The Krimml Waterfalls drop 380 metres in three tiers at the head of the Salzach valley, in the Hohe Tauern National Park in Salzburg state. They are the highest waterfall in Austria and among the highest in Europe, and the village of Krimml below them has about 850 people and exists largely because of them.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, Roman Trail earns a small commission at no extra cost to you.
What makes them different from most waterfall destinations is that you walk UP beside them rather than looking at them from a car park. The Wasserfallweg is a graded path of about four kilometres with roughly 400 metres of climb, zigzagging past viewpoints at each tier, and the whole experience takes two to three hours at an unhurried pace.
We receive a fee when you get a quote from World Nomads using this link. We do not represent World Nomads. This is not a recommendation to buy travel insurance.
What Is Here
The path is the attraction and it has been since 1835, when the Austrian Alpine Club first built it. There are more than a dozen marked viewpoints, several of which put you close enough to the falling water to be soaked in seconds. The gradient is steady rather than steep and the surface is good, but it is a sustained uphill walk and not a stroll.
There is an entrance fee to the falls path, collected at the lower entrance in season, and the path is free outside the staffed season when the upper sections may be closed by snow and ice. Check the current arrangements before you come rather than relying on an older figure.
WasserWelten Krimml at the foot of the falls is a water-themed exhibition and park with an aquarium of Alpine fish, and it works well as the thing you do before or after the climb.
The waterfall mist has been the subject of genuine medical research, which is unusual enough to be worth stating carefully: studies associated with the HOHE TAUERN HEALTH programme have examined the effect of the falls' fine aerosol on asthma symptoms, and the region markets supervised therapeutic stays on that basis. It is a real research programme rather than folklore and it is also not a reason to come unless you are being treated.
Beyond the falls, Krimml sits at the western end of the Pinzgau. The GERLOS ALPINE ROAD, a tolled scenic road, climbs over into the Zillertal in Tyrol with viewpoints over the falls from above. The Hohe Tauern National Park, the largest protected area in the Alps, opens south from here towards the Grossvenediger, and the Krimmler Achental valley behind the falls is a long, quiet walk-in with a mountain hut.
When to Go
The falls are at their most powerful from late May through July, when the snowmelt is feeding them, and that is when the spray is heaviest and the noise is physical.
June to September is the full season, with the path staffed, the Gerlos road open and the huts in the Achental running.
October is beautiful and much quieter, with the water volume dropping and the upper path subject to early ice.
Winter is the season people misunderstand. The falls partly freeze into an ice formation that is genuinely spectacular, and the upper path is closed by snow, so you see the lower tier only and you need traction. The village is a quiet cross-country skiing base rather than a downhill resort, and the Gerlos Alpine Road closes.
Getting There
By train and bus, the Pinzgauer Lokalbahn narrow gauge railway runs from Zell am See up the valley to Krimml, which is a pleasant journey in its own right, with buses completing the link. From Salzburg allow most of a morning.
By car, the B165 up the Salzach valley from Zell am See, or over the tolled Gerlos Alpine Road from the Zillertal. There is paid parking at the foot of the falls.
Every Austrian motorway and expressway is tolled through a VIGNETTE, a sticker or its digital equivalent that must be displayed inside the windscreen, and you can be fined without one. Buy it before you join the motorway rather than at the first services, because the first services are already past the point where you needed it. Hire car companies often have stricter requirements than the law does, typically a year of driving experience and a higher minimum age, and you must carry insurance and vehicle ownership documents in the car.
Note that the Gerlos Alpine Road is a SEPARATE toll from the vignette and closes in winter, and that the Felbertauern and Grossglockner roads nearby are also separately tolled. Austria has several of these and they are not covered by the motorway sticker.
Austria fines on the spot for an unvalidated ticket and the amount is disproportionate to the fare. YOU MUST VALIDATE YOUR TICKET IN A MACHINE BEFORE STARTING A JOURNEY, and the FCDO puts the on-the-spot fine at 100 to 500 euros. Austrian public transport runs largely on trust with no barriers, so nothing physically stops you boarding with an unstamped ticket, which is exactly why people do it by accident.
Is Krimml Safe for Women?
Krimml is a tiny, safe Alpine village and the risks here are the path and the mountain behind it. The FCDO publishes NO ADVISED-AGAINST AREAS ANYWHERE IN AUSTRIA and the country has no regional-risks page at all, which is the simplest possible answer to the question most people are really asking. Austria's advisory was last updated on 11 August 2026 and the change was to the European Entry/Exit System rather than to anything about safety. What the page does carry is stronger than a reader expects for a country this orderly, and it comes in two halves that pull in different directions. ON TERRORISM it uses the FCDO's firmer formula, that attacks are LIKELY to be attempted, and it names a fatal knife attack in central Villach in February 2025. ON CRIME it says levels are GENERALLY LOW, with petty theft concentrated in the big city centres and in city parks after dark. The practical risks here are overwhelmingly ALPINE and ADMINISTRATIVE rather than criminal: avalanches, insurance that does not cover mountain rescue, a face-covering law, and an unvalidated transport ticket.
