi Road.
Sisi's Road makes it possible to experience:
- ...the stages of the empress's life;
- ...the stations in Bavaria, Austria, Hungary, Italy and Switzerland;
- ...Sisi's favourite island, Corfu, as well as the towns, castles and parks that commemorate Sisi.
Type of route: Theme route
Theme: Life and history of the Austrian Empress Elisabeth
Start/Destination:
- Germany: Augsburg, Aichach, Lake Starnberg
- Austria: Bad Ischl, Vienna, Laxenburg, Eisenstadt
- Hungary: Gödöllö, Budapest, Herd
- Italy: Trauttmansdorff, Meran, Levico Terme, Venice, Triest
- Switzerland: Geneva, Montreux
Length over 2,000 km
Countries: Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Hungary, Greece
Nature, art and cuisine
Sisi's Road is recommended for individual tourists and motorhome drivers who can discover towns, castles and monuments, museums, gardens and parkland in Sisi's footsteps. Travellers get to know Elisabeth's life, which is marked by happiness and love, pain and self-doubt. Elisabeth is more than the sweet "Sisi" from Ernst Marischka's films of the 1950s. Sisi's Road also shows the other sides of a multi-faceted woman.
Experience the myth
Today, Sisi's Road leads from Bavaria through Austria and Hungary and on through Italy to the Adriatic coast - with a detour to Corfu - and to Switzerland, where the life of one of the most beautiful and contradictory women of her time, the Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary, ended in 1898 after a cruel assassination attempt.
But her life goes on, because Sisi's spirit has not died; Sisi Street keeps her memory alive and immortalises her myth.
Bavaria
Augsburg - Aichach - Unterwittelsbach Castle - Lake Starnberg - Possenhofen Castle Pöcking - Roseninsel - Feldafing - St. Emmeram Castle Regensburg - Neuschwanstein CastleElisabeth spent the happiest years of her life between Augsburg and the Alps. Sisi experienced carefree childhood days in Possenhofen and Unterwittelsbach. However, Sisi Street in Augsburg begins with a scandal. This is caused by Elisabeth's brother Ludwig with an inappropriate liaison.
The route continues through the Wittelsbach region, the ancestral home of the Wittelsbach dynasty, to Lake Starnberg and the state capital. From Munich, there are detours to Neuschwanstein and St Emmeram's Castle in Regensburg, where Sisi's older sister Helene (Nene), who was to become Empress of Austria, lived.
Austria
Imperial Villa Bad Ischl - Vienna - Schönbrunn Palace and Zoo - Wagenburg - Hofburg - Imperial Furniture Collection - Laxenburg
In Austria, travellers get to know completely new sides of Elisabeth in Bad Ischl, Vienna and Laxenburg. Two regions characterised the life of the empress. In the Salzkammergut region around Bad Ischl, the freedom-loving Sisi was able to fulfil her urge to move around. The empress loved the mountains that rose directly behind the spa town.
Vienna is the heart of the monarchy. The baroque Schönbrunn Palace still represents the power and splendour of the imperial era. A Sisi Museum in the Vienna Hofburg documents Elisabeth's life. Emperor Rudolf's son was born in Laxenburg Palace, the imperial residence on the outskirts of Vienna.
Hungary
In Hungary, "Erzsebet" is still honoured today like a national saint. And for good reason. Anyone who takes a look at history will understand the love of the Magyars for their Queen Elisabeth, who spoke fluent Hungarian, knew Hungary's history and read Hungarian literature - and who was a keen horsewoman.
Places and buildings named after her can be found all over the country. Sisi had found a new home in Hungary. Through Sisi's intercession with the emperor and against the declared will of the court, Hungary regained its 1848 constitution and autonomy. Sisi wrote world history with the Compromise in Hungary.
Italy
Meran - Schloss Trauttmansdorff - Madonna di Campiglio - Levico Terme - Schloss Miramare - TriestSisi's Road (the Italians spell her name "Sissi") stretches from Merano in South Tyrol to Trieste and the Mediterranean. Castles, gardens, magnificent mountain panoramas and parkland line the route.
The northernmost stop is Trauttmansdorff Castle near Merano, where Sisi spent the winters in 1870 and 1889 due to the healthy climate in South Tyrol. Madonna di Campiglio and LevicoTerme, once unknown mountain villages, owe their fame to the Empress. Opposite Venice, on the other side of the Adriatic, Miramar Castle near Trieste is definitely worth a visit. The picturesque castle on a rocky outcrop was Sisi's bridgehead to the south.
Greece
The "Achilleion" on the island of CorfuFrom Trieste, Empress Elisabeth travelled across the Mediterranean and to Greece on her yacht Miramar. On the island of Corfu, where she settled for a time, the empress had a white marble palace - the "Achilleion" - built on a cliff above Gasturi in 1888 at the height of her enthusiasm for Greece.
She learnt ancient and modern Greek, read Homer and translated ancient writings. After the empress's death, the palace passed to her daughter Gisela, who sold it to the German Emperor Wilhelm II in 1907. Elisabeth's Greek palace can be visited.
Switzerland
Geneva - Hotel Beau-Rivage - Lake Geneva - MontreuxElisabeth's life ended on Lake Geneva on 10 September 1898. The imperial couple spent a few days together in Territet near Montreux in 1893. In 1898, Elisabeth travelled to Switzerland alone several times. The assassin in Geneva had an easy time of it.
When he stabs Elisabeth with a file in the street on 10 September 1898, he is unable to actually hit her. Elisabeth's longing for death has long been greater than her fear of death. Luigi Lucheni makes only "a very small opening" in the empress's heart, through which her soul can fly away to heaven. Just as the romantic Sisi had wished on the day before her death.
Picture journey
Route guidance with parking space information
For more information on points of interest please see also our "EXPLORER MAP"
Sisi-Straße
c/o Regio Augsburg Tourismus GmbH
Schießgrabenstraße 14
D - 86150 Augsburg
SISI'S ROAD
