We were in Vienna, Austria, for three days so we decided to take a day-trip to Salzburg and Werfen — the place from where you get access to the Eisriesenwelt Ice Caves. These are the biggest natural ice caves in the world and are only open during the summer.
The trip from Vienna to Werfen is a little pricey but totally worth it. Remember to leave early in the morning as the caves shut by 4 pm. The ride is around one and a half hours.
Eisriesenwelt Ice Caves
When we reached Werfen, we took a bus uphill, to the point where we needed to buy tickets for the ice caves. Be sure to carry warm clothes. We thought it was warm in Vienna, but we forgot that we are going to a mountainous area. We ended up buying an extra sweatshirt at the souvenir shop (lol).
From the ticket stall and souvenir shop, we needed to trek for around twenty minutes to reach the cable car that would take us to the top. It was one of the steepest cable cars that I have ever been on!
Now again from the cable car drop off point on top, we had to trek another 20 minutes to reach the opening of the cave.
The cave is so SO gorgeous. I have not seen anything like it. It’s like you’re on the sets of the movie Frozen. No flash, torch, or anything electronic was allowed inside. They used candles as a source of light and otherwise it was completely dark.
The cave is more than 45 kilometers long. They leave the cave door open during the winter so that the cold air gets inside and hardens the ice. During summer they shut the door so that the ice can keep its shape.
The entire tour of the cave is around one hour. There is a lot of climbing involved. But even a lazy person like me managed fine! Please go. You will certainly not regret it.
Salzburg
Salzburg is small and pretty. The corridors on the street were certainly its USP. In order to reach from one area to another, you had to pass over these tunnel-like corridor pathways. The old town was gorgeous.
Other places I visited were the Salzburg Dom Cathedral — a beautiful dome-like structure, Salzburg Old Town, and St. Peter’s Abbey. We weren’t able to do much as we were only there for three or four hours. Although I didn’t go to the Festung Hohensalzburg castle, seeing it from below was enough.
So that’s my trip. Hope it was helpful!
Source of keychain: Eisriesenwelt Ice Caves souvenir shop
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