Salzburg

Salzburg - Munich

Salzburg is home to the world's largest ice caves and we were going there for that exact thing. It is very close to Munich and hence we decided to cover it on our Oktoberfest trip. Taking an overnight train to Munich and then another one to Salzburg we managed to reach at 12 noon. 

View from Wurfen

The caves would close at 3.30. We decided to take a tour bus which promptly put us at the gate of the caves at 2.30. The other option was to take a train from Salzburg to Wurfen and then to climb the hill which is a one hour momentous task.

Way to Wurfen

The cave had a guided tour ticket which we bought. We were warned before entering to get warm clothes on. At the entrance the winds blow at 100 kmph and average temperature inside the caves remain at 0 degrees. We entered in awe.

Outside view from entry @ Wurfen

The guide took through one ice structure after another. Polar Bear was most impressive. The Cathedral and Castle were good. Apart from them there were gigantic monolithic structures of ice which stood the sands of time for many many centuries.

Layered Ice @ Wurfen

There was a single ice cave which evidently had ice formations year over year in layers. The layers were distinctively visible and the guide told us that each layer represents almost a decade. Coming out mesmerized, we settled in a restaurant and then took the steepest ropeway in Europe to get down to our bus. It was time to rock Munich for the Oktoberfest.