Mariazeller Bürgeralpe

The Bürgeralpe is Mariazell's mountain, and its cable car leaves from the village itself, a few steps from the basilica. The company that operates it runs the Bürgeralpe-Express, the mountain park up top, the Berggasthof and, in winter, the slopes, the sledge run and the Lichterzauber light trail.

Who they are

According to the legal notice on its website, the company is Erlebnis Bürgeralpe Betriebs GmbH, based at Wiener Straße 28 in Mariazell, which is also the address of the cable car's valley station. It is run by Johann Kleinhofer and Hannes Dejaco, and its purpose is to operate the cable car, the lifts, the restaurant and the lodging on the mountain, as well as organising events. The website does not say since what year this company has managed the mountain, so we give no date. The cable car is an eight-seat cabin that climbs from the centre of Mariazell to about 1,270 metres, where the Berggasthof, the mountain lake and the viewpoint are.

What it offers in each season

In summer the cable car runs from April to early November: only weekends with good weather in the second half of April, Tuesday to Thursday and weekends in May, June, September and October, and daily from 15 June to 13 September 2026. Up top is the Holzknechtland, the woodcutters' park, with the beaver pond, hiking routes, the Wald8erBahn mountain slide and 3D archery with hire and instruction. At the end of October they set up the Gruselglanz Halloween night walk.

In winter the ski season runs from 26 December 2026 to 7 March 2027, daily. As well as the cable car, two chairlifts, Nord-West and Hofstatt, and a practice lift operate; the slopes are open from 8:30 to 17:00 and on Fridays you can ski down until 20:30 on the ski-touring night. The natural sledge run is 2.5 kilometres long, starts at the cable car exit and takes about ten minutes to descend; there are sledges for hire at the ticket office and, with enough snow, it is lit for night sledging. The Amigos Snowsports ski school and the Bauer hire shop work on the mountain, but are separate companies with their own phone.

The Lichterzauber is the Advent light trail at the summit: lit paths, trees and sculptures of light and a water show on the lake. In 2026 it is open from 19 November to 20 December Thursday to Sunday and on 7 and 8 December, daily from 26 December to 6 January and then Wednesdays and Saturdays until 6 February, from 16:30 to 19:45. Entry alone costs €16 for adults and €9.50 for ages 6 to 15; with cable car, €34 and €21.50.

How to get there and park

The valley station is at Wiener Straße 28, in the centre, and the chairlift station is in St. Sebastian, at Bundesstraße 20, with a large free car park for those with a lift pass. Next to the cable car there is only paid parking; P7, the nearest, costs €0.70 per half hour with a maximum of €10 a day. The company recommends arriving on the Mariazellerbahn from St. Pölten, and for the Lichterzauber it sells a combined ticket with the train; on some Advent weekends there is a return train at 20:06.

Bookings and languages

Tickets are bought in the online shop or at the valley station ticket office. For the Lichterzauber, online purchase requires choosing a time slot: you enter within it, but then there is no time limit, and the company reckons an hour's walk. The conditions of sale are in its AGB. The original website is in German, with an automatic translator to other languages, Spanish included; the helpline is +43 3882 2555.