By Nora Lindqvist · Updated · Affiliate links, explained in my disclosure
JOURNEY PRO
Hallstatt & Ice Cave & 5 Fingers Private Trip From Salzburg
4.9 (11) · from $321
5 Fingers tickets mean the Dachstein Krippenstein cable car, because the viewing platform at 2,108 m is free to walk onto, per Wikipedia. The cheapest bookable option on GetYourGuide is the $321 private trip from Salzburg, rated 4.9 from 11 reviews, the most-reviewed of the two. I’d go on a clear summer morning, since Google Maps shows the platform open 8:40 am to 5 pm.
| Tour | From | Rating | Length | Free cancellation | Book |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hallstatt & Ice Cave & 5 Fingers Private Trip From Salzburg | $321 | ★ 4.9 (11) | 8 HOURS | Yes | Check availability |
| Hallstatt, 5 Fingers & Gosausee Tour + Tickets | $399 | ★ 5.0 (1) | 10 HOURS | Yes | Check availability |
I checked every listing for 5 Fingers tickets that I can book through GetYourGuide today, and there are two, both private day trips from Salzburg. Prices, ratings and inclusions come from those listings in US dollars, checked in October 2026. Links open GetYourGuide in a new tab, and I earn a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you.
5 Fingers is a hand-shaped platform on Mount Krippenstein in the Dachstein Mountains of Upper Austria, above Lake Hallstatt. It is not a tower, and nobody sells a timed entry slot for it. Before you buy 5 Fingers tickets, these are the numbers I check, each with its source.
| What | Detail |
|---|---|
| Platform | Glass-floored fingers about 4 m long over a drop of roughly 400 m, with a telescope, per Wikipedia |
| Indoor or open-air | Open-air mountain platform |
| Address | Winkl 34, 4831 Obertraun, Austria (the cable car station), per Google Maps |
| Opening hours | 8:40 am to 5 pm every day, per Google Maps |
| Time to allow | About one hour at the platform on the Alpine Tours itinerary, plus 15 minutes of cable car each way |
| Google rating | 4.8 from 5,388 reviews, per Google Maps |
The cable car season is the part that changes, so check the official Dachstein site for the current dates. Wikipedia describes the place in one line.
5 Fingers is a free viewing platform in the Dachstein Mountains of Upper Austria, on Mount Krippenstein.
The only listing I can pair with the observation deck itself is the Journey Pro Hallstatt, Ice Cave and 5 Fingers private trip from Salzburg. It is a private transfer with a driver, so you control the pace, and it runs 8 hours. It adds hotel pickup in Salzburg, bottled water and an English- or German-speaking driver. What it does not add is admission, and the listing states that admission and the salt mine are not included, so you buy the cable car separately.
For a first visit on a tight budget I’d book this one at $321, because it is the cheaper of the two and reviewers praise the driver. One wrote that the guide “stopped at so many extra spots”, which is the kind of flexibility a private car allows.
JOURNEY PRO
My pick: My pick if you only want the cheaper private day: $321, 4.9 stars from 11 reviews, but add the cable car ticket yourself.
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$321
Prices for 5 Fingers tickets split in two, and tickets for 5 Fingers always involve the lift. The platform costs nothing, the cable car costs something I cannot quote because the official page I read does not list a fare, and the day trips cost $321 and $399. The gap between the two trips is $78, and the dearer one is longer, at 10 hours against 8, and bundles the lift.
If you travel as a group, this calculator works out the total for either trip and links to the booking page.
Calculator
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from per person, before any child or group discount
Prices are the lowest per-person prices on GetYourGuide when I last checked; the final price depends on the date, time slot and age.
The platform sits above Obertraun on the southern end of Lake Hallstatt. From the Krippenstein cable car station it is less than a 20-minute walk, per Wikipedia. Hallstatt village is a short drive across the lake: the Alpine Tours itinerary lists 10 minutes by van from Hallstatt to the cable car. From Salzburg the same itinerary lists 80 minutes by van to Hallstatt.
