The ice caves of Werfen are a frozen subterranean world that lie deep within the Austrian Alps. Perched high above the tiny hamlet of Werfen, Eisriesenwelt (German for “world of the ice giants”) is the world’s largest ice cave and is a popular day trip from Salzburg. Austria’s efficient train system will deliver you to the town of Werfen from Salzburg in just over an hour but once you get to the town you have to go up. Way up. A shuttle will brought us up a windy 3.5 mile road to the visitors center where we continued our uphill climb on foot. I was looking forward to pristine alpine views of verdant valleys giving rise to gray limestone peaks set against an azure sky however the weather had different views in store for us.
Feeling a bit like Jack and the Beanstalk we continued our climb into the clouds. A twenty minute walk along a gravel path brought us to a cable car that zipped us up the mountain offering up stunning panoramic views of (wait for it) even more clouds! I later learned the Salzburg and the Alps average 13-18 days of precipitation per month so you basically have a 50/50 shot of getting great weather.
After the cable car we still had another 20 minute climb ahead of us but our destination at an altitude of over 5400 feet was now in sight. The entrance to the world of the ice giants looks like it was plucked straight from a fantasy novel and would make a great setting for Game of Thrones (No white walkers were spotted during this trip).Clouds enshrouded the entrance as we waited our turn to go in and we braced ourselves from the blast of icy air whenever the door to the caves was opened. Visitors can only access the ice caves as part of a group and wait time can be up to an hour once you reach the cave enterance.
Once you enter the caves each guest is given a carbide lantern to light this frozen underground world just like the ones used during the exploration of the caves in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Only a fraction of the caves, which extend over 26 miles throughout the mountain, are accessible to visitors.Once known only to locals, who thought the cave was an entrance to hell, they were first explored by Anton Posselt in 1879 and then a more thorough expedition was conducted by Andrew von Mork beginning in 1912. The ice formations in the caves are ever changing and formed from snow runoff in the summer that freezes as it makes its way through the cave system.Temperatures in the cave are never above 32 degrees F so warm clothing is essential even when visiting during the summer, bundle up and don’t forget the hat and gloves! Unfortunately photography is not allowed in the caves themselves, the following pictures are taken from the official Eisriesenwelt website. I was struck by not only the crystalline beauty of the caves but also of the sheer size of the caverns and the ice flows within.
Planning to explore the ice caves of Werfen yourself? The following information will help you plan your visit.
Website
http://www.eisriesenwelt.at/en
Visiting Hours
Daily May 1 through October 26 rain or shine
Tours are available from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.(last tour) and 4:30 pm(last tour) in July and August. Tours of the caves last 1 hour and 15 minutes but plan at least 3 hours for the entire experience.
Tickets
Tickets are 22 Euros including tour and cable car, visit the website for reduced fares for students, seniors and families.
Sandra @ Tripper says
Absolutely stunning! Looks incredibly cold but I’m sure I’d manage 🙂
Brianna says
It was much colder than I expected, definitely bring some gloves!
Axelle says
I’m putting these caves on my to-do list when i’m going to Austria again!
Brianna says
I loved Austria and can’t wait to go back!
Laura says
woah what breath taking photos! I want to go there.
Brianna says
It’s definitely worth a visit!
Dave Cole says
Those shots of the interior of the caves are very beautiful. Such a unique and colorful frame. I have yet to visit this part of Austria (hard to leave Vienna!), but am constantly amazed at the variety of sights and activities there.
Brianna says
While I love Vienna the Alps are certainly worth setting some time aside for.
Ben @ Road Affair says
I am born and raised in Salzburg, Austria so we went to the Eisriesenwelt once with high school. It is absolutely stunning and must do for everybody visiting Austria. Matter of fact the next time I am visiting my fam I will definitely go again too.
Brianna says
I loved visiting Salzburg, what a gorgeous area to grow up in!
Mindi @ 2foodtrippers says
It’s a shame that it was cloudy, but at least you didn’t have rain or white walkers. Even with clouds, it looks like an amazing experience!
Brianna says
It was a great experience despite the rain. I can’t imagine the original explorers discovering these caves for the first time!
Sarah @ A Week at the Beach says
Wow very cool! Was it scary at all? I’m feeling a little claustrophobic just looking at the photos:)
Brianna says
Actually inside it was quite cavernous, I’ve certainly been in more cramped caves.
Charles McCool says
This looks like so much fun, Brianna. World’s largest ice cave? Nice to learn something new already this morning.
