Eisriesenwelt is an incredible natural wonder located high in the mountains near Werfen that you have to see to believe. It is one of the largest ice caves in the world at over 42 kilometres long, although only a small portion of the cave is open to the public. Entering the cave system is only possible with a guided tour, which takes about an hour.
How to Get to Eisriesenwelt
First, you have to get to the town of Werfen if you’re not staying locally. Driving is straightforward, but you could arrive by train or even hike to Werfen. I will focus on train, since that is the method we took. We went from St. Gilgen to Salzburg to Werfen. If you can catch a train to Salzburg, you can easily transfer there to get to Werfen.
Shuttle Bus
The Werfen Ice Caves are far from the town and up high on the mountain on a winding road. A shuttle bus goes from the Werfen train station to the Eisriesenwelt Visitor’s Centre. The shuttle bus costs €8.50 for a return trip. You can take one-way trips, but I don’t recommend it. The walk up the mountain would take hours. The shuttle bus waits outside Werfen train station and departs every two hours at 08:18, 10:18, 12:18 and 14:18.
In a show of impressive initiative, the bus driver noted our delayed train on this day and waited for us. If your train is running late on your visit, there is a good chance the shuttle bus driver will similarly wait. It’s in Eisriesenwelt’s best interest to bring as many people as possible to the caves so a lazy bus driver will not go unpunished.
Whichever method you take to get to the Werfen Ice Caves, the first stop is the Visitor’s Centre. This building houses a ticket desk, toilets, a cafe and a gift shop. This is not where the ice caves are located, only where you buy tickets.
Admission Price & Opening Hours of Eisriesenwelt
An adult ticket to Eisriesenwelt is €42, which includes admission to the cave and two rides on the cable car (ascent and descent). There is a discount for buying tickets online and more special discounts for youths (aged 15 – 18) and children (ages 5 – 14). Visitors can purchase tickets for the ice cave or just the cable car (return or single trip).
You can save a few Euros by hiking up to Eisriesenwelt, but it’s not a good idea for most tourists. It’s a 1575m and 90-minute walk, plus the combined forty minutes from the Visitor’s Centre and the cable car station.
The Werfen Ice Caves are open half the year and close during the colder months. Visiting season usually begins in late April/early May and runs until October. Eisriesenwelt opening hours are from 9:30 am to 3:45 pm – the first and last tour times. The ticket desk has roughly the same opening hours from 8:30 am to 3 pm. The cable car runs from 9 am to 5 pm.
What to See at Werfen Ice Caves
Scenic Views on Panoramaweg
After buying tickets, it’s a 20-minute uphill walk to the cable car station. Not far from the Visitor Centre, there’s an option to take a tunnel shortcut to the cable car station. Unless it’s pouring rain and too foggy to see anything, I highly recommend avoiding this tunnel and taking the Panoramaweg instead. It will add more time to your ascent, but there are views of the surrounding mountains and Werfen in the little pocket of green in the valley.
The halfway point is the cable car station. Unlike other bahnhofs in Germany, the Eisriesenwelt bahnhof is nothing special. Even at 10 am, we were packed like sardines in the small cable car. We didn’t get any photos out the window because there would have been a bunch of heads and limbs in the way. The ride only takes a couple of minutes.
After disembarking from the cable car, it’s another steep 20-minute walk to the Eisriesenwelt cave entrance. We were practically jogging by now to be on time for the tour. My advice is to budget your time better than we did so you don’t rush through this final leg.
The Tour at Eisriesenwelt
The Eisriesenwelt cave tour takes about one hour. As far as I know, the tours are only in German and English. Walking through the ice caves requires a moderate degree of fitness. The journey goes up 134 metres in altitude – about 40 storeys – with 1400 stairs along the way. It is not recommended for anyone who has trouble walking or climbing stairs.
Our tour guide was named Norbert, quite possibly the happiest man I’ve ever seen. It wasn’t just a job to him – he was an ice cave enthusiast and so excited to be back at a place he seemed to love. Since we visited on Eisriesenwelt’s opening day, Norbert was in good spirits and feeling generous on this day. We also had a relatively small tour group, so everyone had permission to take non-flash pictures.
We passed through the thick metal door, getting an icy blast of air from the change in pressure before plunging into the inky darkness. Illumination in the cave is borne by the group, and is seriously old school. Approximately every second person on our English tour received a kerosene lamp. This small lamp is surprisingly heavy and has an exposed flame at the front. Everyone had to be careful not to walk too close together or hold it close to our woolly, flammable jackets.
The Werfen ice caves are more than the usual magnificence of huge, looming caverns. The giant hills and solid walls made of smooth ice have an otherworldly blue glow. Icy stalactites are everywhere, but there is one curious cluster of stalagmites that looks amusingly phallic.
The frozen mountain waters are so pristine and untouched by human pollution. At one point, the path goes through a tunnel formed from immaculate, clear ice.
Tour Stops
One of the tour stops include the “ice elephant.” Even with the years of melting and freezing water, it’s easy to see the distinguishing shape.
Eisriesenwelt’s Ice Cathedral is like something out of a fantasy movie. A dome with terrifyingly sharp icicles hangs over a giant stalagmite as wide as a human. It’s easy to picture this spot as an evil ice queen’s throne room.
