Via Ferrata in Austria: 16 Routes by Region and Grade

What via ferrata in Austria is really like

If your idea of a protected route comes from a short line at low altitude, the Austrian version will surprise you. Not because the moves are harder, but because everything around them is bigger.

• Length. An Austrian klettersteig routinely covers several hundred metres of ascent. Add the walk in and the walk out and you have a full day rather than an afternoon.
• Grading. Austria uses the Schall scale, A to F, the same one you will see across the Alps, but the grades are handed out strictly. A route that would be called C somewhere more generous can easily be D here. Take that into account when you choose.
• Approach and descent. You rarely start at the car park. It is common to climb for an hour to reach the start, and after topping out you have another hour of waymarked descent, sometimes down a completely different side of the mountain.
• Altitude. Around the lakes you are in friendly terrain. In the Dachstein and the Totes Gebirge you are above two thousand metres in a genuinely high mountain environment, with a glacier nearby, snow lingering in the gullies into June and noticeably rougher weather.
• Exposure. Several of the best known Austrian routes are famous precisely for the drop under your heels: vertical ladders hanging in space, rope bridges strung between towers, walls that fall straight into a lake. That is the selling point, and it is also the thing to be honest with yourself about.
• Weather. Alpine weather can change within the hour and afternoon storms are common. People set off early, and so should you.
• Huts. The big advantage of the Austrian Alps is the dense network of mountain huts. You can sleep up high and split a long route across two days instead of forcing it into one.

16 via ferrata routes in Austria by region

The list below is grouped by area rather than ranked, because in practice you pick a base first and a route second. Roughly speaking: the Salzkammergut for variety and lake views, the Dachstein and the Totes Gebirge for high mountain days, Lower Austria and Styria for quiet rock within reach of Vienna.

Salzkammergut: the densest cluster of routes

1. Donnerkogel and the Himmelsleiter, Gosau. The best known via ferrata in Austria. The route climbs the Grosser Donnerkogel above Gosau and its centrepiece is the Himmelsleiter, the sky ladder: a vertical metal ladder hanging over empty space that accounts for the overwhelming majority of photographs taken on Austrian via ferrata. It is a demanding line and emphatically not the one to start with.

2. Attersee Klettersteig and Mahdlgupf. A route above Attersee with the water directly below you. It ranks among the most popular in Upper Austria and you can finish the day by swimming in the lake you have just been staring down into.

3. Drachenwand Klettersteig, Mondsee. The dragon wall above Mondsee: long, exposed and with a staggering view. One of the classics of the region.

4. Postalmklamm Klettersteig, Wolfgangsee. A route through a gorge and along the water, which is a different kind of day out from an open face. Several variants of different difficulty run side by side.

5. Laserer Alpin Klettersteig, Gosausee. Directly above the Gosausee with the Dachstein in front of you. It includes rope bridges and is known for its exposure.

6. Katrin Klettersteig, Bad Ischl. Served by a cable car, which makes it a sensible choice when you want a shorter day.

7. Gams Klettersteig, Obertraun. A route above Lake Hallstatt, in an area you will probably want to see anyway for Hallstatt itself.

8. Traunstein, Naturfreundesteig. The classic line up the striking peak above Traunsee. Long, with a lot of height gain.

9. Alberfeldkogel above Traunsee. Shorter and friendlier, in the same area. A good option when you want the Traunsee scenery without an all day effort.

10. Mein Land dein Land, Bad Goisern. A newer route, popular with people who want something other than the Salzkammergut classics.

Dachstein and the Totes Gebirge

11. Intersport Klettersteig, Dachstein. One of the best known routes in the Dachstein area, with a rope bridge and a distinctly high alpine character. Expect glaciated surroundings and weather that is harsher than down by the lakes.

12. Priel Klettersteig, Hinterstoder. A long route in the Totes Gebirge, where you are genuinely on a high mountain tour with cables rather than out for an afternoon of fun.

13. Loser Panorama Klettersteig “Sisi”. A route on the Loser with a panoramic view over the Altaussee area. The name tells you what the day is mainly about.

Lower Austria and Styria

14. Hans von Haid Steig, Rax. A historic protected route in the Rax range south west of Vienna. The Rax is the closest Alpine terrain to the Austrian capital, which makes it easy to bolt onto a city trip.

15. Kaiser Franz Joseph Klettersteig, Hochschwab. A route in the Styrian Hochschwab, an area of wild country with far fewer visitors.

16. Tristans Kirchbogensteig, Hochschwab. Another line in the same range, liked as much for the quiet around it as for the climbing.

Which via ferrata in Austria to pick first

If this is your first trip to the Austrian Alps with a ferrata set in the bag, three rules will save you a lot of grief:

• Choose a route with a cable car or a short approach. You save an hour of climbing on foot and keep your strength for the part that needs it.
• Go one grade below what you would normally take on. Grades here are given honestly, and a B in Austria tends to feel like a solid B/C elsewhere.
• Pick an area with several routes side by side, the Salzkammergut being the obvious one, so you can change your mind on the spot without writing off the day.

The most sensible first choices are the Katrin Klettersteig at Bad Ischl, thanks to the cable car, the shorter variants of Postalmklamm at Wolfgangsee and Alberfeldkogel above Traunsee.

Equipment for via ferrata in Austria

Nothing exotic is required, but the length of Austrian routes turns a few optional items into essentials:

• A via ferrata set certified to EN 958, a sit harness and a helmet. Without them nobody will let you on the route, and there would be no point in going anyway.
• Gloves. Austrian routes are long and the steel cable will wreck your hands.
• Layers and a waterproof jacket. It is ten degrees colder at the top than at the bottom, and the wind makes it worse.
• Enough water, at least two litres per person. There is nowhere to refill on the route.
• A head torch, for the days when the route runs to the edge of daylight.
• A charged phone and the mountain rescue number. In Austria that is 140, and the European 112 works as well.

When to go

• June: the start of the season, but above two thousand metres there is still snow in the gullies and some routes stay closed.
• July and August: the main season with the best conditions, but also full huts and the highest frequency of afternoon storms.
• September: the best month in our view. Steadier weather, fewer people, huts still open.
• October: beautiful colours and real quiet, but short days and the risk of the first snow. Cable cars close one by one.

Whenever you go, start early. Storms in the Alps typically build in the afternoon, and being clipped to a steel cable at that moment is the worst place you can be.

Getting there and getting around

Austria is easy to reach from most of Europe. The usual gateways are Vienna, Salzburg and Innsbruck: Salzburg sits closest to the Salzkammergut lakes, Vienna is the obvious arrival point for the Rax and the Styrian ranges, Innsbruck for anything further west. Check current flight schedules yourself, because seasonal routes come and go.

Once you land, a hire car is the practical option. Trailheads sit at the end of valley roads and cable car base stations rarely line up with the timetable you need for an early start. Trains and post buses do serve the lake towns of the Salzkammergut and the valleys below the Rax, so a car free trip is possible if you pick your base carefully and accept a longer walk in.

If you drive, the Austrian motorway vignette is compulsory and available as a ten day electronic version. Watch out for the fact that some mountain roads and tunnels carry a separate toll on top of the vignette.

Where to stay

• Mountain huts right in the area, many of them run by alpine clubs. Club members get significant discounts. Book ahead, because they fill up in season.
• Campsites by the lakes in the Salzkammergut, the cheapest option and a pleasant one in summer.
• Guesthouses down in the valleys, for example in Gosau, Bad Goisern or around Mondsee.

You can compare accommodation across the via ferrata areas on a single map with Stay22.