The nerby town of Werfen's claim to fame is Eiriesenwelt (ice caves). These caves are 30,000 square meters with 42 KM of passages. We only covered a small part of that! The temperature is just below freezing inside, hence the ice. We weren't prepared for how strenuous this visit would be with two 20 minute walks up quite steep terrain between the cable car ride and the cave, then 720 steps up in the cave! The entrance to the cave is at about 5,400 feet above sea level. For us flat landers, this proved to be quite a task. Photos are not allowed inside the cave, so all of these are getting there, which is very scenic.
In another nearbly town, Hallein, we visited a salt mine. Actually Bad Durrnberg, but Hallein is the train stop. Salt was the road to wealth for this entire region. Our underground tour involved a train and two "seat of the pants" slides down wood rails. The tour takes you into Germany and almost 700 feet underground.
