Where are and what are the biggest waterfalls in Austria like?

Where are and what are the biggest waterfalls in Austria like

Hello everyone! Here I am again to continue with my Austria section. Previously, I have published some interesting posts that you can read my clicking here o here. So, today I am here to talk to you about the biggest waterfalls in the country which I had the pleasure to visit and go around on my own. There are two: Gollinger Waterfall and Krimmler Waterfall. We will start from worst to best.

Gollinger Waterfall

I visited this waterfall the first time that I went to Salzburg, in 2016. I had to take the train from the centre of Salzburg to a town called Golling. I don't remember if it was very expensive, I think it was around 10 or 15 euros. Arriving at the station and getting off of the train, I had to walk quite a bit to arrive at the waterfall entrances. I walked for only about 30 minutes, in a town where the houses were dream-like but there wasn't a soul around. It seemed really strange to me because it was the middle of summer and summer of the little houses looked like the ones that would be rented out for the summer period. It was surrounded by small mountains and green woods.

The routes

Finally, I arrived at the waterfalls and paid the entry, which cost 3 euros. Honestly it was a great experience because there wasn't anyone along the whole route, not a single person. I walked quite a lot, for around an hour in total, there and back, in the middle of nature. In the first part of the route, I came across a mighty river, it was the trail that the river left. I remember that it had not been great weather, rain and quite dark clouds, but this made the hike more wild and authentic. During the whole journey you can hear the sound of water, each time louder the further along the route you go. Here, I'll show you some photos that I took that day. I took these photos with my phone, so the quality isn't too good, but I believe that you can still see the essence of the place.

My favourite bit of this route is situated at an wooden walkway that passes right in front of the waterfall. I had to take care because it was raining and it was quite slippery. Getting to the final part of the route, where finally you can see the biggest drop of the waterfall, you can go along a metal bridge which is situated just in front of the waterfall. I got really soaked and I remember that it was really dangerous to walk along here, as well as it being windy and a bit cold, but it is definitely one of the best parts of the route through the waterfall. Also, all the surrounding landscape is magnificent, not just the waterfall but all the trees with the different green colours that surround it, the sound of animals and the force of the water during the whole journey. Arriving at the end of the route where you can see the waterfall from the top and the front, it was time to go back so I set back on my return journey.

As for the good things about this place, I have to mention that the route is signposted all the way, which indications which tell you how much time is left to complete the route. Also, there were also places to stop and relax during the hike, have a relaxed lunch or a snack in the open air, if you are lucky enough to go when there is good weather. Also, just at the entrance, I remember that there was free parking for cars, as well as a cafe to the side of the ticket office.

So, these were the first waterfalls that I visited in Austria. I remember that the month before I had gone on a trip to Iceland for 10 days where I saw the most incredible waterfalls, but saying that, I have to say that I really liked these ones, maybe because you can see them from close up and the fact that I was there completely alone on the route made this place even more special. Also, the fact that I had visited Gollinger Waterfall first made it that the following waterfalls that I visited in April 2019, two years later, were even more impressive: Krimmler Waterfall.

Krimmler Waterfall

These are the biggest waterfalls in the whole of Austria. They are situated in the Hohe Tauern Natural Park, quite close to important cities like Salzburg or Innsbruck. I was lucky enough to visit themin April, in Spring, after a rainy period so the flow of the river and the waterfall were very abundant. The route of this waterfall is quite similar to the previous one, but it is a lot bigger and more spectacular. You start by seeing the river, at the end of the waterfall on flat ground, and after you start to go up very steep routes, with little viewpoints every once in a while to admire the landscape and the Krimml waterfall, which you can also admire from close up, as you can see in the photos. I was only a couple of metres away from it. The water splashed all of my face.

