IBWISE Leadership & CAS Trip in the Austrian Alps
15.07. – 20.07.2026 (1 week)

Course Dates: July 15th-20th (6 days/5 nights)

Day 1, Arrival Day

  • Pick up students at Vienna airport (latest by 2pm) and IBWISE HQ (at 3pm). Road trip to Mariazell (1.5 hours).
  • Arrival in Mariazell (Ötscher region) around 4:30/5pm in the afternoon.
  • Check-in at Hotel “Weißer Hirsch” (A-8630 Mariazell,  Wiener Straße 6)
  • Tour of the old centre of pilgrimage town Mariazell.
  • Dinner at Hotel Weißer Hirsch
  • Introduction to the CAS content of the week.

Day 2

  • Hike to the picturesque “Bürgeralpe” and help “clean up nature”
  • Lunch on Bürgeralpe at Edelweißhütte
  • Learn to make bread and butter at a very typical Austrian farm
  • Dinner at Stadtheuriger Mariazell

Day 3

  • 14 km walk to Grünau and the picturesque lake Erlauf
  • Help in a traditional farm (eg. feed the cows)
  • Visit the famous Basilica of Mariazell

Day 4

  • Volunteering in an Austrian outdoor kindergarten (playing with the children and build  small toys together from natural materials in the woods)
  • Workshop on making cheese at a typical Austrian farm (Feldbauer)
  • Visit montan museum Gusswerk
  • Dinner at Stadtheuriger Mariazell

Day 5

  • Volunteer in the Ötscher national park. Meet our nature guide at base of “Ötschergräben” and
    learn about the flora and fauna as well as the ecosystem of this unique region.
  • Hike through the canyon “Ötschergräben”
  • Overnight stay in a typical regional hut “Schutzhaus Vorderötscher”

Day 6, Departure Day

  • Breakfast at “Schutzhaus Vorderötscher”
  • Hike back to valley
  • Debriefing + reflection
  • 1pm: Pick-up at base with IBWISE-bus and trip back to Vienna and drop-off (1.5-2 hours)
  • Arrival in Vienna at IBWISE – Campus at approx. 3pm, at airport at around 4pm.

Additions and slight adaptions to this programme may be possible.

Join us on this alpine adventure and support the beauty and purity of nature and wilderness.