If you stay in Hallstatt or Obertraun you need no day trip at all, and 5 Fingers tickets are then just the cable car fare. Buy those 5 Fingers tickets from the operator and keep the morning free. A day trip suits you if you do not drive and want Hallstatt and the lake in the same day.
I found no data on queues for the cable car, so I will not promise a line-free ride. What I can say is what the schedule allows. The first ascent is at 8:40 am according to the official Dachstein site, and Google Maps shows the Krippenstein lift open until 5 pm on weekdays and 6 pm at weekends. Arriving for the first ascent is the simplest way to be on the platform before most day-trip groups reach it.
Whichever of the 5 Fingers tickets you choose, both private trips avoid one kind of waiting, because there is no shared coach and no group schedule. The driver stays with you, and the Journey Pro reviewers mention plenty of time at every stop.
For the platform alone the price is zero, so the real cost of 5 Fingers tickets is the lift. For a ride up, Wikipedia says the platform is free, and the cable car fare is on the operator’s ticket pages. I could not read a fare there, so check it before you compare against a $399 trip.
The $399 Alpine Tours Salzburg trip says it includes Dachstein Krippenstein cable car tickets for the 5 Fingers experience. It also includes the Lammerklamm gorge ticket, tolls, fuel and parking. The listing says the gorge is open from April to 26 October 2026, and outside that season the stop is replaced and the price is EUR 10 lower. Food, drinks and gratuities are extra.
A 5 Fingers tour is a day trip in which the platform is one stop. The Hallstatt, 5 Fingers and Gosausee tour from Alpine Tours Salzburg is a tour with the tickets built in: Hallstatt for about three hours, the cable car, one hour on the platform, then Gosausee for an hour and Lammerklamm for 45 minutes. It has one review, a 5-star rating, so the evidence is thin and I’d treat it as promising, not proven.
If you want the lift covered and a fuller day, this is my choice among 5 Fingers tickets that come with a guide. The cable car is the part you cannot skip, since the walk up from the valley is not what these trips offer.
ALPINE TOURS SALZBURG
My pick: My pick for a full day: $399, 5 stars from 1 review, cable car and gorge tickets included, with Hallstatt and Gosausee.
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The platform is high and open to the weather, so cloud matters more than at a city tower. In the 2025 Open-Meteo data the clearest months were June and August at 50 percent cloud cover, and the cloudiest was October at 79 percent. July looked sunny on paper at 71 percent cloud but had 25 rainy days.
| Month | Sunset (Vienna time) | Cloud cover | Sunshine a day | Rainy days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 16:41 | 68% | 5.9 h | 10 |
| Feb | 17:28 | 67% | 7.6 h | 11 |
| Mar | 18:10 | 62% | 8.3 h | 16 |
| Apr | 19:54 | 62% | 9.6 h | 11 |
| May | 20:35 | 69% | 9 h | 21 |
| Junclearest | 21:04 | 50% | 13.2 h | 13 |
| Jul | 20:58 | 71% | 10.7 h | 25 |
| Augclearest | 20:16 | 50% | 11.6 h | 17 |
| Sep | 19:16 | 64% | 8.9 h | 17 |
| Oct | 18:17 | 79% | 7.2 h | 12 |
| Nov | 16:28 | 68% | 5.9 h | 10 |
| Decclearest | 16:14 | 55% | 6.3 h | 6 |
Sunset planner
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book this entry time (50 min before sunset)
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sunset, Vienna time
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typical cloud cover that week
Sunset and cloud cover for the same dates in 2025 at the deck (Open-Meteo historical weather (ERA5), 2025); sunset moves by about a minute between years.
Sunset is a poor guide here. In June the sun sets at 21:04, but Google Maps shows the lift closing at 5 pm, so you will not be on the platform at dusk in summer. I’d arrive on the first ascent at 8:40 am and check a webcam or forecast before paying for the ride. Cloud is the main reason to hold off on booking 5 Fingers tickets days ahead.
