For our last day in Germany, we went to Austria.

Not far from the border, there's a town called Werfen. And Werfen has the world's largest ice cave. It seemed a shame to not go.

After the drive down to Werfen, we had a twisty & turny drive up a mountain to the Eisiesenwelt's ticket centre. From there, we walked another 20 minutes up the mountain to a cable car. The cable car took us another part of the way up the mountain and then we climbed for another 20 minutes or so before getting to the mouth of the cave. By that point, we were about 1600m from the ground.

The cave can only been seen with a tour guide and there are no lights in the cave. Armed with a carbide lamp, we were taken into the cave to see the first km of the 42km cave system. It also involved more climbing. 700 steps up and 700 steps down, to be precise. Our guide led us through the cave, pointing out different ice formations and telling us about the history of the cave (including that the scientist that discovered the cave is buried there.) Even though it was a bright and warm day outside, the cave was hovering around freezing. It was nice having a sweater and proper hiking shoes. It was very different from the ice cave I saw in France, which had LED lighting and carpeting.

Then, it was back down to the cable car, back down to the ticket centre and the car and back down the mountain to return to Munich for one last night before catching the plane back to Canada.

All-in-all, it was a great trip with lots of delicious food, wonderful castles & museums, beautiful scenery, and fun adventures. But for now, it's out of the land of fairy tales and back to reality.