In this video, I show you one of my favourite cable cars in Austria: the Katrin Seilbahn.
This cable car is in Upper Austria and the base station is just outside Bad Ischl town centre.
Bad Ischl is a spa town that was favoured by the Austrian nobility including Emperor Franz Josef the first, and it’s well worth a visit in its own right.
From Bad Ischl at 474 metres elevation, a gondola lift takes you to around 1,415 metres above sea level in just 15 minutes.
Here you can see the inside of the base station.
It’s worth mentioning here that If you don’t want to take the cable car, you can hike up to the top!
But this cable car’s a great ride and there are plenty of hiking trails to be found around the top station.
The Katrin cable car has an inclined length of about 2,490 metres. 
It was opened in 1959, rebuilt in 1976–1978 and underwent extensive modernization in 2009.
The small gondolas look old-fashioned, and that’s part of their charm.
Each car can hold 4 people, but we had a gondola for just the two of us. I was pleased to see that although it was busy, there was no question of filling every car to maximum capacity.
Later in the afternoon, when it’s less busy, empty cars are used to transport goods, including beer supplies!
Once you get to the top, you’re rewarded with extensive views over Austria’s mountainous Salzkammergut region.
There’s some great Alpine scenery to take in.
In fact, there are amazing views in every direction.
If you're hungry up there, a little way from the top cable car station is the Katrin Almhütte where you can get a drink and a bite to eat.
It's a deservedly popular place to stop for a while.
And if it’s full, there’s another place to eat next to the upper cable car station.
You can easily walk from Bad Ischl’s very pretty town centre to the Katrin Seilbahn, though you might get distracted by the shops and cafés.
You simply follow the Traun river upstream and then walk through Sissi Park. It’s a really pleasant walk and worth adding into your trip if you have time.

And the cable car station is also easy to drive to. There’s a car park next to the base station and the parking charge is refunded when you buy a Seilbahn ticket.

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