The most climate-friendly way to travel is by train: from Vienna, it takes just 1 hour 20 minutes to reach Puchberg, where you can either set off on a hike straight away or change to the Schneebergbahn.
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Tips & routes for hiking on the Schneeberg
Lower Austria’s highest mountain is an impressive sight. If you approach it with respect, you’ll get to know it at its best: as a natural paradise, an adventure playground and a nearby excursion destination from Vienna. No wonder the Schneeberg has provided the backdrop for the fondest family memories in tens of thousands of photo albums for generations …
If you want to enjoy the mountain air and panoramic views at over 2,000 metres above sea level, you don’t necessarily have to walk all the way up. Since 1897, the historic Schneeberg Railway – Austria’s longest rack-and-pinion railway – has been running from the Puchberg tourist centre up to Hochschneeberg station, Austria’s highest railway station, in 40 minutes.
Those who don’t want to go quite so high can also take the Schneeberg Chairlift all year round, gliding comfortably from 870 to 1,200 metres above sea level in just a few minutes.
by ‘Schneeberg-Koarl’ Karl Tisch, mountain rescuer and author.
At the very top of the summit at sunrise or sunset
Up over the Eng to the Knofeleben, have a nice beer there, over the Krummbachstein to Baumgarten, eat a Buchtel and back home to the little village of Schneeberg.
The Blunznpalatschinke at the fisherman’s hut, served with coleslaw
… as seen from the Krummbachstein
At Kaiserstein, looking down towards the valley, with Puchberg in the background, stretching as far as Lake Neusiedl and the Bucklige Welt
On the route from Puchberg via the Klaus, ideally just after sunrise
Very early in the morning on the Nandl Ridge or November Ridge, with the sun at my back
Autumn: when the leaves have already turned golden and the larch trees are changing colour, when you can already see a cap of snow on the mountain top and the sky above is a deep blue
A head torch and a little shot of schnapps for the summit
“You’re already blown away the moment you arrive in Puchberg and see the whole mountain stretching out before you under a brilliant blue sky for the first time,” says Karl Tisch. “But then you start climbing, and it gets even more beautiful: You grab a fragrant Buchtel and a hot coffee at the Baumgartner Hütte. And eventually you find yourself at the top by the monastery coat of arms, with the Rax and Ötscher stretching out before you. If you’re lucky, you might even see as far as the Dachstein …”
