A Day Trip to Grödig
Included in our Salzburg Cards was a free ride up and down the Untersberg, also called Salzburg Mountain. When I saw photos of the cable car, Untersbergbahn, and the mountain beyond it, it shot to the top of my “must-do” list in Salzburg. The views were breathtaking, and hiking so high in the Alps was unlike anything I’d ever done. Its exquisite panoramic views, punctuated by thick, fluffy clouds, made our day trip to Grödig well worth it!
How to Reach Grödig
Grödig is a beautiful village located about 25 minutes by bus from the center of Salzburg. Getting there was also free with the Salzburg Cards, so if you’re visiting the city, you absolutely must get them!
As always, we used Google Maps to determine which bus (the #25) we needed to take. This may vary based on your starting location. The bus ride out was very scenic.
What to Bring to Grödig
Knowing we’d be climbing more than 4,500 ft in elevation, we checked the weather to find it was about 30ºF cooler atop the mountain. This meant we brought warmer clothing with hoods, as it was very windy up there that day.
We also wore sturdy hiking shoes, tall socks, and comfortable clothing. I brought a hat and Robin brought his sunglasses because it was bright when it wasn’t cloudy. Additionally, I brought my camera, sunscreen, and a hiking backpack that could protect my equipment in case it suddenly rained.
There are several restaurants atop the mountain, but we brought our water and snacks just to be safe. This is especially important if you plan to hike because the restaurants are concentrated near the cable car pick-up and drop-off area.
Cable Car Ride
Normally €32,00 per person, using the cable car once round-trip each, was a great perk of the city card. If you’re visiting Salzburg, this will pay for itself within a single day, especially if you plan to use the city buses.
The cable car ride to the top takes about eight and a half minutes and climbs nearly 4,500 feet. While a person could hypothetically hike to the top, it takes hours, and the hike at the top is far more spectacular. The views from the cable car ride were so captivating. We spotted wild mountain goats and saw flocks of birds flying through the clouds beside us. Speaking of clouds, passing through the cloud line added a new layer of beauty to the Alpine landscape.
Hiking the Alps
Situated within the Alps, the Unterberg, aka Salzburg Mountain, sits 1/3 within Austria and 2/3 within Bavarian Germany. We spent an entire day hiking here, taking the first cable car up the mountain at 8:30 and the last one down at 5:30 pm / 17:30. We set an alarm to ensure we made it back in time because we did NOT want to have to hike four hours back down, haha.
At the top, where the cable car lets off, there’s a restaurant, a small shop, and free restrooms. However, there aren’t other toilets along the path as it’s all wild Alpine trails, so I recommend using these before heading off. There’s even a spot to refill water bottles with pure spring water!
Don’t be too distracted by the incredible views near the cable car because if you hike for twenty minutes, you’ll see one of the most breathtaking landscapes in the Alps. We saw rolling mountainsides covered in colorful wildflowers, massive birds, thick slugs, and more mountain goats grazing in the distance.
More impressively, once the fog and clouds cleared, the mountains in the distance were some of the most beautiful we’d ever seen. There’s a reason people come from all over the world to hike the Alps – they’re spectacular!
I appreciated all the signs around (in English and German) that gave the names and photographs of common wildflowers. I learned so much about ecology by reading them! Plus, at the summit of Untersberg, a long sign identifies all of the mountains visible in the distance. It helped us orient ourselves and grow more familiar with our surroundings.
Where to Eat
The village of Grödig has a few restaurants, but since we didn’t want to cut our hike short to head back into town, we ate the snacks we brought atop the mountain, careful not to lose trash in the strong winds. For dinner, we stopped at a restaurant called Hochalm am Untersberg (literally: High mountain pasture atop the mountain).
They had many vegetarian options, drinks, and beautiful indoor and outdoor seating. There’s even a tiny hotel inside so hikers can sleep on a bed. Our hike was only for the day, so we didn’t need this, of course, but it’s great that there are so many options for food and rest atop a mountain. Everything we ate was delicious, and we’d worked up an appetite hiking up and down those makeshift stairs along the mountain.
Legends of Untersberg
Untersberg has countless caverns, caves, and hidden grottos, nearly all inaccessible. Naturally, these have given rise to creative legends over the years.
Visitors will notice a motif of a king with a long, red beard wrapped around a table on the cable car station and various places around Grödig. These works of art represent the legend of a king named Charlemagne, who sleeps beneath the mountain until his people need him again. His beard is said to grow continuously, and he’s been asleep so long it’s already made two loops around a massive table.
There are many such legends around Europe, some from Arthurian lore and others from ancient Greek mythology. Regardless, it’s fascinating to consider what might be beneath the mountain, particularly in places people have never explored.
Some, like the Dalai Lama, say dragons and goddesses live on or beneath the mountain. While the validity of such claims is unknown, it’s fascinating to consider what sort of plants and animals may not have yet been discovered under the mountain. From an ecological standpoint, the idea that so little of our planet has been explored and documented, like the ocean, where a whopping 90% of its inhabitants remain undiscovered, is absolutely, addictingly fascinating.
Other legends say the mountain holds powerful restorative magic and that certain parts can heal illnesses and injuries, give good luck to those brave enough to seek it out, and even extend a person’s life indefinitely. If nothing else, the fresh air atop the mountain is guaranteed to invigorate hikers.
Wondering which way to go? Look for the trail markers, spray painted Austrian flags to follow the main path.
What I’d Do Differently Next Time
I loved our day trip to Grödig from what little I saw of it. Only 7,500 people live in the village, making it a relatively small town. Even so, there were many things to eat, see, and do in Grödig, and I would’ve liked more time to explore it. Next time, I’d make more than a day trip to Grödig. I’d plan to spend the night atop the mountain at the hotel I mentioned and another in the village. I can’t even fathom how splendid the stargazing atop Untersberg must be on a clear evening!
Explore more of my adventures in Salzburg, Austria, and Europe.
