There is excellent parking available in the Therme Meran public underground car park, which has 12 free reserved spaces for people with disabilities (24-hour staffed ticket office, accessible toilet on level 2).

There are also 2 reserved parking spaces on Thermenplatz (access via Garibaldistraße).

From the car park, we reach the famous Passer Promenade via the Lenoir Footbridge (over the River Passer), where our walk begins on the left at number 22, by the information pillar on the Sissiweg.

Directions by car: From Bolzano, take the MEBO expressway (SS 38) or, from the Reschen Pass (A), take the SS 40 and SS 38 to the Meran Süd exit; then head towards the town centre; at the second roundabout, turn off towards Schenna; from there, it is just 2 km to the car parks at the Gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castle.

The Gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castle have several large visitor car parks (including a number of reserved spaces for people with disabilities).

Getting there by bus: The gardens are also easily accessible by public transport with full accessibility: SASA city bus routes 1 and 4 – depart for Trauttmansdorff from the bus terminal at Merano railway station.

The Sissiweg is clearly signposted in both directions and can also be started from the Postbrücke or from Brunnenplatz in the Obermais district, where there is a bus stop for the out-of-town routes 225, 231, 313 and the city routes 1 and 3.

Starting from the Kurhaus Meran in the town centre, the route takes us along the flat promenade (smooth paving stones) on the right bank of the Passer, which we cross via the Postbrücke bridge, and on through the picturesque Sissi Park (compacted earth and gravel), where there is also a statue dedicated to her. Passing the idyllic Café Elisabeth, we now walk along a paved cycle path with a gravel and earth surface through the shady parkland of the Sommerpromenade, before turning right in a hairpin bend towards Obermais, Merano’s quiet residential district.

We cross Cavourstraße (SS44 to the Passeier Valley – zebra crossing with push-button traffic lights without an audible signal) and walk up the tarmac-surfaced Kirchsteig (past the Hotel Bavaria and Rottenstein Castle) to Brunnenplatz, the main square of Obermais (continuous gradient of 10%).

There is a bus stop on the cobbled Brunnenplatz, served by the suburban routes 225, 231 and 313, as well as city routes 1 and 3. From the historic Reichenbach estate, the route takes us along Enge Gasse, Leichtergasse (passage width 88 x 120 cm and gradient 5–10%) and Christomannostraße, past Rubein Castle, to Pienzenauweg (downhill gradient of up to 13%), where Pienzenau Castle is situated. At the junction with Jobmanngasse, we turn left, past the Hotel Tannerhof to Seilbahngasse (7.5% gradient), which leads downhill to the right to the junction with St. Valentin Straße. The final section now runs along the pavement of St. Valentinstraße (13% gradient) uphill again to a small bridge and on to Trauttmansdorff Castle. From the road, a ramp with a 13% gradient or a lift (from the bus stop for city bus line 4) leads down to the entrance of the botanical garden.

Starting from the entrance area of Trauttmansdorff Castle, a ramp with a 13% gradient or a lift takes us up to St. Valentinstraße, there we follow the tarmac road downhill and shortly afterwards, at the small bridge (13% downhill gradient), turn right towards the junction with Seilbahngasse (7.5% gradient), into which we then turn right uphill. At the junction with Jobmanngasse, we turn left, walk past the Hotel Tannerhof until we reach Pinzenauweg. We walk slightly steeper (13% gradient) up Pinzenauweg to the right, past Pinzenau Castle, and then turn left at the end of the road into Christomannostraße. We then pass Rubein Castle and continue to the junction with Leichtergasse (where there is a fountain), into which we turn right. We continue along a narrow tarmac path (gate 88 x 120 cm and 5–10% gradient) downhill to Enge Gasse and then down Reichenbachgasse to the left to Brunnenplatz.