The Semmering Pass is a key part of the Vienna to Trieste route. It was a triumph of 19th century engineering to construct a 300 mile (480 kilometers) long railway through the Alps to join Vienna, the seat of power of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at that time, to the port city of Trieste.
Traversing the Alps required the construction, with mostly hand tools, of 22 bridges, 16 viaducts, and 14 tunnels. Completed in 1854, it is now a UNESCO protected heritage site.
Catch the train from Vienna (or Trieste). In German, it is the Semmeringbahn.