The falls path is wet, and wet rock and wooden steps are the main injury cause here. The spray reaches the path at several viewpoints and keeps the surface permanently damp even in dry weather, so the stone is slick and the handrails are there for a reason. This is a footwear question more than anything else.
The climb is a real 400 metres of ascent at altitude, starting around 1,070 metres and finishing above 1,400. People underestimate it because it is a waterfall rather than a mountain, and the sensible response is water, time and a turnaround point rather than any equipment.
Behind the falls is genuine high mountain terrain. The Krimmler Achental and the routes towards the Grossvenediger are serious and glaciated in places. This is the single most expensive thing to get wrong in the Austrian Alps and it is an insurance question rather than a skill question. The FCDO states that OFF-PISTE SKIING IS VERY DANGEROUS AND CAN INVALIDATE YOUR TRAVEL INSURANCE, and for skiing, mountaineering, potholing and anything classed as particularly dangerous, including off-piste, mountain biking, climbing and paragliding, it says your policy should cover MOUNTAIN RESCUE SERVICES, HELICOPTER COSTS, REPATRIATION TO YOUR COUNTRY OF RESIDENCE and TRANSFER TO NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES FOR TREATMENT. That last clause is the one nobody reads for and it is there for a reason: an Austrian alpine valley is often closer to a hospital in Germany, Italy or Switzerland than to one in its own country. Check all four against your policy wording before you travel, and check avalanche conditions daily with the Austrian Avalanche Warning Service and the European Avalanche Warning Service rather than with the lift company.
Austria's identity rule is the loosest of the three Central European countries in this group and it still catches people out. BY LAW YOU MUST ALWAYS HAVE EASY ACCESS TO YOUR PASSPORT. You do not have to carry it on your body, but you must be able to produce it quickly, and the FCDO adds that it can be helpful to carry a copy of the photo page. THE AUSTRIAN AUTHORITIES DO NOT ACCEPT A UK DRIVING LICENCE AS OFFICIAL ID, which is the half most visitors get wrong, because a driving licence is what a British traveller reaches for by habit.
The Krimml Packing List
A four kilometre uphill walk in permanent spray, at altitude, where you will get wet on a clear day.
Our merino base layers are 100% Australian merino at 17.5 micron, and a long sleeve merino wool base layer for women is the correct next-to-skin layer here for a reason specific to this destination: you will be damp from spray and warm from climbing at the same time, which is the exact condition in which cotton becomes cold and stays cold. Wool keeps insulating wet, and at 1,400 metres that is the difference between comfortable and shivering at the top viewpoint. A heavyweight merino base layer from October through May.
A Marmot PreCip Eco rain jacket is not optional here and is not about rain. It is the layer that keeps the waterfall off you at the close viewpoints, and a packable hood matters more than it usually does.
Merrell Moab 3 waterproof hiking boots with Darn Tough merino socks. THE PATH IS PERMANENTLY WET and the stone is polished by two centuries of visitors, so grip is the single most important thing you bring. Smooth-soled trainers are how people fall here.
Kahtoola MICROspikes from November to April for the lower path, which freezes under the spray into something genuinely treacherous.
Not linked and worth packing: a DRY BAG OR WATERPROOF PHONE CASE, because the spray at the close viewpoints will reach a camera in a pocket; a SPARE TOP for the walk down; WATER, since the upper path has no refreshments; and CASH for the entrance and the Gerlos road toll.
Recommended Tours and Experiences
Essential Resources for Women at Krimml
Emergency numbers: 112 is the general emergency number and works anywhere in Austria, including from a locked mobile and in remote Alpine areas with a signal, routing you to whichever service you need. Austria also runs three direct national numbers which are sometimes quicker: 133 for police, 144 for an ambulance and 122 for the fire service. In the mountains, 140 is the dedicated ALPINE RESCUE number and is the one to call for a casualty on a mountain rather than 144.
The Wasserfallweg is about four kilometres with roughly 400 metres of climb, from around 1,070 metres to above 1,400, and it is permanently wet from spray even in dry weather. Polished stone and wooden steps under that spray are the main injury cause here, which makes grippy footwear the most important item on the list. There is an entrance fee in the staffed season and the upper path closes under winter snow and ice. The Gerlos Alpine Road is a separate toll from the motorway vignette and closes in winter. Behind the falls, the Krimmler Achental and the Grossvenediger routes are serious high mountain terrain.
