Due to the limited capacity, entrance tickets should be bought online in advance. With your ticket, you reserve your entry for a 30-minute period of your choice (e.g. entry between 11 and 11.30).
If you miss the reservation time or buy a ticket on site, you can only be given the times that are still free, which may mean you need to wait longer.
Sturdy shoes and warm clothing are recommended. Even in summer, the temperature is usually below 0 degrees.
When you visit the cave, you will go up a total of 134 metres in altitude. This corresponds to climbing the stairs of a 40-storey high-rise building. It is the personal responsibility of each visitor to decide whether they are capable of doing this.
Of course, the beautiful ice formations and the impressive dimensions make up for any effort. The pace of the tour is adjusted to each group of visitors. However, people with severe mobility issues or cardiovascular diseases are advised not to visit the cave.
It is the responsibility of the parents to decide if their children are able to walk through the cold cave or not. This has often been too much for small children up to the age of 3 to 4 years. In any case, make sure you have enough warm clothing. Therefore: Please do not forget a hat and gloves.
A visit to the ice cave is particularly recommended on hot, sunny days. The panoramic view from the cave entrance high above the Salzach Valley and beyond the snow-covered peaks of the Hohe Tauern Mountains is impressive.
Of course, the Eisriesenwelt is also open to pets. However, we do not recommend bringing your dog if it will have problems with the steps.
For organisational reasons, photography and filming are not permitted in the cave. We hope you understand this unpleasant yet necessary measure!
Useful downloads
Eisriesenwelt_Information.pdf
Linienbus_Plan_2024.pdf
Wissenschaft.pdf
About the development of the Eisriesenhöhle
A look into
our history
Up to the end of the 19th century, this cave was still completely unknown - not least because of its exposed location in the high mountains, but also because not many people were interested in cave exploration at the time.
It was not until 1879 that the Salzburg naturalist Anton von Posselt-Czorich
went about 200 metres into the darkness of this cave on his own, and then officially discovered the Eisriesenwelt. A year later, he published a detailed report of his discovery in the Alpenverein magazine. However, the cave was forgotten about again.
After the First World War, there were pioneering explorations of the kilometre-long labyrinths of this cave system by other explorers, such as Friedrich and Robert Oedl or Walter Czernig.
Its tourist value soon grew as more people heard about this unique natural wonder. As early as 1920, an “explorer’s hut” and the first primitive climbing facilities to and in the cave were built in order to make it easier for visitors to visit the cave.