Another astonishing stop is this completely frozen waterfall gushing into a frozen lake – a peek into how the Werfen Ice Caves came into existence. Snow from the mountaintops above melts and seeps into the cave through various cracks and holes. The temperature in the cave continually freezes the incoming water, even in the summer.
The final stop was a wall of ice with peculiar stripes, much like rings on a tree. Norbert allowed the group to walk up to the wall, touch it and take pictures briefly. Then it was time to turn back the way we came to begin the uninterrupted journey back to the cave entrance.
Can I Take Photos at Eisriesenwelt?
Photographs are not officially allowed at Eisriesenwelt. The reason Norbert gave us was for organizational concerns. A horde of tourists all stopping to snap photos will significantly slow down the tour. The walkways through the cave are narrow. If anyone stops to take a photo, everybody behind them is stuck. The tours are on a strict schedule with only thirty minutes between each timeslot. Each group must be far enough along the cave so the next group doesn’t get jammed up behind them.
Also, some shitty amateur photographers still insist on using flash on their cameras. A blanket no photos rule prevents twenty flashbulbs from going off in the guide’s face every time he stops to explain something.
What To Wear to Eisriesenwelt
No matter what time of year you visit Eisriesenwelt, it will be 0°C or colder in the cave. Yes, even in the summer! Do not underestimate how chilly it will be inside the cave. I can’t think of anything worse than trying to enjoy this magnificent natural wonder while shivering the entire time. Definitely bring gloves and a jacket. If you’re from a cold weather country, you might be able to handle the chill better. Still, you’ll be more comfortable with some layers.
We visited Eisriesenwelt in late April. While the outside temperature on the mountain was only lightly nippy, it was bitterly cold inside the ice cave. My fingers, even inside my gloves, were going numb. I don’t think there’s any way around bringing heavy winter clothes to Eisriesenwelt in the summer.
The same goes for shoes. Wear proper walking or hiking shoes with closed toes. Don’t try to wear your sandals to the ice cave during summer. A visit to Eisriesenwelt involves a lot of uphill walking, and that’s before the tour even starts! Inside the cave, there are 700 stairs up and 700 stairs down. The walkways aren’t icy or slippery, but you should still wear shoes with good treads.
When To Go to Eisriesenwelt
If you have complete freedom in your schedule, I recommend going to the Werfen ice caves on a sunny day in the early morning. Mornings in the mountains have a better chance of being clear, so you can get great views on the way up. The crowds get bigger as the day wears on, too.
The first tour is at 9:30 am. Only the most committed tourists will be at Eisriesenwelt this early, so you’ll likely get a smaller tour group. The cave rules might relax slightly in small groups, and there’s the chance you could be able to take pictures or get closer to the ice. However, I don’t think this is applicable during the high season of June, July and August.
It’s natural to assume that Eisriesenwelt is a good rainy day activity since it is “indoors.” That’s true, but you still have to walk up the mountain to get to the cave entrance. Also, with poor visibility, you’ll miss the breathtaking scenery of the valley while walking the Panoramaweg. Not to mention that dining on the patio of Dr Oedl Haus will be out of the question. Sipping a post-cave beer next to the restaurant’s fireplace is okay, but it doesn’t compare to enjoying a beer outdoors with a view of the mountains.
Restaurants at Eisriesenwelt
Visitor’s Centre Cafe
There is a small cafe once you step into the visitor centre. They have limited drinks and food, but you can get a quick sandwich, strudel or cake. The seating area has a cosy lodge feel with cool “cave accents.”
Dr Oedl-Haus
Click on menu pictures to enlarge
Dr Oedl Haus is just off the cable car station after the ascent. This restaurant is a popular stop for visitors after their cave tour. On a clear day, the patio is full of tourists enjoying the surrounding mountain scenery. They serve beer, hot drinks and simple German dishes. We ordered a Grillwurstl with French Fries (€10.80) and a Kaiserschmarrn (€13.20). The food was nothing to remember. Our enjoyment largely came from the stunning view and the incredible experience we just had inside the cave.
Toilets at Werfen Ice Caves
There are several washrooms along the way. The first is the one at the Visitor Centre. The second washroom is a shack near the cable car station, about 20-minutes from the ticketing desk. The final toilets are near the Eisriesenwelt cave entrance built into the rock. The most comfortable facilities are the Visitor Centre toilets, so I would suggest going there. The other two washrooms are outdoors and will be chilly during the colder months.
Saturday Worthy?
Eisriesenwelt was one of the highlights of our trip, and I highly recommend a visit. We were originally going to visit the Dachstein Giant Ice Cave near Hallstatt, but after seeing the Werfen Ice Caves, we are so glad we came here instead. Dachstein apparently has lights, music, and bear sounds playing in the cave, which seems a little campy and overly touristic.
Eisriesenwelt is more authentic and tries to keep everything as close to how it was when the cave was first discovered. The kerosene lamps are the same ones used during the initial 1920s explorations, and there are minimal man made structures inside the cave. A stop at Eisriesenwelt is a must if you’re staying in Werfen. It’s even worth taking a train in for a day trip. You can combine the ice caves with The Sound of Music Trail and Hohenwerfen Castle.
