REGION · 1 HOUR FROM VIENNA & GRAZ
About Semmering
An alpine climatic resort between Lower Austria & Styria, UNESCO World Heritage, a year-round excursion mountain in the Vienna Alps.
Close to the city. All mountain.
The Semmering is an alpine climatic and tourist resort in the district of Neunkirchen, right on the border between Lower Austria and Styria. It is just one hour from Vienna and Graz, and stands out above all for its easy accessibility and central location in the Vienna Alps.
The Semmering is a 984-metre mountain pass between the Raxalpe to the north and the Wechsel range to the south. The summit of the Semmering Hirschenkogel lies at 1,340 metres and is served year-round by the Semmering-Hirschenkogel cable cars.
In winter, skiing and tobogganing rule the mountain — with night skiing and the 3-kilometre adventure toboggan run as special highlights. In summer, the bikepark and the ropes course provide that extra shot of adrenaline.
- Mountain pass
- 984 m
- Hirschenkogel summit
- 1.340 m
- from Vienna & Graz
- 1 Std
- summer & winter
- Year-round
A mountain with history
As far back as the imperial era, the Semmering was where Austria’s high nobility met world-famous artists, architects and freethinkers. The mountain was regarded not only as a place of recreation but, from the very beginning, as an arena for sport and adventure.
UNESCO World Heritage — the Semmering Railway
In the footsteps of Carl Ritter von Ghega: the more than 170-year-old Semmering Railway is a 41-kilometre line from Gloggnitz to Mürzzuschlag. In 1854 it was Europe’s first standard-gauge mountain railway, and in 1998 it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The line climbs 457 metres at an average gradient of 20 per mille. It passes through 15 tunnels, over 16 viaducts and more than 100 arched stone bridges, winding up the mountain in great curves — today one of Austria’s most scenic railway sections.
- Europe’s first standard-gauge mountain railway
- 1854
- Gloggnitz–Mürzzuschlag
- 41 km
- tunnels / viaducts
- 15 / 16
- UNESCO Heritage
- 1998
Railway Trail — the World Heritage on foot
The finest way to experience the Semmering Railway is on foot: the Railway Trail follows the World Heritage line past viaducts, tunnels and sweeping curves — from Semmering station either towards Gloggnitz (Lower Austria) or Mürzzuschlag (Styria). The most impressive stretch is Semmering–Breitenstein: about 10 km in 3.5 hours, 404 metres of ascent, medium difficulty — with ÖBB trains for an easy return.
- → Wolfsbergkogel
- 1,5 km
- → Breitenstein
- 9,5 km
- → Klamm
- 15,5 km
- → Payerbach / Gloggnitz
- 21 / 23 km
World Heritage info centre
Right at Semmering station: a free exhibition with original plans, tools and lovingly built models of the viaducts and gatekeepers’ houses — plus a media room with a driver’s-cab ride over the Semmering Railway.Memory of the World since 2017
Beyond its 1998 World Heritage status, the original plans of the Semmering Railway have been inscribed in UNESCO’s Memory of the World register since 2017 — doubly honoured and globally unique.Two provinces, one trail
From Semmering station you can hike either into Lower Austria or Styria — always along the historic line, past viaducts, gatekeepers’ houses and lookout points.Grand hotels & villa colony — the Sommerfrische era
The Semmering Railway brought the fashionable summer retreat: in 1882 the Südbahnhotel opened at 1,000 m at the foot of the Pinkenkogel — the first grand hotel on the Semmering, modelled on American railway hotels. Around it grew a whole villa colony where Vienna’s high society, artists and thinkers spent the summer.
Südbahnhotel
The very first hotel on the Semmering — opened 1882 at exactly 1,000 m, with indoor pools, a sand beach, golf course & bobsleigh run. The last guest left in 1976; today it hosts cultural events (Paulus Manker’s ‘Alma’) & lost-places tours.Villa colony
From 1854, Franz von Neumann and the Fellner & Helmer studio designed noble country houses (rubble stone & timber, Art Nouveau after 1900) — Villa Landau, Villa Engelmann (the highest house on the Semmering), the Silberschlössl and many more.Hochstraße open-air museum
An open-air exhibition in display cases along the Hochstraße (pass → Belvedere → Panhans → Südbahnhotel) — telling the story of the Semmering’s villa architecture right along the path.20,000 builders
Up to 20,000 people built the railway (1848–1854) — many women and children, working 14 sections at once, completed in just 6 years. It was Europe’s first standard-gauge mountain railway.Vienna Alps & Kultur.Sommer.Semmering
Vienna Alps
From the Bucklige Welt over the Wechsel to the Semmering, peaking with Rax & Schneeberg — where poets and thinkers once found inspiration, visitors today enjoy the freedom of nature.Kultur.Sommer.Semmering
Star-studded cultural events of every genre at the historic Grand Hotel Panhans and the new culture pavilion. Artistic director: pianist & conductor Florian Krumpöck, managing director Nina Sengstschmid.In the footsteps of the summer retreat
Around 1900, Arthur Schnitzler, Alma Mahler and Stefan Zweig came here for the Sommerfrische — the classic Austrian summer retreat.Getting here
By car via the S6 or comfortably by train to Semmering station. The Semmering tourist office has information on the whole region.World heritage, grand hotels & summits
UNESCO World Heritage: the Semmering railway 
The Rax-Schneeberg massif of the Vienna Alps 
Grand hotels of the summer-retreat era 
Art Nouveau splendour of days gone by 
Historic details on the mountain 
The Hirschenkogel today
Next step