Panoramic roads of Austria on the map. High altitude panoramic road and Pasterze glacier in Austria (Großglockner High Alpine Road)

“Okay, I’ve had enough of the mountains, the ups and downs, the sharp turns. I want to take a quiet walk” - this was my Lenka’s motto on the seventh day. To some extent, I also agreed with her, the constant movement was a little tiring, I wanted peace. In general, armed with this principle, we went for a walk around the center of Innsbruck.

It was a day off, we found it quickly enough parking space in the center, and the parking meter politely reminded me that on Sunday parking is free. To the central pedestrian street, as it turned out, just a 5-minute walk. And in general, the city is small. We walked around and saw everything worth seeing in an hour. The impression of the city is almost flat, without enthusiasm. In general, Innsbruck is much more attractive for skiers than for people like us.




But the climb observation deck The city tower (height 56 ​​meters) and the view from there brought due variety to the overall impression of the city


That balcony under the gilded canopy is the “Golden Roof” - the symbol of Innsbruck and the main attraction of the city.

These photographs are dedicated to lovers of the roofs and balconies of European buildings in the city center





Cute mailbox

Narrow streets in the old part of the city


The color of the river is exactly the same as in Salzburg, if it has not changed since 2008, of course)

We bought souvenirs and food and went to the car. In response to my question “where are we going?” Lenka said “let’s go towards the Alpine road, there are beautiful views near it, we’ll take a walk. But we won’t go up the mountain, no.” Let's go.

Landmark Großglockner Hochalpenstraße (Grossglockner Hochalpenstraße, high alpine road, translated from German). We read that it has a free part, along the hills and meadows, and a paid part, with mountains, glaciers and serpentines. We decided that we would get to the payment point, look around and turn around.





Every time I look at photos from our trip, I come across one like this, where the sky is white instead of blue, and I start to terribly regret that I didn’t buy a polarizing filter for the lens. In places he was sorely missed. The photos could have been more contrasting with a normal colored sky.

We approach the toll booth along the pass.

Quite a humane price, we thought. Why not go a little further? We'll get to the first large parking lot, take some photos, and come back. It's decided! We pay at the barriers with a bank card and pass through. The road begins to rise sharply, but we are already used to it.


Kehre plate 1

All sharp and sharp (180 degrees or so) turns are indicated this way. Moreover, each turn, in addition to the number, also has a name. Judging by sources on the Internet, there are 36 such turns. But there were significantly more of them. Firstly, because not all sharp turns are marked with this sign. They are probably not cool enough for this :) And secondly... and this will be clear later. In any case, you will have to wave your hands turning the steering wheel left and right a lot.

Almost along the entire route along the pass, there was a desire to stop every 100 meters to get out, look around and photograph the breathtaking views of the mountains and the road, read the information boards with the names of the area and unique objects.




Photos from the "Road to Nowhere" series. I love it!

And this is the series “we’ll go there” :)

Another widening of the roadside for temporary parking. Everything for the people!

Insanely beautiful view of the road

Well, what would we do without a photo shoot of our favorite Tour!

Like the passes of Switzerland, Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse has its own highest point. And this point is Edelweißspitze. To rise to this height you need to leave the main road and start climbing steeply up a narrow and cobblestone road. So narrow that two cars driving towards each other have to pass each other at the few widenings of the road.

We overcame this road with our especially steep Kehre (we have already overcome 36 of those same turns).

and ended up at the top of Edelweiss Peak.

A small parking lot, a tower with souvenirs, a circular observation deck on the roof and a restaurant. At peak tourist season Cars here have to stand in line waiting for a parking space to become available.






The views from the observation deck are simply stunning and unlimited.



This was perhaps the culmination of our entire trip. Everywhere I looked I was delighted. While Lenka was examining the souvenirs, I ran from one end of the observation deck to the other, admiring the views with particular rapture.




This “sight” is directed towards the main culprit of all this splendor - the peak of Mount Grossglockner


Having seen enough of everything that surrounded Edelweiss Peak, we had lunch at a local restaurant. There was an interesting photograph hanging on the wall.

