Nature as a Muse: Cultural Trails on Rax and Semmering

Our carefully curated travel tips

1 | Cultural hiking 

Hiking between Semmering and Rax means immersing yourself in a landscape steeped in history and stories. On paths that were once "prescribed" for spa guests, with views like something out of a painting. Here you can still feel the special flair that once inspired artists such as Peter Altenberg, Arthur Schnitzler and Max Reinhardt. Old villas and hotels such as the Südbahnhotel or the Panhans bear witness to days gone by. And because time does not stand still here either, there is always something new to discover. 

Don't miss the railway hiking trail with the 20-schilling view, still familiar to some from the old Austrian banknote. 

3 | The Rax

The Rax cable car was opened in 1926 as Austria's first aerial cableway, a pioneering construction that brought the Viennese to the high mountains for the first time. The Rax plateau is considered the cradle of alpine tourism, where Sigmund Freud and Viktor Frankl once hiked. Hut hopping between the Ottohaus, Höllentalaussicht and Seehütte huts is very popular.

Down in the Höllental valley, the ice-cold Schwarza river rushes between rugged rocks, particularly beautiful around Kaiserbrunn, where Vienna'sfirst mountain spring pipeline originated and still carries the purest spring water to Vienna.
 

4 | The Schneeberg

A mountain of superlatives: at 2,076 metres, it is Lower Austria's highest peak and has been served by the highest cog railway in existence since 1897. From the monastery coat of arms, the view extends to Vienna and, on clear days, to the Carpathian Mountains. In addition to its technological history, the plateau is also home to the Empress Elisabeth Memorial Church, built in 1901 as a monument to "Sisi". Attention, superlative! It is one of the highest churches in Austria.

If you are in the mood for alpine scenery combined with contemporary art, the Kunstraum Konrad in Puchberg is the place for you.
 

The most beautiful accommodations