Austria – Day 1: Eifersbacher Falls and St Johann

You were right. Even though this is a Great Rail holiday I would have to do my own walks. A holiday is not a holiday without stretching the legs, for me at least. To be fair, today was the ‘off’ day. Looking at a map I noticed that the Eifersbachers Falls were within walking distance of the hotel in St. Johann.

The walk begins with a stroll through the very attractive town of St Johann. I need time to explore this when everything is open, as today was Sunday. Crossing the bridge, the path runs alongside the river for about a mile or so. It is very open here, so you get the full effect of the sun. Just as you pass the airport, well not so much an airport as an aerodrome for small aircraft, you cross back over the bridge to join the main road. Don’t take the side road as this will take you down a blind alley.

Follow the road to the left for about 200 hundred metres, then the path is shown on the yellow waysign to the right. This is a delightful path, leading through the forest, with not too strenuous a gradient, until you reach The Eifersbacher Falls. These are tremendous with two or three separate falls, even at this time of year when there has been little rain. There is clearly a separate waterfall in winter too, but this was dried up now. You do need to be prepared for a very steep uphill section of about 300-400ft, way above the top of the waterfall. There is no alternative route unless you retrace your steps. However, the climb is worth it. Once at the top of this path, take a left, again traversing uphill, until you reach the Hornblicksee. This is a lovely lake, with loads of places to sit to enjoy the view all the way down the valley and into the surrounding hills.

There is a choice of paths from here. Very high, high or low. I took the high path that goes across the meadows underneath the cable car and ski runs down to a pension called Pointenhof. The views from here are ‘disappointing’ compared with previous views, but the beer was very welcome. Ironically, the hotel had arranged breakfast for us here earlier in the day, and that too was disappointing.

There aren’t many routes down to St Johann from here. I followed the main road downhill most of the way, as the one place I had thought of a change of direction was not marked as a footpath off the road. Instead, a few bends before you reach the cable car station is the most delightful walk through a wood that comes up right next to the cable car station. It has play things for children, and plenty of attractive seating area, so worth a visit on its own. From here, it was just a short walk back to the Hotel Park, and a nice shower after the very hot day.

Distance: 7.5 miles; Ascent 1650ft ; descent 1365 ft. Minimum elevation 2,234 ft; Maximum elevation 3598 ft.