The fingers point out over Lake Hallstatt and the surrounding peaks, and a telescope is fitted, per Wikipedia. Distances below are straight-line from the platform, which I calculated from Google Maps coordinates.
Observation deck
4.8 · 1,279 Google reviews
4831 Obertraun am Hallstättersee, Austria
Tourist attraction
4.6 · 355 Google reviews
Winkl 38, 4831 Obertraun, Austria
Tourist attraction
4.6 · 264 Google reviews
Winkl 34, 4831 Obertraun, Austria
Tourist attraction
4.7 · 2,795 Google reviews
Winkl, 4831 Obertraun, Austria
Mine
4.6 · 6,199 Google reviews
Salzbergstraße 21, 4830 Hallstatt, Austria
Tourist attraction
4.7 · 1,453 Google reviews
Marktpl. 45, 4830 Hallstatt, Austria
Scenic spot
4.8 · 14,517 Google reviews
Gosaumühlstraße 67, 4830 Hallstatt, Austria
Observation deck
4.8 · 5,219 Google reviews
Schildlehen 79, 8972 Obertraun, Austria
The World Heritage Spiral is closest at 0.5 km (0.3 miles). The Mammut Cave and the Dachstein Shark are both 1.4 km (0.9 miles) away, and the Dachstein Giant Ice Cave is 2.1 km (1.3 miles). Salzwelten Hallstatt lies 4.6 km (2.9 miles) off, Hallstatt Marketplace 4.9 km (3.1 miles) and the Panoramic Viewpoint in Hallstatt 5.1 km (3.2 miles). Treppe ins Nichts on the Dachstein glacier side is 8.3 km (5.2 miles) away.
Compared with the other lookouts around the lake, 5 Fingers tickets cost a lift fare while some views are free. None of the other lookouts nearby has its own page on this site yet, so they are plain text. Ratings and distances are from Google Maps.
| Viewpoint | Google rating | Reviews | Distance from 5 Fingers | Free or paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 Fingers | 4.8 | 5,388 | 0 km | Free platform, paid lift |
| Panoramic Viewpoint - Hallstatt | 4.8 | 14,517 | 5.1 km (3.2 miles) | Check locally |
| Treppe ins Nichts | 4.8 | 5,219 | 8.3 km (5.2 miles) | Check locally |
| Dachstein Skywalk | 4.8 | 1,008 | 8.4 km (5.2 miles) | Check locally |
| World Heritage Spiral | 4.8 | 1,279 | 0.5 km (0.3 miles) | Check locally |
The platform itself is free, according to Wikipedia. What you pay for is the Dachstein Krippenstein cable car that takes you up, and the walk from the top station takes under 20 minutes. The two day trips I list on GetYourGuide, at $321 and $399, bundle transport from Salzburg, and one of them includes the cable car tickets.
Wikidata and Wikipedia give an altitude of 2,108 m above sea level. The fingers are about 4 m long and extend over a drop of roughly 400 m, per Wikipedia. That is a mountain platform, so the number is height above the sea and not above the valley floor.
Google Maps shows the 5 Fingers listing open from 8:40 am to 5 pm every day. The official Dachstein site says the summer cable car runs daily through 1 November 2026, with the first ascent at 8:40 am. Winter operation and last rides can change, so check dachstein-salzkammergut.com before you go.
The cable car ride is about 15 minutes each way, per the Alpine Tours Salzburg itinerary, and that tour allows one hour at the platform. Wikipedia puts the walk from the Krippenstein station at under 20 minutes. I would allow at least two hours door to door from the valley station.
Yes. Journey Pro offers an 8 hour private trip at $321, rated 4.9 from 11 reviews, that visits the Dachstein Giant Ice Cave and Hallstatt, though admission is not included. Alpine Tours Salzburg offers a 10 hour private trip at $399 that includes the cable car tickets, and both offer free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
In the 2025 Open-Meteo data June and August were the clearest months at 50 percent cloud cover, and October the cloudiest at 79 percent. Because the cable car stops running in the afternoon, I would go in the morning of a clear summer day and not plan around sunset.