Ottohaus
What to order: a hot hut dish after the walk from the cable car.
In winter, weekends, public holidays and holidays in good weather · Closed from 16 November to 5 December 2026
geocalia
Day itinerary · 47.72° N · 15.81° E
The Rax in a day from Vienna, the Viennese cable car and a hut on the plateau.
Train and bus to Austria's first cable car, a walk across the plateau to a hut at 1,644 m, lunch up top, the aqueduct path through the Höllental and cake in Reichenau.
Leaving from
Direct flight to Viena fromBarcelona 2 h 30Palma de Mallorca 2 h 30Alicante 3 hMadrid 3 hValencia 3 hMálaga 3 h 30Fuerteventura 5 h 15Gran Canaria 5 h 30Tenerife Sur 5 h 30
Part of The Rax and Reichenau
Add to my trip
Total time11 h
By car1 h 15 each way
TrainWien Hauptbahnhof or Meidling – Payerbach-Reichenau
Cable car8 min up to 1,547 m
Walking2 h 50 in total, almost flat
DifficultyEasy
SeasonAll year except maintenance periods
The plan
The day at a glance
Any part can be swapped for another without spoiling the day.
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Leave Vienna 1 h 15 by train
southern line from Wien Hauptbahnhof or Meidling to Payerbach-Reichenau · combined ticket with the Seilbahn
- 15 min by bus · Retter line bus to the valley station
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1
The Rax-Seilbahn, Austria's first cable car
leaves on the hour and half hour · dogs must be muzzled
+43 2666 52497
Activity company With Rax-SeilbahnBook - 2 min on foot
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2
Walk across the plateau to the Ottohaus
from the top station · no pushchairs
- 45 min on foot
- 3
- 45 min by cable car
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4
Wasserleitungsweg, the aqueduct path through the Höllental
walk back to the station and descend · the path starts next to the valley station
- 15 min by bus
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5
Café-Konditorei Reichenau
bus from Kaiserbrunn to Reichenau · Malakoff cake · timetable depends on the season
Hauptstraße 43, 2651 Reichenau an der Rax · +43 2666 52129
Café €Book -
Back home 1 h 15 by train
from Payerbach-Reichenau to Wien Meidling and Hauptbahnhof
Approximate cost
About €30–55 per person
Adds up the activities and meals in the plan at their published prices; travel and accommodation not included.
The route
The Rax-Seilbahn, Austria's first cable car
The Rax is the Viennese's mountain: a plateau at 1,500–2,000 metres reached for a hundred years by Austria's first passenger cable car. This plan is done without a car, by train and bus, and asks for nothing more than good trainers: an almost flat walk across the plateau to a hut, lunch up top, and in the afternoon the aqueduct path that carries the water of these mountains to Vienna, through the Höllental gorge.
The day, hour by hour
7:40 · Train and bus. Southern line train from Wien Hauptbahnhof or Meidling to Payerbach-Reichenau; the S-Bahn closure does not affect it if you board there. At the station, the Retter line bus drops you at the cable car. ÖBB sells a combined ticket with the Seilbahn.
9:30 · Rax-Seilbahn. Eight minutes up to 1,547 metres. It leaves on the hour and half hour.
9:45 · Across the plateau. From the Raxalm-Berggasthof, next to the top station, follow the gravel path towards the Ottohaus. No rush: there are viewpoints to the Schneeberg and the Styrian Alps.
12:00 · Lunch at the Ottohaus. A hut at 1,644 metres, with hot food until 19:00. In winter it is open only at weekends, public holidays and school holidays in good weather.
14:30 · Wasserleitungsweg. Go back to the station (40 minutes), come down on the cable car and start the aqueduct path through the Höllental next door: 4 km and an hour and a half, almost flat, to Kaiserbrunn, beside the Schwarza river.
16:30 · Cake in Reichenau. The bus takes you from Kaiserbrunn to Reichenau. At the Café-Konditorei on the main street, the Malakoff cake.
17:45 · Return. Bus or RUFbus to Payerbach-Reichenau station and train to Vienna.
If you go with children or it rains
The cable car and the plateau are the great family outing on the Viennese mountain, but bring a baby carrier: the path to the Ottohaus is not for pushchairs. With rain or fog up top, stay down below: do only the Wasserleitungsweg and an afternoon snack in Reichenau.
Time30 min
Change the route
In winter, with snow: snowshoes for hire with the ticket, on the marked routes:
Snowshoeing on the Rax plateau
For experienced mountain walkers, instead of the Wasserleitungsweg: the gorge up to the Kienthaler Hütte:
Weichtalklamm, the gorge up to the Kienthaler Hütte
If you prefer a mountain railway to a cable car: the Semmering is 15 km away:
The Semmering railway, Europe's first mountain line
Where to eat
Where to eat?
Lunch is half the plan: book before you set off.
Café-Konditorei Reichenau
What to order: a slice of Malakoff cake with coffee.
Hours depend on the season · Closed 16 to 26 November 2026
Map
The stops, in order
With where to park at each one.
What to do
Eat
88 €Stay
Services
Getting there
By car or without one?
When to go
When to go to The Rax and Reichenau
May to October, with everything open; in winter, the plan is done with snow and snowshoes, but the Ottohaus is open only at weekends and public holidays in good weather. The cable car and huts stop from 16 November to 4 December 2026 and from 5 to 23 April 2027.
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Best timeGood timeLow season
Tips
Worth knowing first
- 1Check the maintenance calendar
The cable car stops from 16 November to 4 December 2026 and from 5 to 23 April 2027.
- 2Warm clothes
Up top it is quite a bit colder than in Vienna.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
How much does the day cost?
Between €70 and €110 per person with train, bus, cable car and lunch.
Is it difficult?
No: almost everything is flat. It is about 2 h 50 of walking spread across the day.
Can I take a dog?
Yes: the cable car admits dogs with a muzzle and lead, and those larger than a cat pay a fare.
More plans like this
Other days of walking and good food
geocalia.com/en/austria/lower-austria/rax/itineraries/cable-car-and-hoellental-from-vienna
Prices, opening hours and times are approximate: check them before you go. Each place has its own page on Geocalia.