Semmering: Guide, Hotels, Map & Photos
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EUR 39 - 116 Hotel Sonnwendhof
 This charming hotel enjoys a very quiet yet central location at the foot of the Hirschenkogel mountain, only a few metres away from the valley station… MoreEUR 90 - 150 Grand Hotel Panhans
 Only a 1-hour drive away from Vienna, the Panhans is a traditional hotel dating from 1888. The ski slopes and hiking trails of the Semmering are close… MoreEUR 43 - 114 Belvedere
 The Belvedere can be found in the centre of Semmering, only a few minutes´ walk from the ski lifts. It features an indoor pool, a sauna, a sunba… MoreEUR 59 - 144 ARTIS Hotel Semmering
 Located halfway between Vienna and Graz at the border between Lower Austria and Styria, this recreation and conference hotel offers rest and relaxatio… More | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Semmering: Guide
The Semmering is a mountain pass in the Eastern Northern Limestone Alps connecting Lower Austria and Styria (state)|Styria between which it forms a natural border.
Location
The Semmering Pass is located at an elevation of 965 m. The Sonnwendstein and Hirschenkogel lie to the east of it, the Pinkenkogel to the west.
Beside the Wechsel Pass, the Semmering is the most important connection between Lower Austria and Styria. It can be crossed by road (via an autobahn with a tunnel) and with the Semmering Railway.
A village also bearing the name Semmering (village)|Semmering is located on the pass. The villages of Maria Schutz and Spital am Semmering are located slightly below the pass on the Lower Austrian and the Styrian side respectively. Schottwien and Mürzzuschlag are the closest sizeable towns on each side.
Rail transportation
As the Semmering is a major bottleneck in the Austrian railway network, the Semmering Railway, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site, is to be supplemented by a tunnel located at the base of the mountains. The project is supported by the Austrian Federal Government and the governments of Styria and Carinthia (state)|Carinthia, but heavily opposed by the government of Lower Austria, which persists in blocking the project by issuing negative environmental impact statements. The project has now been stalled for several years, even though the administrative acts issued by the Lower Austrian government have been repeatedly declared invalid by the Austrian Administrative Court. The main argument against the tunnel are possible negative effects on ground water, which, strangely, seems not to apply to the Autobahn tunnel already finished.
Skiing
The Semmering ski resort, which also hosts Alpine Skiing World Cup|World Cup events, is located at the pass and extends on the Hirschenkogel mountain. It is mainly used by skiers from Vienna, from where it can be reached within one hour, and increasingly by people from Hungary and Slovakia.
Websites
This "Travel Guide" section is drawn from the Wikipedia article "Semmering". We hope you will edit and improve it. It is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.