Vienna is a wonderful city. Not without a reason has Vienna been elected for the 8th time as the city with the highest quality of life of all cities in the world. And not only has Vienna itself so much to offer, but also the surroundings are worth visiting. Within an hour drive, you can reach fantastic places amidst wonderful landscapes. One of those places is the Myra waterfalls in Muggendorf, perfect for a daytrip from Vienna. Wonderful in summer but also in winter, when there are snow and ice.
Here’s what you can expect from visiting the Myrafalls, how to get there and how to photograph the waterfalls:
I faced the challenge and visited the Myrafalls at -10 degrees Celsius and snow. You’ve got to know that I am ALWAYS cold in winter and I need at least 24 degrees in my lounge room. Knowing that you can imagine that it was really a toughie for me to photograph the waterfalls under these conditions. But I didn’t want to miss the wonderful ice formations thanks to the cold and snowy winter and apart from that, I am a huge fan of waterfalls. So I wrapped myself in four layers, pulled up some hot woolen tights and drove to Muggendorf.
When entering the waterfalls I could feel that this is a very special place, a true power source for body and soul. The only thing I could hear was the rush of the water and the scrunching of the snow beneath my feet. And all the biting cold suddenly faded into the background. I walked along the trail over the wooden bridges and stairs and stopped every few minutes to admire the waterfalls and take photos. The freezing temperatures and the snow caused some fantastic ice shapes and made the Myrafalls even more attractive than without the snow and ice.
After passing the waterfalls you will reach a fork in the path. Turn left and walk about 45 minutes around the „Hausstein“, a 60-meter high rock from where you’ve got a marvelous view. If you want more, take the path to „Steinwandklamm“. It takes you about 45 minutes until the end of the flume, where you reach a restaurant. The trails and wooden stairs of the flume are very well built and easily doable for kids, too. In case you’ve got enough after you walked around the Hausstein, there’s another restaurant back on the road where you can get a snack.
Walk left to the “Hausstein” and right to reach the first restaurant right at the upper parking space. The trail is beautiful and you will pass a dam lake.
Myrafalls opening hours and admission:
Adults pay an admission of 5 Euro, children 1,50. During winter you can access the falls without entry fee, however, be aware that it is slippery and you enter at your own’s risk. The waterfalls open every day at 8 am and close at nightfall. Between May and October, the Myrafalls are lit until 11 pm on weekends – just in case you fancy a night hike.
How to photograph waterfalls?
Grab your camera, a tripod and head to the Myrafalls. If you want a silky, smooth effect of the water, you need a tripod and an ND filter. My favorite filter is the 3.0 (1000), which means that this filter reduces the light for 10 stops and I have to take the initial shutter speed times 1000. The simplest thing to do instead of calculating is to use the live-view mode. Look through the screen and find the shutter speed you need. Use a remote control or set the camera to 2 seconds self-timer in order to avoid camera shaking and turn off the image stabilizer of your lens.
Settings: 28 mm focal length, aperture f/8, shutter speed 5 seconds, ISO 100
If you rather want to freeze the water, set the shutter speed to 1/500 seconds or even shorter (without filter). With an aperture of around f/8, you should get a good sharpness and depth of field. Keep the ISO as low as possible in order to avoid noise. If you do long exposure shots on a tripod, set the ISO at 100. Try different settings and see which one you like most. These two photos were taken with the same focal length and aperture, but you can see that I had to increase the ISO to 400 to reach a short shutter speed of 1/1250 seconds.
Settings: 28 mm focal length, aperture f/8, shutter speed 1/1250 seconds, ISO 400
How to get to the Myrafalls?
The easiest and most comfortable way to reach the waterfalls is by car. Take the motorway A2, exit Wöllersdorf and use the B21 to Pernitz and further to Muggendorf. It’s a 1-hour drive from Vienna. You can find some rental car stations in the city (i.e. at the main station, Hotel Hilton). If you prefer public transport you need to calculate more time. Take the train from Vienna to Wiener Neustadt, it takes about 30 minutes. From there, take another train to Pernitz-Muggendorf (50 minutes) where you walk 5 minutes to Hotel Singer.From there, take the bus 7844 to Muggendorf. The total cost will be approximately 20 Euro.
If you’re a waterfall lover like me, you will be thrilled to see waterfalls in Golling near Salzburg.