Then we got into the car and went down to the highway.


Seeing this sign (namely with the number of kilometers to Grossglockner)

Landscapes became more severe and monotonous.



But it won't last long. Again greenery, again distant and at the same time close mountains, and small waterfalls




After some descent the road goes up again. And with every road sign that said that Grossglockner was less and less kilometers away, we understood that it made sense to drive to victory :)




Again “we need to go there”

Another rise

And what appears to our eyes is... a dead end. An area with access to a covered three-story parking lot. We drove in, parked on the second floor, dressed warmly (the sun was already setting, and it’s not hot in the mountains without sun), armed ourselves with a camera and went...



The area in front of the parking lot was a large observation deck of Mount Grossglockner, its neighbors and the Pasterze Glacier, or rather its remains.


By the way, evaluate the scale of the catastrophe, which is called “global warming.” Here is a photo report of other travelers who visited here, but a couple of years ago (I couldn’t find the publication date of that report). In their photographs in mid-September there is snow on the tops of the mountains and in some places on the ground. We have no hint of snow, only the dirty remains of rare glaciers.


If the view from the edge of the observation deck isn’t enough for you, you can go down on foot or by cable car, and even walk along the glacier. And if you stock up on climbing equipment, you can conquer the top of the mountain. Although it seems to me that such brave souls are being watched and are not allowed to go far.


We reached the right edge of the observation deck and began photographing the birds.

And then, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed movement below. Somewhere there a gray lump of living creatures was scurrying around. “Rat,” I thought. But then Lenka noticed the living creatures and recognized the marmot - a murmelter. It's a pity we couldn't take a shot where he could be seen clearly. In general, in sunny days There are much more marmots below, and they do not hide, but rather wait for pieces of bread that tourists throw to them.

The sun sets very quickly in the mountains, and we decided to go back.





However, Lenk was not keen on the idea of ​​going the same way that we had traveled up to this point, and we decided to leave the pass earlier and drive an extra 60 kilometers towards Zell am See, where we were to spend the night. The navigator drew us a more or less direct route, part of which promised to be on the autobahn.

However, the mountainous terrain again showed us its character, and already halfway through the journey we regretted that we had taken the long route. At first everything was expected. We descended from the pass towards the village of Heiligenblut.


We pass a sign where the pass says goodbye to us. Now I know how to spell that same “aufiderzein” :)

Then the direct path lay past small settlements. But a little later the road began to wind around another mountain again. We drove through a couple of these “mini-passes” in the dark. The average speed of our movement was low due to the frequent settlements along the way with speed limits of 50 km/h. And we finally regretted our route when we had to drive through a toll tunnel :) And after another half-hour drive on flat terrain, we finally entered Zell am See.

We found a hotel, we were safely checked into a nice and cozy room with a balcony, where after taking a shower we went to bed. And in my head, in addition to the ocean of impressions from the road, there was the thought that my wife was definitely the hero of the day. Because once again, to endure a difficult path for her and at the same time manage to have fun - you need to be able to do this :) She is generally smart and well done!



This is a very special item in our vacation program. This is how it was intended, and this is how it turned out.

After Hallstatt, in which we admired the clouds, the lake, got cold before dawn, and then got fried during the day on the way to the parking lot, our path lay in the town of Fusch an der Großglocknerstraße. This is the commune where our cherished alpine road begins. It was decided to spend the night there in order to go early in the morning to admire the views - so we planned to catch my favorite clouds in the morning and find enough time for stops and oohs and aahs.

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Our path lay in the middle of beautiful landscapes, surrounded by mountains and waterfalls.

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As you can see, we arrived in the evening and in the drizzling rain. These drops on the windshield made me nervous - I really didn’t want to drive along the most beautiful Alpine road in Austria in the rain.

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Our Chalet Charlotte turned out to be exactly as wonderful as we dreamed. The hostess greeted us as if she were her beloved relatives, the communication was so informal, warm and lively that the feeling of awkwardness and fatigue from the road were instantly erased and disappeared. On her advice, we went to a local restaurant for dinner, where they served venison. We tried it for the first time in our lives, the impressions were the most favorable. And from the waiter, and from the dishes, and from the surroundings.