Brianna says
Keep that in your back pocket if you ever go on Jeopardy
Sarah Ebner says
This sounds like such a great experience. We are off to Austria, near Salzburg this summer and I hope we can squeeze it in…
Brianna says
There’s also a super cool fortress in the town of Wefen that has falconry demonstrations. I didn’t have time to explore that but would also make a great day trip. I loved visiting Austria, have fun!
TammyOnTheMove says
Wow, these lok absolutely stunning. I have never heard of these caves. What an amazing find!
Brianna says
It was very cool inside(no pun intended). I felt like I was in Superman’s Fortress of Solitude
Paul says
Love the photos where the air is all misty – Looks extremely spooky. The climb to these caves looks like a right challenge, but I’m sure well worth the end result
Brianna says
That was my favorite picture too and posted as shot with no editing other than resizing for the blog.
Valerie says
The photos inside the cave are STUNNING! What a shame it was so cloudy when you went 🙁
Brianna says
If you can’t see the mountains then take another view inside the mountain
Carmen (CarmensTravelTips) says
These ice caves look amazing. The formations and colors of the ice is incredible. I would love to go see them.
Brianna says
I’m always struck by that brilliant ice blue whether its in a cave like this or a massive glacier.
Hannah says
Neat! Love you photos with the clouds rolling in…totally GOT material!
Brianna says
Thanks, despite the gloomy weather it really was a great day.
Irene S Levine says
The caves look like an amazing place to visit. Are they as cold as they look?
Brianna says
They sure are, it’s like a giant icebox!
Bailey K. says
Wow, this is gorgeous!! I love the blue shade of perfectly pure ice. Adding another place to visit in Austria!! 😉
Brianna says
I loved my time in Austria, I’ll definitely be back to explore more!
Milosz Zak says
I love these mountainous environments, make me think of a James Bond movie, Austria is beautiful, but too often people stop at Vienna. I’ve been to Vienna 5x now, and haven’t seen the rest of Austria, I gotta say this is a wake-up call that I gotta make more of an effort, especially living right next door in Wroclaw, Poland.
Brianna says
I can totally see this as the lair of a James Bond villain!
Jameela (Diary of a Serial Expat) says
No matter how beautiful it may look inside, i’m not sure i could do it, the closed up environment is a bit too… well closed up for me. But the pictures are pretty cool though, reminds me of the ice caves in Iceland.
Brianna says
It’s actually quite spacious inside, and cold!
Els says
Beautiful! It looks like something you would find in Chili, not in Austria 🙂
Brianna says
I was surprised how rugged the Austrian Alps were.
Bob R says
I planned on making a visit here a few times, but something always came up, or our plans changed. Thanks for the reminder. 🙂 Look excellent, cloudy weather notwithstanding.
Brianna says
I really enjoyed this excursion, clouds and all.
Amy says
Wow! I never heard of this place but those caves look amazing! I’ll have to add this to my list of places to visit next time I’m in the area.
Brianna says
You definitely should, the surrounding Alps are stunning as well.
Heather Cole says
What an awesome experience, it’s great doing unusual things isn’t it! I remember visiting ice caves in the Mer de Glace in Chamonix when I was about 10 and would love to go back as an adult to really appreciate it properly. Great post!
Brianna says
It really is the unique experiences you remember most.Thanks for stopping by!
Kristina Keltner says
These photos are absolutely unreal! Well done.
Brianna says
Thanks, the caves themselves were unreal!
Karisa says
Interesting! I haven’t been to Austria yet but this looks beautiful!
Brianna says
I loved Austria and can’t wait to go back!
Elena (http://gonewiththebackpack.blogspot.com/ ) says
Looks beautiful ….and cold 🙂
Brianna says
You are right on both accounts.
Jen Seligmann says
Very cool (hahaha get it! – yes I know bad joke) experience. The journey to get there looks worth the trip even without seeing the stunning caves. Definitely another place to add to my bucket list when I return to lovely Salzburg one day..
Brianna says
The journey was definitely part of the adventure though I can’t imagine the early expeditions hauling supplies all the way up.
Michael Huxley says
Wow, this looks like an amazing experience! Fantastically useful write up too, thank you. I’ll definitely check this out the next time I’m over there.
Brianna says
The caves were awesome to see in person and the surrounding Alps are beautiful
ฉีดลดแก้ม says
Thank you for info, I miss Austria so much.
Brianna says
Thanks for stopping by!
Kristen Sarra says
How cool and different. The pictures are absolutely amazing. Love the whole misty atmosphere!
Brianna says
The picture at the entrance of the cave is my favorite 🙂
armchairtoreality says
How stunning and what a journey to get there?! Kind of spooky up there too but what an experience,
Brianna says
It was definitely worth the effort to get there.
