We park at the parking lot of the Maiskogelbahn (Kitzsteinhornplatz 1a, 5710 Kaprun). There are two different cable cars that lead to the Kitzsteinhorn, but this should be the nicer one. Once again, the trip is free with the Kaprun Card, hard to believe. Save a whopping € 46 per person mind you!
At 10:30 a.m. we enter the first gondola. The view is wonderful.
After 10 minutes you can get off at the first station, but you don’t have to. Of course we keep going. We glide over the alpine pastures and have a wonderful view of Zell am See and the mountains behind. From above we can see the cows grazing on the mountain pastures.
At 10:48 a.m. we arrive at the first station on the mountain, where we actually have to change trains – we continue with the second gondola in the direction of Kitzsteinhorn. The two gondolas from Kaprun meet at the second mountain station. To our astonishment, there is even an Intersport at this mountain station.
If you want, you can rest here in the restaurant. However, we immediately climb into the next gondola, the Gletscherjet 2.
Now you come to the 3rd mountain station, where the Gletschermühle restaurant is located, from which you can enjoy a wonderful view.
At 11:36 (also a good hour or 4 gondola rides later) we arrive at the mountain station at about 3,000 meters.
But wait, we’re not at the top yet. Now go left through a tunnel to an inclined elevator. This guided us a bit up to the first panorama terrace at 3,029 m: Top Of Salzburg is rightly called it.
Incidentally, the summit is at 3203 m.
From here you have a wonderful view of the surrounding mountains. If you want, you can find a restaurant in the same building. We go back downhill from the lowest floor through a tunnel. This saves the ride the inclined elevator.
Now you go straight through a tunnel cut into the mountain. You can find several instructive panels on the Kitzsteinhorn. Gold and silver used to be mined here. At the end of the tunnel you come to the second viewing terrace, the “National Park Gallery”.
The glaciated peaks of the Hohe Tauern National Park shone in the sun and the highest mountain in Austria, the Grossglockner, seems to be within reach.
On the way down we stop again at station three to have lunch in the Gletschermühle (glacier mill). We ordered a sour shandy and a wheat beer. Dish of the day is a Szegedin goulash, which tastes excellent. The Kaiserschmarrn is unfortunately only mediocre and is unfortunately served without raisins.