Himmelspforte Schafberg — Attraction in Sankt Gilgen

A must see when visiting Wolfgangsee. Expect to witness one of the most beautiful sights in your life when you are up there. I was acting like an excited kid running around when I managed to witness the fantastic views from the top, a beautiful blend of magnificent lakes (i counted 5/6) and majestic mountains.

Our family of 4 took the steam furnicular to/fro the base station. While we can't deny it was pretty pricey, visitors who are short of time should take this to the top as it saves a lot of precious energy and time and that means more in your pocket to enjoy the beauty up top. The view is breathtaking even during the ride.

There are restaurants at the top and the prices were lower than we expected so it was a pleasant surprise. Prepare cash as cards ARE NOT accepted.

All in all, it is totally worth your time, money and energy to be up there to witness the...

Views are amazing! Simply stunning! About train: Humongous ripoff for an extremely cramped and sweaty ride (people were stuffed inside like a tuna in a can) uphill/downhill with no special views on the way (track goes through woods, tunnel, some parts are open for a better view). For that price (~44eur/person) you naturally expect some comfort, AC or at least some marvelous views. Strongly advise against rides with a babies, because risk of serious hyperthermia (no air circulation, AC, inside feels like at scorching desert). Even the part about steam cog train is a lie/illusion, because there're only two oldimer steam cog trains, lots of others are modern ones. So it's pretty random what you get on. The magnificent views uphill is not connected to a cog train service, so I'm not reviewing them. To hike up/down is hundred times better and more...

We arrived here, like anyone else who's sensible, via the mountain railway from St Wolfgang im Salzkammergut. I expected to just take a couple of pictures and then head to the cafe but even my cycnical city head was awestruck by the sheer majesty of the lakes and mountains. All the cliches were there, azure blue lakes, jagged mountain peaks and nutters on paragliders. Every corner we took opened up a new vista so we walked for about an hour just enjoying the scenery. This was despite some hugely vertigo inducing sights and absolutely no safety precautions! We then went into the summit cafe for an ice cream coffee for me and another puritan black coffee for Deb. We sat on the terrace enjoying the shade of the umbrella and the sugar rush from the ice cream before joining the queue for the train down...