The hike didn't seem very long because the route had lots of point of interest. We got a map from the information office, which show you the different waterfalls with their metres drop. The first one starts at 1,100 metres, Riemman Kanzel and the laast and most impressive one, Schettkanzel, at 1,460 metres. So the complete tour of waterfalls went from less to most, which is a motivation to forget about how tired you are, since you are walking for around 2 hours, including stops for taking photos and admiring the flow of water. So, the water that is situated at the start, called Unterer Fall, had a fall of 140 metres; the second Mittlerer Fall had a fall of 100 metres and the tallest, Oberer Fall, has a fall of 145 metres.

It was a great day, as you can see. We were really lucky because the previous days it had been cold, but here we were able to wear shorts sleeves and shorts. Also, in lots of areas there was snow which I didn't expect. In fact, the last bit of the route was cut off due to the risk of avalanches. The way was cut by a valley, but we decided to cross it anyway because it seemed safe to us and honestly, we did good. For me, this bit where the access was prohibited was the best part of the route. From here you could see the whole waterfall, the bit that had the biggest fall and it was definitely the best one. I don't know if I'm exaggerating, but lots of images of this landscape remind me of Yosemite Natural Park, in the United States. Really, I think it is the best. We continued along the prohibited route until we finally came across sections filled with hard snow, ice, that was slippery so it was impossible to continue to the end, but the route that we took was definitely worth the effort. You can judge for yourself from the photos.

To finish off, we went back and we sat down on the river bank to sunbathe a little, eat something and relax whilst looking at the scenery. It was now a bit late, around 6 pm (this is late for European timings, really), but honestly, in my opinion, we had the best photo lighting.

For me this experience was very different to the last one, when I visited Gollinger Waterfall. There was lots of people and there was great weather, completely the opposite to when I visited the Golling waterfalls. If you are planning your trip to Austria and you like nature, I definitely recommend that you visit these last ones, since they are really amazing. At the start of the route, there is a cafe and a restaurant to eat or have something to drink, with the rumble of water in the background. This day it was sunny and the atmosphere was perfect.

Warnings and things to bear in mind

As for the negatives about this place, I have to say that the entry price is quite expensive. To start, you need to pay an extra toll (apart from the toll that you now need to travel through Austria if you are not an Austrian citizen). You have to pay this toll to enter the Natural Park and if I remember rightly, I think you have to pay it several times depending on the points that you visit. We only visited this one, and it cost us 9.50 euros, but I know that to visit other points you have to pay a different toll. This I know because we wanted to visit Olpererhütte, an amazing place in one of the lakes in Austria and we went towards the entrance, which was closed that week, until May, so we weren't able to enter. At the aentrance we could see that we would also have to pay a toll of 10.50 euros, which is quite a lot. If we work it out, in the end f you want to visit all the points of interest possible would be quite expensive. As well as the toll, we wanted to pay for parking, it costed us 5 euros and entrance to the waterfalls themselves, which costed 4 euros per person. As it is an experience that you will live once in your life, it is worth paying for them, but it is true that I think that it is something to bear in mind when working out the budget for the trip.

Advice

First of all, it is essential to have comfortable footwear, with non-slip soles. The routes which are really nearby to the waterfall can be dangerous if you are not careful and don't go well prepared. The terrain is also quite steep in some bits, in fact, we saw some tourists that were walking with poles, even though to me this seemed a bit over the top.

In second place, a raincoat wouldn't go amiss. Especially if it is a bit of a cold day, you will need clothes so that you won't get soaked and end up being cold.

Another important thing: a water bottle and something to eat. Both routes are long so you will need provisions.

If you are travelling with small children, make sure that you go in the child friendly areas as they are usually referred to, because most of the route is quite complicated and there might not be paths suitable for children. In fact, the families that travelled with their children and babies, had them on their back, like a kangaroo.

And this is everything that I can tell you about these waterfalls, which are both pretty and worth visiting. I loved them both but as I have already told you, if I had to choose, Krimmler Waterfall would come top. I hope that you have enjoyed the photos and as you already know, I will see you for the next post. You can tell me your opinions in the comments, I'd love to read them. Best wishes!

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