Having walked along St. Gilgen, I went to the pier, from where I start the boats to the lift to Mount Schafberg.
Actually, because of this mountain with its antique toothed road, I climbed into these Salzkammergut places on the shore of Lake Wolfgangsee. Actually, I’m afraid of heights ... but whenever possible I persistently climb all kinds of mountains. My record is the highest mountain in Germany Zugspitze (2962 meters). Having learned that there is an unusual road near Salzburg to the top of Schaffberg mountain (1783 m), I decided that I simply had to ride it. At the box office at the pier, she took a combined ticket (boat + lift, cost 48.20 euros), which clearly indicated the time of departure of the train, and joined the line of curious tourists.
On the way to the SchafbergBahn station, the boat makes two stops, so the whole trip takes about 15-20 minutes.
Then another five minutes, and you end up in line for the train. It’s not worth worrying that you don’t have enough space, because for every flight at the box office exactly as many tickets are sold as there are seats (the number of empty seats for each train is displayed on the screen).
Preparing for the trip, I read that it is better to sit on the left side with your back along the train ... but for this it was necessary to start from the boat in the forefront. Since I was in no hurry, the last one sat down and I got the last place on the right side.
At first, the views in the opposite window really captured much more than the wall from the forest on our side. But when the train almost climbed the mountain, we received double compensation for the first twenty minutes of the journey. The train goes almost along the edge of the cliff. The views are stunning. The breath away from beauty, or from fear! We dive into the tunnel. Stop at the Schafbergalm station. After a couple of minutes we move on ... Another tunnel ... and 35 minutes behind. We unload on a windy peak on Mount Schafberg (Schafbergspitze, 1732 m). Ahead at the highest point is a restaurant and cafe of the same name. I’ll go there!
But first...
Important!!! Be sure to go to the cashier on the second floor of the station and reserve a seat on the return train if you do not want to go down on foot!
The train on which I expected to return was completely reserved, and I had to choose between 15 minutes and 1 hour and 15 minutes of walking along the mountain. Of course, I chose the second. And although it was pretty cool, I never regretted it. Stunning views on the one hand, stunning - on the other! Tasty coffee! Eagles soaring overhead! Periodically peeking gentle sun! Wonderful mood! An hour flew by like one minute!
Everyone sat in their places and together drove down. Here we fully felt what it is - a cog railway! Shaking terribly, but it was fun!
The highest is exactly the mountain that I was on
Interesting Facts
The SchafbergBahn Mountain Railway was opened on August 1, 1893 and is one of the oldest toothed roads in the world. About 350 workers built it in one year. Length - 5.85 km. The vertical drop is 1190 m. The maximum gradient is 26%. The locomotive raises the cars due to steam traction, pushing them along the toothed rail laid in the middle of the narrow gauge railway. Travel time is about 35 minutes. During the ascent, the train makes one stop at the Schafbergalm station (Schlbergalm, 1363 m) and passes through two tunnels.
There are two antique locomotives in the locomotive park that have been working here since the opening day.
On a clear day, from the top of the mountain offers panoramic views of the sparkling Salzkammergut lakes (Wolfgangsee, Irrsee, Mondsee, Fuschlsee and Chiemsee) and the foothills of the Alps from Höllengebirge and Dachstein to Watzmann.
The road is open from late April to October.