Nikolay Popov says
Dear Brianna, guess you have strong position in advising people about visiting the Cave. After my own visit I should say that unfortunately could not find any comments whatsoever about difficulty of this trial for elderly people and for those who have problems with legs or spine or heart. This due to walking up steep access route and stairs up to 45 degrees inside the cave itself for about an hour. No stopping for rest inside , one must follow the group, Then going down same way which is not easy for people with walking problems. Gloves are strongly advised to hold on ice railings, not just for protection.
Otherwise, the cave is beautiful ! Something one will never see again.
Regards, Nick
Portugal
Christina says
Altough the Eisriesenwelt is in my home country and only a couple of hours away from home I was never there. But after seeing your beautiful pictures I have to visit them soon. 🙂
Brianna says
You should definitely go, be sure to check out Hohenwerfen as well!
Pedro says
Great pictures and nice and interesting post! I would love visit!
Brianna says
Thanks for stopping by Pedro!
Karen Warren says
I’m not normally very keen on caves but those ones do look stunning!
Marie-Carmen says
Ice caves, that just looks amazing!
Really would love to do a trip there! Thanks for the photos guys!
Bianca @itsallbee says
Wow! Austria certainly seems to have some variety doesnt it?! I really cannot wait for 2015 to roll on as I have plans for Austria in the coming year.
Jessica (Barcelona Blonde) says
Wow, these are so cool! Cold places generally aren’t my thing, but I might make an exception for these ice caves. 22 euros sounds a little pricey though, but it looks like it’d be worth it.
Anda says
Wow! 26 miles of caves. That’s very impressive. I would like to visit the one of a kind cave.
Brianna says
That’s crazy isn’t it? Only a small area of that is open to visitors but it was definitely a cool experience.
Shikha (whywasteannualleave) says
Gorgeous pictures!! they look incredible! I’m pretty disappointed that I didn’t know about this when I went to Salzburg last year!! Will have to remember to make the trip next time!
Brianna says
There’s a really cool old fortress in Werfen too, definitely worth the trip!
Tracey says
Wow!! The ice caves look like something from a fairy tale. Very cool indeed. This place is going on my list of things to see when we visit Germany.
Brianna says
We loved the Alps, have fun!
Annika - Live Laugh Explore says
Stunning looking place! I was planning on a hike in that part of the Alps and this would have been part of my trek! I ended up going on the Tour du Mont Blanc instead so maybe this is for next time 🙂
Brianna says
I’m pretty sure you can’t go wrong with any part of the Alps 🙂
Mary {The World Is A Book} says
Wow..that just looks stunning and worth the trek to get up there. It’s too bad they don’t allow you to take pictures inside. We were in Salzburg last year for a day but we did the whole Sound of Music tour. We’d love to return and explore this especially since we got the 50% rainy part during our visit.
Brianna says
I absolutely loved Salzburg, such a charming little city! I definitely want to return to experience the Alps in theirr full, alpiney glory.
Meg @ Mapping Megan says
Absolutely amazing. At first the concept blew my mind lol because for some reason my brain read “Western Australia” as opposed to Austria, but I do love Salzburg – such a great destination!
Brianna says
Lol! I remember seeing tons of “There’s no kangaroos in Austria” t-shirts so you’re not the only one.
Brianna says
I have yet to visit a winery I didn’t like!
Traveling Ted says
That is crazy that a marathon could be run in the caves since it is 26 miles, although quite sure it would be impossible since only a portion is open to visitation. Probably too many stalagmites and stalactites blocking the path for runners. Looks very eerie and mysterious, but beautiful.
Brianna says
That would be one way to stay warm!
Mary @ Green Global Travel says
Great writing, I felt like I was on the journey to the land of the Ice Cave Giants with you!
Hanna says
Those caves look beautiful! I’m a huge fan of any kind of caves so I think I’d enjoy the visit a lot. Need to remember to gi there while next time in Austria. 🙂
Brianna says
It was very other worldly, almost like I was in a Lord of the Rings movie!
Alice Teacake says
Well done for dodging those white walkers. The views inside…my word…just beautifully stunning. I can see it’s well worth the trip. I went to Austria a couple of years ago and loved Salzburg but am kicking myself…I never made it as far as here!
Brianna says
Definitely worth a stop, the views inside and out are gorgeous!
shrikant joshi says
I am planning to visit werfen in September but I read in the other reviews that it is really dark inside and it doesn’t look anywhere near to the picture on web site so I am in double mind whether to visit Dachstein or Werfen please help
Brianna says
Hi Shirkant, while it is dark inside Werfen (it is a cave after all) I found the lanterns provided plenty of light and the views of the Alps getting to Werfen are stunning.