US State Department travel advisory: the Austria advisory. Read the current level there directly rather than relying on a figure printed in any guide.
UK FCDO travel advice: gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/austria, and read the safety and security page rather than only the landing page, because that is where the substance sits.
Main hospital: there is no hospital in Krimml. The nearest is the Tauernklinikum at Mittersill, about 30 kilometres down the valley, with the larger Tauernklinikum hospital at Zell am See roughly 50 kilometres away serving as the regional centre; serious cases go to Salzburg. Mountain incidents go through 140 or 112. Austria is in the EU, so a UK Global Health Insurance Card or an EU European Health Insurance Card gives you state-provided medically necessary care on the same terms as a resident. That is not the same as free, it does not cover repatriation or a private clinic, and it does not cover mountain rescue, so travel insurance sits on top of it rather than instead of it. For anything alpine, read the insurance paragraph in the safety section of this page before you book, because the gap between a standard policy and what Austria's advisory says you need is wider here than in most European countries. A pharmacy is an APOTHEKE, they handle minor problems without an appointment, and each district runs a rota so one is always open overnight, posted on the door of every closed one. Tap water is excellent everywhere and much of it is piped from the Alps untreated. TICK-BORNE ENCEPHALITIS is endemic in Austrian woodland and below about 1,500 metres, Austria has one of the highest historical rates in Europe, and a vaccine exists and is routine for residents: worth asking a travel clinic about if you plan forest or meadow walking rather than city days.
Official health authority: the Austrian Federal Ministry of Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection, covers the Pinzgau hospital network
US Embassy: the United States Embassy in Vienna.
Official tourism authority: the Austrian National Tourist Office, publishes the Krimml falls path opening arrangements and the Hohe Tauern National Park conditions
Takeaways
It is a walk, not a viewpoint. Four kilometres and 400 metres of climb beside the water.
Bring a rain jacket in sunshine. The spray at the close viewpoints soaks people who came on a clear day.
Grip matters most. Two centuries of polish plus permanent spray is the real hazard here.
Late May to July is peak flow. Snowmelt is when the falls are at their loudest.
Solo women safety assessment: Krimml is about as safe as a destination gets and nothing here is about other people. It is a village of 850 in a national park, the falls path is busy and staffed through the season, and a woman walking it alone is entirely ordinary. THE FCDO PUBLISHES NO ADVISED-AGAINST AREAS ANYWHERE IN AUSTRIA and there is no regional-risks page. The national advisory does say TERRORISTS ARE LIKELY TO TRY TO CARRY OUT ATTACKS IN AUSTRIA with the possibility of indiscriminate attacks at transport hubs and public events, which is a statement about the country and bears on your transit through Salzburg or Vienna rather than on a waterfall path in the Hohe Tauern. THE REAL RISKS ARE UNDERFOOT AND PHYSIOLOGICAL. The Wasserfallweg is permanently wet from spray even on a dry day, the stone is polished by nearly two centuries of visitors, and slips on wet rock and wooden steps are the main injury here, which makes grippy waterproof footwear genuinely the most important thing you bring rather than a nicety. The climb is also a real 400 metres of ascent starting above a thousand, and people underestimate it precisely because the destination is a waterfall rather than a mountain, so carry water, allow two to three hours and set a turnaround point. In winter the lower path freezes under its own spray into something treacherous and the upper path closes entirely. BEHIND THE FALLS IS SERIOUS TERRAIN: the Krimmler Achental and the Grossvenediger routes are high mountain and glaciated in places, and ORDINARY TRAVEL INSURANCE OFTEN EXCLUDES MOUNTAIN RESCUE AND ANYTHING CLASSED AS A WINTER OR MOUNTAIN SPORT, which is the most expensive thing to get wrong in the Austrian Alps. Mountain rescue is 140, with 112 working everywhere.
Reading On
Krimml sits at the head of the Salzach valley and the rest of Austria opens east and west from it. The Salzburg packing list covers the city the valley leads to, and the Hallstatt packing list and Dachstein packing list the Salzkammergut lakes and the glacier. West over the Gerlos road the Innsbruck packing list, Kitzbuhel packing list and Lech packing list cover the Tyrol and the Arlberg. East, the Vienna packing list, Melk packing list and Wachau packing list cover the capital and the Danube, with the Klagenfurt packing list and Graz packing list in the south. For the country the Austria travel guide for women and the Austria packing list carry the transport, the advisory and the practical material in full. For why wool is the layer when you are wet and climbing at once, read the guide to merino wool base layers for women. Every destination we cover is indexed at the travel packing guide for women, and the base layers are at the Roman Trail collection.
If the outer journey is calling you, the inner one usually is too. Explore SoulMap at romantrail.com/blogs/soulmap.