Just in case, we once again consulted about the schedule of access to the road - for safety reasons the road is closed at night, we inquired about the price and received some practical advice. Well, we heard a lot of compliments and delight - and how great we are for getting here by car, and how lucky we are that we are going to admire such beauty, and how smart we are, how well and relaxed we speak English. Flattery is shorter. Rude. But nice ;)

They also reassured us about the weather. They say it’s always like this here. “Tomorrow everything will be fine, there will be sun. You’ll see!”

And we saw!

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The morning, which began with the singing of birds outside the window and the purest, moist fresh air in the room, continued with the entrance to the toll section of Grossglocknerstrasse. Entry costs between approximately 20 and 34 euros. Along with the payment receipt, we received this sticker on the windshield and a couple of booklets that described in detail, with diagrams and maps, the entire range of pleasures available to us along the route.

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The menu included magnificent mountains- about thirty “three-thousand-meter peaks”, many viewing platforms, attractions with feeding a local attraction - marmots, and other joys of a spectacular mountain road.

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Along the way, we constantly came across pockets like these - here you can stop, admire the views and get acquainted with the diagram, which shows all the visible peaks and all the beauties that we still have to meet along the way (map from the site www.grossglockner.at).

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As you can see, we got a lot of clouds. It’s an unimaginable feeling to ride in the clouds, burst into them and emerge, stand above them, deeply breathing in the completely boundless, endless space and intoxicating freedom.

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And no one... Only the huge bells on the necks of seemingly tiny cows jingle loudly in the distance.

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The clouds, flowing in white foam along the blue-green velvet slopes, slowly rose, gathered into marshmallow mountains and floated towards the horizon, revealing absolutely stunning views.

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In the haze far below you could see rivers, little men and houses - like hobbit holes.

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The road was not particularly difficult - with a width of 6, and in some places 7.5 meters, driving along it was not very difficult. You have time to look around without yawning in stiletto heels. But you still need to be vigilant. The turns are sharp, the elevation difference is good. So yes, everything is as I like. According to the maps there are 36 hairpins. In fact there are more of them. 36 are the most tricky ones. They are all marked with signs with their numbers, heights and names - one (the 11th, I think) is called "Witch's Kitchen", for example.

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Once upon a time, this road was built simply to give work to three thousand unemployed people in difficult times. In 1930, construction of the road began, laying it through the Hohe Tauern. And a year later the road was opened, and the day after the opening the first automobile and motorcycle races took place along it. Subsequently, the flow of people wishing to enjoy the beauty increased many times over, so the road was modified, widened and equipped with extensive tourism infrastructure designed for guests of different age groups, passions and opportunities.

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It has no transport significance. If you need to quickly get from point A to point B, then there is the A10 highway. And Grossglocknerstrasse is precisely a view road. The whole thing is a tourist attraction. From the smallest pebble to the Pasterze glacier.

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One of the symbols of the entire park of Hohe Tauern and Grossglocknerstrasse is the Alpine marmots - they are everywhere there. A couple of times balls of piercingly squeaking thick furry butts tried to roll down from the mountains under our wheels, but we never had a chance to look at them. Only once was it possible to observe them, and even then from a great height. Wow, do you see a mink and a plump ball of fur next to each other on the rocky soil? Tourists feed marmots, so the animals are not at all afraid of people.

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The route runs from the entrance to the road through intermediate passes and peaks to the glacier and a large tourist center Kaiser Franz Joseph next to him. The glacier is slowly melting, and the chances of seeing it are becoming less and less every year. It’s all the more disappointing that I don’t have a single travel photo left. The glacier was completely covered with clouds, and it was extremely cold there - after +34°C in Hallstatt, getting to +4°C on the glacier was quite invigorating.

From the glacier the road leads us down through several more tourist spots to the commune of Heiligenblut. It is impossible to drive along the road for a long time without stopping - the views are absolutely stunning. You can admire both the flora and the unique local fauna. In the next photo, on the shore of a reddish-rusty small lake, a herd of mountain goats is seen grazing. Wow, they can be seen on the stone as yellowish spots.

