Krimml Waterfall is the highest waterfall in Europe and the world's fifth highest waterfall! It's no wonder its one of Austria's most visited attractions.

1. Hiking to Krimml Waterfall: Austria’s Highest Waterfall
monkeysandmountains.com /krimml-waterf all
Krimml Waterf all is the highest waterf all in Austria. It’s no wonder the 380 meter (1246 f t)
waterf alls are one of Austria’s most visited attractions.
I normally avoid touristy places, but I couldn’t resist the lure of seeing what sounded like an impressive waterfall. I had
been awed by Marmore Falls in Umbria, Italy, the world’s tallest man made waterfall built in Roman times. But
underwhelmed by the Rhine Falls, in Schaffhausen, Switz erland. It’s the largest waterfall in Europe by volume. Being
from Canada I had Niagara Falls expectations which felt sort as I observed the waterfall which was nice but resembled a
really big rapid.
How would Krimml measure up?
As we drove t he winding road up t o Hohe Tauern Nat ional Park, where Krimml Wat erf all is locat ed, I
admired t he glaciers and craggy peaks. I was in mount ain heaven at 1600 met ers (5250 f t )!
We stopped at a viewpoint of Krimml Waterfall. It didn’t look overly impressive from the distance but it still sounded
impressive. We were 6km away, but could still hear the unmistakable roar of the powerful water tumbling down 380m of
rock.
So how did Krimml Wat erf all measure up in person? I’ll let you be t he judge:
Kr i m m l Wa te r fa l l a s s e e n fr o m a d i s ta n ce . Yo u co u l d s ti l l h e a r th e r o a r o f th e wa te r fr o m s o fa r a wa y!

2. J .P. ( m y h u s b a n d ) l o o ki n g u p a t Kr i m m l Wa te r fa l l .

5. So what do you t hink?
I loved it ! The roar of t he
wat erf all was of t en almost
deaf ening. No sound existed
except for the rush of the water,
all voices, all birds were
silenced. It was like nature
turned up at full volume and was
invigorating yet relaxing at the
same time.
The wide pat h made Krimml
Falls accessible t o anyone in
reasonably good shape. It
takes between 75- 90 minutes to
reach the top of the waterfall but
there is also a good vantage
point about halfway up (~ 30
minutes) with some rocks
looking up at the top part of the
waterfall that would make a good
spot for a picnic. There’s also a
hut and kiosk there if you wanted
to purchase food or something to
drink.
I can be snobby when it comes
to hiking and tend to avoid easy
hikes unless I’m sick or injured.
Full disclosure: the reason I
choose to hike Krimml was
because I was still healing from
an injured knee (torn MCL) and
this was my first hike since the
injury.
But beyond t he pat h t o
Krimml t here are mult iple
hut s so t he hike could be
Lo we r fa l l s

6. Lo o ki n g fo r th e e n d o f th e r a i n b o w? It’s h i d i n g a t Kr i m m l Wa te r fa l l .

7. Me e n j o yi n g Kr i m m l Wa te r fa l l a t o n e o f s e ve r a l vi e wi n g p l a tfo r m s .
ext ended int o a f ull day

8. ext ended int o a f ull day
hike t o t he Krimmler
Tauernhaus or mult i- day
hike t o one of t he ot her
hut s. As luck would have it
my snobbishness caught up
with me. I was in too much
pain to continue on to the
Krimmler Tauernhaus – what I
would consider to be more of
a “real hike”. I normally would
consider Krimml Waterfall to
be a really easy hike, but my
throbbing knee had me close
to tears the entire way down.
So no matter what your idea
of a “hike” is, there truly is
something for everyone at
Krimml Waterfall.
The surrounding scenery
in Hohe Tauren Nat ional
Park is incredible! Multiple
glaciers, craggy peaks and
of course Krimml Waterfall. It
deserves so much more than
the day trip we had allocated
for it. We’ll be back for a
multi- day trip, to do some
“real” hikes.
Know Bef ore You Go to
Krimml Waterf all:
Krimml Waterfall is
located in Hohe Tauern
National Park in Austria.
There is a €8 fee/car to
enter the park.
The entrance fee to hike
Krimml Waterfall is a very
Up p e r fa l l s

9. reasonable €2.50 for
adults and .50 for
children.
The path to Krimml
Waterfall is in excellent
condition but you
should still wear
sneakers or hiking
boots.
Krimml Waterfall is
open from May to
October each year.
Note the website said
it was open from midApril, but it was closed
when we went on April
21. We still went, but
the upper part of the
path was snowcovered in places.
Check the official
website for further info.
Allow several days if
possible to explore
Hohe Tauern National
Park – its beautiful! I
want to go back.
Krimml Waterfall is
located 185km south
from Munich or 97km
west of Innsbruck.
It’s possible to get
there by train, but from
Munich it takes ~ 5
hours.
The road is
mountainous and very
Vi e w o ve r Ho h e Ta u e r n Na ti o n a l P a r k fr o m Kr i m m l Wa te r fa l l
windy. My guess is that
there are a lot of traffic
jams in summer since the waterfall receives 350,000 visitors a year. Go in spring or fall. If you do go in summer, try
to go during the week. It wasn’t busy when we were then, but then it wasn’t officially open either.
Directly across from the road is Krimml’s Wonderous World of Water. It was closed when I was there, but looks
like it could be a fun attraction for children.