47.72° N · 15.81° E
The Viennese people's mountain: Austria's first cable car climbs to 1,547 m above Reichenau, with walks to the Ottohaus, snowshoeing in winter and the Höllental gorge.
What to do
Each plan says how long it takes, who it's for and whether you can book.
Cable car · 8 min · from Hirschwang to 1,547 m · a hundred years old in 2026 · closed for maintenance 16 November to 4 December
Route · 40 min each way · an almost flat gravel path from the cable car to a hut at 1,644 m
Snow · 2–3 h · snowshoes and poles hired with the ticket · signposted routes for beginners
Itineraries
Days and weekends already planned out, with how to get between each stop and who to book with.
Plan the trip
Each choice narrows the next: the season shapes how best to travel, and how you travel decides where you stay and where you eat.
When to go
From May to October for walking on the plateau and in the Höllental; September and October are the clearest months. In winter the Rax is for snowshoeing and snowy walks, with no ski pistes. The cable car stops for maintenance from 16 November to 4 December 2026 and from 5 to 23 April 2027, and the Berggasthof and the Ottohaus close then too.
How you travel
Choose how you're travelling and we'll tell you where to stay, how to get around, where to eat and which services you'll need. We only show the ways of travelling that make sense here.
By car you reach the valley station in a little over an hour from Vienna, and you can combine the cable car, the Höllental and the Weichtalhaus, which are on the same road, or the Preiner Gscheid and the Semmering, in one day.
The Rax is easy to do without a car: southern line train to Payerbach-Reichenau and a bus to the cable car station, with an ÖBB combined ticket. The Höllental Wasserleitungsweg starts next door and you come back by bus.
The Rax is about 100 km from Vienna-Schwechat airport (VIE), which has direct flights from Madrid, Barcelona and other Spanish cities. By hire car it is a little over an hour on the A2; without a car, go to Wien Hauptbahnhof or Meidling and take the southern line train to Payerbach-Reichenau, then the bus.
Who you're with
A trip with a toddler is not the same as one with a teenager. Pick yours to see what works and what to bear in mind.
The Rax has been a family mountain for a century: the cable car is short and exciting, the paths up top are almost flat, and down below the Wasserleitungsweg is an easy walk beside the water. In winter, snowshoes and sledges.
Where to stay
We show you what suits the way you travel.Change how you travel
Why we like it: A mountain inn next to the upper station of the Rax-Seilbahn, with 27 rooms of solid-wood furniture and a restaurant, for sleeping on the plateau.
Why we like it: A village guesthouse in Prein an der Rax, run by the Scharfegger family since 1973, with a history going back to the 18th century and renovated rooms in mountain style.
Why we like it: A campervan area opened in 2020 next to the Rax-Seilbahn valley station, with pitches with electricity, space for tents, modern toilets and free wifi.
Services for this trip
Where to eat
From set lunch menus to Michelin stars. We mark the price level and what to order at each place.
What to order: a hot hut dish after the walk from the cable car.
What to order: a slice of Malakoff cake with coffee.
Nearby
The closest places, whichever country they are in.
47.63° N · 15.83° E
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Tips
The cable car stops from 16 November to 4 December 2026 and from 5 to 23 April 2027, and with it the Berggasthof and the Ottohaus.
The path to the Ottohaus is coarse gravel: use a baby carrier.
At 1,500 metres the weather changes fast.
The Rax is Vienna's mountain: a limestone plateau of about 2,000 metres on the border between Lower Austria and Styria, an hour and a half from the capital, which generations of Viennese have climbed in a day. Water from its springs reaches the city's taps by a 19th-century aqueduct. Since 1926 there has been an easy way up: the Rax-Seilbahn, Austria's first passenger cable car, which in 8 minutes leaves you at 1,547 metres, on the edge of the plateau, with flat paths, mountain huts and views of the Styrian Alps and the neighbouring Schneeberg. Below, the village of Reichenau an der Rax was a summer resort of the 19th-century Viennese middle class, and the Höllental, the "valley of hell", is a rock-walled gorge through which the River Schwarza runs.
By train, on the southern line to Payerbach-Reichenau, from Wien Hauptbahnhof or Wien Meidling: the closure of the central stretch of the S-Bahn until October 2027 does not affect this line if you board at those stations. From the station, Retter line buses run to the Rax-Seilbahn, the Höllental and Prein, and the area has the RUFbus Semmering-Rax, an on-demand bus from 8:30 to 18:00. ÖBB and the Seilbahn sell a discounted combined ticket. By car it is about 90 km on the A2 and the S6 to Gloggnitz; at the valley station there are several car parks and electric chargers.
Take the Rax-Seilbahn first thing. At the top, the classic walk is the gravel path to the Ottohaus, a mountain hut at 1,644 metres, about 40 minutes; eat there or at the Raxalm-Berggasthof, next to the station. In winter, the same plan is done with snowshoes, which can be rented with your ticket. In the afternoon, go down and walk the Wasserleitungsweg in the Höllental, a flat hour and a half beside the Vienna aqueduct to Kaiserbrunn. If you want more, climb from the Weichtalhaus through the Weichtalklamm, a gorge with equipped sections.
For an afternoon snack, the Café-Konditorei Reichenau, on the village's main street, has old-fashioned cakes. The Semmering, with its World Heritage mountain railway, is 15 km away: Payerbach is the end of the Bahnwanderweg that comes down from the Semmering.
One day is enough for the cable car and a walk. Sleeping at the top is something else: at the Raxalm-Berggasthof you see the sunset and sunrise over the plateau, when the day-trippers have gone. Below, the Land-Pension Kaiserhof, in Prein, and the Park 'n' Camp for campervans, beside the valley station.
Questions
By train from Wien Hauptbahnhof or Meidling to Payerbach-Reichenau and a Retter line bus to the Rax-Seilbahn. There is an ÖBB combined ticket with the Seilbahn.
About 8 minutes. It leaves on the hour and half hour, and more often if it is busy.
There are no pistes: in winter it is for snowshoeing and walks. For skiing, the Semmering is 15 km away.
Yes, with a muzzle and lead; those larger than a cat pay for a ticket.
The one to the Ottohaus, about 40 minutes on a gravel path from the Berggasthof.
Yes, except during maintenance. There is snow up there many months longer than in the valley.
Geocaliahttps://www.geocalia.com/en/austria/lower-austria/rax
