Empress Elisabeth of Austria, known as Sissi, spent the winter of 1870 recovering here, and the terraces below her castle still perform the trick that made Merano famous: palms and olive trees flourishing within sight of Alpine peaks.
Eighty themed garden worlds climb the south-facing slope, from a Mediterranean amphitheater of agaves and cacti to a Japanese-style water garden and a glasshouse of lotus and papyrus. The neo-Gothic castle above, rebuilt from 1846 for the Trauttmansdorff family on the ruins of the medieval Neuburg fortress, now houses the Touriseum, South Tyrol's museum of tourism history. One ticket covers both, and a shuttle bus climbs from central Merano, so the walk uphill is optional.
