Schneeberg

The Schneeberg is the highest mountain in Lower Austria at just over two thousand metres, and the nearest properly alpine ground to Vienna. A rack railway climbs from Puchberg to a station at around eighteen hundred metres, where there is a small chapel, a hotel and a view out over the Vienna basin. From there it is another hour of walking over open limestone to reach the Fischerhutte and the summit ridge. The top is a broad bare plateau with almost no shelter, and the weather changes on it faster than the trains run. Walkers who prefer their height earned climb from the valleys instead, which takes most of a day.

What you actually see

• The rack railway - a cog line from Puchberg grinding up through forest and open slope to the Hochschneeberg station.
• The Elisabethkirche - a small stone chapel near the top station, plain and set against the bare slope.
• The summit plateau - open limestone pavement and grass leading to the Fischerhutte and the highest point.
• The view east - the Vienna basin flattening out below, with the Rax and Schneealpe across the valley to the west.

When to go

June to early October for snow-free walking on the summit plateau. Railway tickets are worth booking, especially at weekends and in autumn colour. Start early: afternoon thunderstorms build over the plateau in summer and there is nowhere to shelter. In winter the line runs only in part and the summit is a serious undertaking.

Honest expectations

The railway is slow, popular and sells out on fine weekends, and it stops well below the true summit. The last hour on foot is exposed limestone with no shade and no water. Cloud can sit on the plateau all day. Day-trippers from Vienna fill the trains and the hut terraces, and the summit hotel is functional rather than charming.

Nearby

Puchberg is at the foot of the line, and the Rax plateau with its cable car is a valley away.