Eisriesenwelt — Attraction in Werfen

The Ice Cave "Eisriesenwelt"

A rainy day seemed to be a good day to visit this ice cave, which is one of the largest in Europe. The cave is 42 km deep/long, but only about 1 km is filled with ice. We were guided through this first kilometer where the water has frozen.

The guide spoke English. When you reach the cave entrance, you can choose between two languages: English or German. You simply stand by the signs for the preferred language.

The journey up to the ice cave entrance is a two-part trip, each about 20 minutes. Let's start from the beginning. If you arrive early, you can park very close to the ticket booth (though we had bought our tickets online and saved some euros). If you come a bit later, the parking spaces are likely to be taken, but you can park in the town and take a bus up.

With the electronic tickets, it was super easy to gain access. They need to be scanned at the entrance here at the parking lot, at the lift, and again at the entrance to the ice cave itself.

The walk up to the lift takes about 20 minutes on foot. The area is incredibly beautiful even on a rainy day. The path is easy to walk on as it's even and well-maintained. Handrails and other safety measures are also in good condition. And that's important because part of the journey is literally along the edge. Okay, the path is very wide, about 4-5 meters, so you don't need to walk so close to the edge that you can see how far down it is, but it's an impressive sight and for us coming from flat Denmark, it's an amazing experience.

At the lift, you scan your ticket again and enter the lift, packed like sardines. Some were asked to take off their backpacks to make room for a few more. The ride in the lift only takes a few minutes, and then you reach the second stage of the ascent. From here, it's about another 20 minutes' walk from the lift to the entrance of the ice cave.

On the way up, you can choose to go through a tunnel or take a scenic path. We chose the tunnel on the way up and the scenic path on the way down. Note that there are goats grazing on the steep slopes below the path.

At the cave entrance, as mentioned earlier, we chose the guide speaking in English.

The journey into the ice cave. Every 3-4 people were equipped with a lamp. A model lamp that was used 100 years ago. A polished metal screen forms a parabola around a small flame. Compared to today's lamps, this lamp doesn't emit any significant light. The guide carries a magnesium wire that ignites and burns with an incredibly bright light, enough to illuminate the cave, and we can see the ice formations.

The guide tells about the discovery of the ice cave and the challenges inside the cave. It's said that the cave changes year after year due to the ice.

380 steps as a warm-up. The guide says we'll climb about 700 steps in total, and the initial 380 can be seen as a warm-up. It was tough to climb, but fortunately, the guide goes very slowly, so even those of us with poor physical condition can keep up. The guide was good at keeping the back of the group together.

I have uploaded pictures along with this text, which probably speak for themselves, but it was a great trip and exciting to walk in the sometimes pitch-dark cave. It's a good idea to bring a flashlight (remember fresh batteries) so you can illuminate the path ahead when the guide's magnesium burns out, and everything is dark, albeit sparsely lit by the old lamps.

The cave is cold, with temperatures around freezing or below, but due to the many steps up and down, the cold climate was not a problem.

The journey down from the cave was just as beautiful and impressive as the ascent, though my breathing was more controlled on the way down than up.

I can highly recommend a trip into this ice cave. It's a memorable experience that will stay with you for...

Very special and unique experience (like all other reviews). €35 per person might sound like a lot but DEFINITELY WORTH IT!

Let me sooth your mind if you’re doubting your fitness for this trip:

FITNESS Beforehand I was worried that 1400 steps would be too much for me, because I haven’t done sports in years. But actually it was totally doable because the steps are very low! The hike to the cave was more demanding than the tour inside the cave. Also the tour guide is taking it very slow, so it’s easy to keep up.

TOUR GUIDES The tour guides are very friendly and experienced. I can recommend walking close to the tour guide. He stops now & then for a break but if you’re in the back, during break time you’re mostly still catching up with the group and don’t really get a break. We were with the German tour (I’m Dutch but my German is quite good), understanding almost everything. A few details I asked our tour guide to explain in English, which he was happy to! Definitely ask, as they hold so many cool facts about the cave!

ENGLISH OR GERMAN? If in doubt choosing English or German tour: choose English. They start 2 English groups + 1 German group. The tour guides have quite a strong Austrian accent which makes it sometimes hard to understand. Inside the cave their voice can get lost a little bit because it’s so big. They do speak very, very loud and articulate the best they can, to make sure you hear them. No problem for native German speakers, but takes more concentration for non-native.

TOILETS Toilets located: ✅at the ticket/souvenir shop ✅halfway the hike at a restaurant (20 min hike + 5 min lift (+ possible waiting time)) ✅at the cave entrance (20 min hike after restaurant) Due to the temperature difference, I felt like my bladder was full but it wasn’t🙃

CLOTHING & HIKE TIPS Bring warm clothes, during summer it’s 0 degrees Celsius inside. Dress your kids properly (hiking shoes, warm jacket / gloves). hiking shoes are recommended. The hike up to the cave is beautiful, it’s easy for experienced hikers but can be demanding for people of older age. During the hike you can choose a tunnel or to go around, take the route around, it’s almost the same time and so much more beautiful! total visit will take you 3 hours, longer if you take breaks or are parked down the road, so bring enough water!

PARKING buy your tickets beforehand and choose a morning slot (before 10:20 am), unless you don’t mind hiking up the steep, full parking lot ;) There are young men helping you to find a parking spot.

Not recommend for kids younger than 6 and...

I'm going to start by telling you to go. This place is a fantastic experience, 5/5 for us and we thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience! Before you get all excited though, I'm going to give you some honest facts a lot of people / websites seem to omit.. and some which are just useful. This is not a suitable activity for anyone with a walking disability, wheelchairs, pushchairs, buggies, possibly people with asthma or breathing conditions etc. and you are not allowed to take any photos/videos inside the ice cave. All the photos online are professionally taken with lighting, there is no lighting in the cave, you are given a gas lamp or an LED torch to carry. Last entry into the cave in the Summer is 4pm. We arrived at around 1.45pm and easily found a parking spot. You can park within metres of the ticket kiosk building if theres space. If you are driving, it is a VERY steep drive up the mountain for about 15 minutes. If you don't park right at the building, expect to walk anything from 5 to 15 minutes heading moderately uphill. We paid €73 for 2 adults, 1 youth (14-17) and 1 child (under 14). It is then a 15 to 20 minutes uphill walk to the cable car station. Some bits are steep. The cable car then takes around 2 or 3 minutes to get you further up the mountain (amazing views). Once you're off the cable car you have another 20ish minutes uphill walk which is fairly steep, some bits are concrete, some bits are gravel. If you are reasonably fit , this section of the hike up to the cave is awesome as the views are magnificent! So, you're now all pretty much out of breath and congratulating yourselves on making it to the cave entrance. Well done, you've remembered to wear sensible footwear and pack your jumpers and jogging pants, but by the end you WILL wish you'd remembered to pack a pair of gloves. The tour inside the ice hole lasts about an hour and you don't have time to recover from your hike up there as you have another 700 steps to climb inside! I wont describe the crazy wind as they open the cave door or the tour as part of the fun is seeing it for yourself. With all the walking/hiking required before and after the cabe plus the cable car up and down, any necessary queuing and the tour itself, allow yourself 3 hours here and...