Exploring Ice Caves in Eisriesenwelt!

Eisriesenwelt is a natural limestone and ice cave located in Werfen, Austria which is about 40 km from Salzburg. It is open for visitors from May 1st to October 26th every year. After hearing about this place from a friend, Dinesh and myself decided to visit the place. We were on the last opening day for year.

Leaving at 8.45 in the morning from Salzburg, we took a S-bahn to reach Werfen. The 25 minutes journey was ravishing with alpine view all along. Since it was in October, there was already snow capping on the mountains which made the view even more spectacular.

Right outside the Werfen railway station, there are private taxis to reach Eisriesenwelt (when you are in doubt, just follow the crowd 😉 ). One can buy the tickets from the driver and a two way ticket which costs around 13 euros is an economical one. The taxis usually synchronize their schedule with the train arrival timings and hence you don’t get to wait, atleast on your onward journey. Make sure you check the return timings pasted on the bus to plan your arrival time back at parking. The taxi takes you to the parking and entrance of Eisriesenwelt.

Here one can buy the tickets for using cable car and entrance to the cave. The regular price is around 24 Euros. If you plan to trek without using cable car the price is 12 Euros.

From the parking, the walk towards the cable car takes around 20 minutes. The cable car journey is just around 3 minutes but you get to save 1.5 hours of hike. ( Save some energy before you start hiking inside the caves! )

From the cable car station, the entrance of the cave is another 20 minutes. But, it is normal to take double the time savoring the landscape. With the the cave entrance on one side, the picturesque scene of the city on the other side, and the fresh snow pour, it really did feel like heaven.

While we were waiting for the guided tour to start, we had our snack with this spectacular view in front of us.

Very soon, we were handed magnesium lamps to start another hike inside the cave. The guides were excellent, they spoke clearly and made sure everyone was safe and involved in the conversations. It felt adventurous, hiking inside dark caves with magnesium lamps that enabled us see the magnificent ice caves. They do not allow taking pictures inside the cave as the heat produced by the flash light will melt away the ice. You can checkout the pictures on their facebook page. The hike took around 70 minutes. It was quite hard, but the effort was worth it all.

It is very important to dress warm for this visit. Boots is preferred so that the toes wont go frozen. Don’t forget on the gloves since you need to hold the lamp throughout the hike inside the cave. The entire trip can be completed within 6 hours from Salzburg. On the way back to the Werfen train station, one can see Hohenwerfen Castle while on the private taxi.

We spent another hour in the Mirabell Garden and the bridge of Salzburg, before we started our journey back home. A memorable day!