Dachstein Area
Dachstein Caves
These ice and mammoth caves are open daily from May until 3 September 2007.
Starting point: the middle station of the Dachstein Railway at Obertraun The enormous ice and mammoth caves can be reached from the Dachstein railway’s Obertraun middle station in just 15 minutes.
A visit to one of the two caves, including the journey there and back, takes approx. 2.5 hours.
Gigantic Ice Cave
The Gigantic Ice Cave and the Gigantic Mammoth Cave rank among the biggest attractions in the Hallstatt-Dachstein region. Deep inside the mountains these bizarre formations out of ice and rock are awe-inspiring, unimaginable fairytale worlds.
The Gigantic Ice Cave is among the largest ice caves in the world and attracts tourists from far and wide to the Salzkammergut. Each year more than 150,000 people wander through the subterranean halls - the King Arthur Dome, Percival Dome and Tristan Dome. The highlights of the one-hour guided walk are the Castle of the Grail and the Ice Chapel. The Gigantic Ice Cave contains 30,000 m³ of ice. In some cave parts, such as the Tristan Dome, the thickness of the ice reaches 25 m.
Mammoth Cave
The Mammoth Cave is the "Cave Explorer's Cave".
During the guided tour you will experience the kind of conditions that cave explorers endure for days at a time. The Paläotraun, Midnight Dome, and the Realm of the Shadows are just some parts that can be easily explored. During the tour visitors will be told about the enormous time periods over which the caves and the rock were formed. Mankind seems small and insignificant in comparison. When you emerge into daylight again, you will have experienced the life of a cave explorer.
Dachstein Ice Palace
The Ice Palace is a unique attraction in Austria and is open daily. It enables visitors to enter the hidden worlds of a glacier and is just three minutes' walking distance away from the Dachstein top station. It is open all year round regardless of the weather.
During a tour of the glacier, which also contains a large number of niches, visitors will pass through the "Throne Room", the "Crystal Dome" and the "Blue Salon". The impressive columned doorway and the precise replica decorations were chiselled out of the glacier by Chinese ice artists over a period of several weeks. The Ice Palace took one year to build, and the result is a fascinating, mystical experience that combines ice, light and sounds to magnificent effect. The throne room is especially impressive. It includes the portal of the Acropolis in Greece immortalized for ever in ice. Even the floors of the connecting passageways are made of ice. At the entrance visitors are given a straightforward explanation of the way in which a glacier is created.
Dachstein Sky Walk - The Balcony of the Alps
The facts for the "Dachstein Sky Walk" speak for themselves: 250 metres in length, built over vertical rock, weighing 40 tonnes and able to hold up to 150 visitors. No ropes and no risk - the most impressive peaks brought to within grasping distance. Now some couples even get married on the Dachstein Sky Walk with its impressive backdrop!
Highlight: Parts of the floor are made of GLASS!
The "Dachstein Sky Walk" is situated at a height of 2700 metres above sea level, at the top of the vertical rockface of the Hunerkogel. This "Balcony of the Alps" is significantly higher than the platforms at the Niagara Falls and Iguaçu Waterfalls in Brazil. The viewing platform has space for up to 150 people, and can be easily reached from Schladming and Ramsau using the Dachstein cable railway.
Dachstein - Zwieselalm
The possibilities for leisure activities on the Zwieselalm are unbelievably diverse - as are the panoramas of the surrounding landscape. Whether it be walks, hikes, or climbing tours, there is something for everyone here. Even if you just want to spend a few hours in the valley, take in some sun and maybe enjoy a bite to eat afterwards, you can choose no better spot than the Gosau – Zwieselalm region. There are plenty of circular walks and sunny spots in which to rest, and the alp is easy to reach with the cable railway.
Krippenstein - Five Fingers
Five Fingers is the name of the Krippenstein's number one attraction - the most spectacular viewing platform in the Alps.
Built above a chasm more than 400 metres deep, the walkway is shaped like a hand that extends out over eight metres. It features five 4 x 1 metre walkways, each one providing visitors with a different kind of spectacular experience: One walkway is made entirely of glass, another is decorated with a large, baroque frame to enable visitors to create their own image of the World Heritage town of Hallstatt. A third walkway (cannot be walked) includes a trampoline as a symbol of the freedom of the mountains. The fourth walkway has a hole in its floor through which visitors can look down into the chasm, and the fifth walkway has a telescope to enable visitors to get up close to the mountains of the Salzkammergut.
