I had my first run on the Semmering Railway on board the regular train between Vienna and Graz. It’s warm, it has free wifi and it delivers a WHS visit without any effort. Although the railway was a major work of engineering in its day, today it’s not a spectacular ride anymore. The fast train winds easily around the many curves. The mountain pass at 895m even isn’t that high. The only difference between both sides of the mountain during my visit was that snow covered the fields on the south side, whereas the Vienna side had been completely green.

The next morning I took one of the few trains from Graz that actually stop at Semmering. Unfortunately, most of the “attractions” along the railway are closed during winter. Such as the small museums, and also the hiking path that follows the complete route. Walk all the way to Gloggnitz or Mürzzuschlag must be a good excursion in the summer months. As there wasn’t much snow on the ground, I decided to walk a little anyway along this path. It gave me the opportunity to take a closer look at one of the tunnel entrances – nothing too exciting.

However, I had decided to get out at Semmering because of the fine piece of cultural history that is part of the nomination file. Although the core zone of this WHS only covers the railway line and associated constructions, its importance also lies in the cultural landscape shaped by early tourism that was made possible by the railway. Semmering still has many villas and hotels from this period – some in Jugendstil, others in a more vernacular Alpine style.

It’s a fine walk along these via the Hochstrasse and Südbahnstrasse, two long and winding roads in the upper town. Here you encounter two huge old hotels: one (the Südbahn) has already been left to decay, the other (the Panhans) has 400 rooms and houses a hotel training school. According to a news item I found on the internet, it filed for bankruptcy too earlier this year. Many of the villas are hidden behind trees and seem to be still privately inhabited. One of the prettiest buildings in Semmering I found was the small parochial church. It dates from 1894/1895 and was designed in a wonderful turn-of-the-century style.

I had lunch in one of the restaurants near the ski slopes – this still is an active ski resort, and they even hosted a women’s world cup match the day after my visit.