Mudpie Fridays >> Austria >> Eating in a Cable Car at the Hintertux Glacier Austria

Eating in a Cable Car at the Hintertux Glacier Austria

Eating in a Cable Car at the Hintertux Glacier. Part of the reason we chose to visit the Zillertal, in the Austrian Alps is because we wanted to go up the Hintertux Glacier. My husband had been as a young boy, going on his first cable car and it is a memory that has always stuck with him. So we wanted to share it with the boys and decided to visit for our Summer holiday. When we visited we also went inside the Natural Ice Cave which was beautiful. But I wanted to surprise everyone, so booked lunch on the cable car at the Hintertux Glacier at the end of the Zillertal Valley.

I stumbled across the opportunity to do this quite by accident so I thought I would write about our experience to help others.

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Booking eating in the cable car at the Hintertux Glacier

You can book online via the Hintertux Glacier website. There are several different options for you to enjoy food while taking in the fresh mountain air. All bookable via the Hintertux website.

Brettljausen-Gondola – This is what we did for 2-4 people. The cost is €26 for an adult and €14 for children aged 5-10 years old. You can enter the gondola between 12.30 pm and 2 pm.
Classic Gondola Breakfast – For 2-4 people. This includes coffee, tea, orange juice, fresh pastries, a large selection of sausages and cheeses, various spreads, breakfast eggs, fresh fruit, muesli and yoghurt. The cost is €29.50 for an adult and €15 for a child. You can enter the gondola between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. and have 3-4 rounds to eat breakfast.
Bavarian Gondola Breakfast – For something more hearty, Munich white sausages, crispy pretzels and a cool wheat beer make the hearts beat faster. The cost is €17.50 for an adult. You can enter the gondola between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. and have 3-4 rounds to eat breakfast.

I opted for lunch. It cost 81€ for two adults and two children. At the time of booking, you are asked to confirm the time that you would like to have the meal. This can be anytime from 12.30 pm onwards although they ask that you finish by 3.45 pm. Since our plan was to visit the Ice cave first, I opted for 12.30 p.m.

When booking the impression that I got was that there would be several cable cars that were being used. You can see availability when you book, many were already showing that they were sold out. This could be because there is actually only one cable car per day per mealtime. Well at least for lunch anyway. Since we were the only ones eating when we visited.

What does eating in a cable car at the Hintertux Glacier involve?

Hopefully the below covers the main points when eating in a cable care at the Hintertux Glacier. But if you have any questions I have not answered then please let me know in the comments below and I will come back to you.

You need to buy tickets for the other gondolas

As well as booking the meal you will also need to buy lift tickets to go up to the top of the mountain. This is because the cable car that you take lunch on is 10er Gefrorene Wand which you catch from Tuxer Fernerhaus 2660m above sea level.

This means you need to travel on both the Gletscherbus bus 1 and Gletscherbus bus 2 up to reach Tuxer Fernerhaus.

When we visited tickets cost €44 for adults and €37 for children with those aged 7 and under being free to the highest point which is Gefrorene Wand at 3250m above sea level. This is where you access Nature’s ice palace and the children can have a go at snow tubing for free. The Hintertux Glacier is included in the Zillertal Activcard as one of the ten cable cars you can ride on in the Ziller Valley.

When visiting the Hintertux Glacier Ski Resort, there is free parking at the Valley Station. There is both an underground car park and some outside parking at the cable car station. The Hintertuxer Gletscher is easy to find. At the bottom station, there are also several hotels, restaurants and the opportunity to hire skiwear and equipment. Should you want to take advantage of the only year-round ski resort in Austria and enjoy some Summer skiing. When we visited there was around 45cm of snow at the top.

What if the weather is rubbish?

Unfortunately on the day we visited visibility was not great. There had been thunder and lightning and also rain. So when we arrived at the entrance to the 10er Gefrorene Wand cable car it was closed. I was half expecting it to be cancelled but after a few minutes the doors opened and safety checks were made. It was decided that we could travel on the cable car.

I am guessing if they had cancelled we would have had our money refunded. As when you book it does state that tickets are not cancellable. We found this on a number of different things that we had pre-booked and it seems pretty standard in Austria. You can check the weather at the top before leaving by looking at the Hintertux webcam on their website which has a live stream showing the visibility.

Mechanics of eating in a cable car at the Hintertux Glacier

Our lunch was already laid out waiting to be put into the cable car when we arrived. They stop the cable car for a matter of minutes while they load everything inside. Before adding the fresh food. We were also given blankets as it was particularly cold when we visited despite it being July. We opted for lunch at 12.30 which worked perfectly after taking part in the first visit of the day to the Hintertux ice cave.

It is a relatively short trip, bur you can go around as many times as you want until you have finished your meal or it reaches 3.45 pm. We went around four times which was more than enough and probably took around an hour and a half.

What did we eat?

The amount of food we had was more than the four of us could eat. There was a bread bag that included a pretzel, a slice of rye bread and a white bread roll each! A platter with salad on it including lambs lettuce, tomatoes and cut-up peppers. There were also four little dishes that included mustard, truffle butter, horseradish and another type of peppery spread.

The main board had various different types of meat and cheese all regional delicacies. Including slices of roast pork, different hams and salami. As well as some salad, silver skin onions, gherkins and cooked baby corn. Big chunks of butter and brie as well as some local cheese.

Drink wise the price includes two drinks per person. You can select what you would like when you make the booking. It is generally Zillertal beer for the adults and apfelshaft (fizzy apple juice) for the kids. As Harry doesn’t like fizzy drinks we took some still water with us for him which we brought in the self-service restaurant at Tuxer Fernerhaus.

The adults are also given Schapps already pre-poured in delicate Schnapps glasses. As I was driving I could not comment on either the beer or the Schnapps. We did take the extra drinks home with us though.

What did we think?

However it adds an extra cost when going up in the gondola lifts, which is already quite an expensive day out. We ate out a reasonable amount when we were staying in Austria and I feel that €81 for all that food and drink is really good value in comparison.

Although there is no accounting for the weather. The views were pretty non-existent which is a shame but what do you do? We should have been able to see panoramic views across the glacier and mountains as well as the glacial lakes. Also because it was so cold outside the cable car misted up. We were given blankets to help keep us warm but there is no heater in the cable car itself.

Despite our unluckiness with the weather, the boys thought it was brilliant to be able to eat in a cable car on the Hintertux Glacier. I am sure it will be a memory that stays with them for a long time and they still had a great time. It definitely added to our adventure on the Hintertuxer Glacier. Although my suggestion would be to look at the long-term weather forecast before booking. Mindful that spaces do book up quickly.