Up the Rax mountain – hiking the alps near Vienna

It’s finally summer and outdoor season has fully kicked off! Being in the city doesn’t mean that there aren’t countless options for day trips into nature, where you get your share of clean air, forests and mountains. An hour drive out of town you’ll find plenty of hiking trails with amazing alpine sceneries, like the “Rax” – one of Vienna’s closest mountains. 

1. Getting up the mountain

While avid hikers may prefer to hike up on their own feet, the Rax cable car takes you up to the high plateau within minutes. This way you’ll save enough energy to enjoy the views and the hike is less strenuous for occasional hikers like me. Up on the plateau, most paths are rather flat with only little ups and downs – still you’ll be rewarded with spectacular mountain views! Trails are well marked and most importantly there’s no lack of mountain huts to grab a bite and take a rest. I did my last tour with one of my best friends about two years ago – however it was one of the most memorable hikes and it’s never too late to share some memories and impressions of some of the best hiking near Vienna 🙂

2. The trail

There are lots of different trails, but we decided on an easy one that took us from the mountain station of the ropeway to the Ottohaus and further to the Seehütte – where we had a break – and returned on a different path back to the Ottohaus, where we spent the night. However this route is easily doable on a day trip. You’ll find the detailed route on this map.

When you got some spare time, it’s also worth checking out the village Reichenau an der Rax which has a lovely park.

3. Where to stay

While a lot of people come on a day trip from Vienna, the area has way more to offer than you could cover on one day and as a popular hiking destination, there’s a fair amount of hotels, holiday apartments and guest houses too. If you consider to stay overnight you can book accommodation here.

4. Directions

From Vienna it’ll take you about 1 hour and 15 minutes to the cable car station by car. It’s also good accessible by public transport: Trains from Vienna’s main railway station run frequently to Payerbach-Reichenau – from there a local bus takes you to the cable car in about 20 minutes. Check the timetables here. It’s also advisable to check the operating times on the cable car’s website.

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Further readings:

Semmering – A day on the UNESCO railway trail