Has anyone done a trip to the Eisriesenwelt ice caves? Can you just buy entry tickets on the day and is it relatively hassle free to go by public transport from Salzburg? The website mentions a bus service from the train station and also a shuttle service that runs once every hour. Do I have to book the shuttle in advance? And is the experience affected by weather at all?
Posted by
Greeley, co, usa
2663 posts
I’ve done it from Salzburg and didn’t make any advance arrangements. I don’t remember any difficulty on the trip.
Be sure to have a warm jacket, gloves, and a hat
Posted by
OP
3 posts
Thanks Stephen! That's good to know.
Posted by
London
205 posts
The ice cave is super fun! We just turned up on the day and bought a ticket there. We did have to wait a bit at the cave entrance for the next English speaking tour. I can't speak to public transport as we had a car when we visited. I don't think you'd be much impacted by weather in the actual cave itself but it is a very healthy walk up to the cave entrance and I wouldn't want to be doing that in the rain (even if you take the cable car up, there is still quite a bit of walking). I do know they close the cave (I think) once a year to clean it so you just need to make sure it's open when you plan to go. Good luck!
Posted by
OP
3 posts
Thank you very much. Your info is most helpful!
Posted by
Southeast US
4128 posts
Hi, Debbie. Welcome to the Forum. I went to Eisriesenwelt as a day trip from Salzburg in May 2022. The train ride to Werfen is simple. There is a public transport bus that runs from the train station every 2 hours. We did not take that. We took the shuttle bus. It was about a 10-minute walk to the pick up -- the website says 5 minutes. We were picked up at the site listed on google maps as the Eisriesenwelt Shuttle Bus Ice Cave Pickup. The shuttle bus was cash only with no ATM nearby. The ticket seller/driver spoke good English. Three backpacking college students showed up with no cash, just cards. They were turned away, so I paid for them to ride. The return shuttle runs every 25 minutes.
We bought tickets at the Ice Cave on the day of our visit and had minimal wait to go on an English speaking tour. There is a fair amount of walking to get to the cave (along with a couple of cable cars), so rain would make that a little... well... damp. The views are nice along the way, even on a cloudy day like the day we went (the clouds burned off by the time we finished our tour through the cave). The cave experience itself is not impacted by weather.
Hope that helps!