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A riot of greenery, flowers, the brightest sky, snow-white peaks in the distance - beauty!

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It is better to drive in a lower gear - especially downhill. The slope is constant and quite noticeable. The brakes have a hard time.

By the way, somewhere I came across advice along the lines of “If you are not used to mountain serpentines, do not irritate local drivers with slow, stupid driving, take a paid excursion by bus or by car with a guide.” I completely disagree! Firstly, personally, on such a road, neither slow nor fast drivers cause me the slightest irritation. There's no time for that. And the surrounding greatness of nature sweeps away all irritability, discontent and intolerance from the soul. Slowly riding, careful old men touch you, enthusiastic young people on motorcycles cause a smile and a little anxiety - “Don’t get killed!” And on any such road, drivers actually turn into a kind of brotherhood of initiates. "We did it! Isn't it beautiful?!" - can be read in every glance, accompanied by sincere smiles and affection. So don't listen to anyone. If you love it, go and enjoy it!

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But in this frame you can clearly see Grossglockner itself - the peak that gave its name to the whole road. On the right side there is a snow-capped peak - that’s it. There are several versions of the origin of the name. "Big Bell" Perhaps due to its shape, or perhaps due to frequent and noisy rockfalls.

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Here our journey along the most magnificent and completely unique alpine road ended.

the_na
16/12/2014 09:00



The opinions of tourists may not coincide with the opinions of the editors.

This was the day for which I started the whole trip. I don’t remember how, but I learned about such a place as the Großglockner alpine panoramic road. It really amazed me; it’s not so easy to get there as an ordinary tourist. Fortunately, for this you need to rent a car, although I also came across tourist buses there. But if it weren’t for Grossglockner on my way, I might still have flown to Italy by plane.


The Großglockner-Hochalpenstraße high mountain road is a panoramic road in Austria. It connects the states of Salzburg and Carinthia. Passes through national park High Tauern (German: Hohe Tauern). Named after herself high mountain Austria Grossglockner - 3798 m. The length of the road is about 48 km. It is a serpentine of 36 turns. It starts in the commune of Fusch an der Großglocknerstraße (German: Fusch an der Großglocknerstraße) at an altitude of 805 m. Ends in the commune of Heiligenblut (German: Heiligenblut) at an altitude of 1301 m. The maximum altitude is the Hochtor Pass ( German Hochtor) - 2504 m above sea level. The maximum slope of the road is 10.2%. The average slope of the northern slope is 7.1%, the southern slope is 8.6%. It leads to the center of Kaiser Franz Joseph, with panoramic views of the Pasterze Glacier and the Großglockner mountain itself. There is a toll on the road.

There are quite a few panoramic roads in Austria, and there are opinions that Groglockner is not the crown jewel of them all. But I just wanted to see the Alps, mountain roads, serpentines, and enjoy all this beauty. I have a motorcycle, I figured out the financial expenses, what’s stopping you from going, especially while you’re a student and not tied to work or family?

The beginning of this day was a moment in life that you wait for with trepidation, like some kind of magic. But what can darken the situation? Of course the weather. It's raining again this morning.

As I already wrote, my hotel was 40 km from Salzburg. Going to see the city means wasting almost the whole day, and I wanted to devote it entirely to the Alps and Großglockner. I planned to spend about 6 hours on the 50 kilometers of road. After looking at the maps, I saw two large lakes very close to the hotel, which were mentioned on Booking.com. I decided to first drive along each of the lakes, they were called Attersee and Mondsee. Then go to Großglockner.

Before leaving, the standard procedure is to lubricate the chain. Again, for this day, a cigarette lighter was made to charge a regular car DVR. Back in Poland I taped it to the steering wheel. It does not have a waterproof case, but rain is not an obstacle for such video recording, so I wrapped it in an Auchan bag.

I am leaving the hotel, which is positioned as a place for active family vacation with horseback riding, etc.

The weather was not impressive at all: low sky, drizzling rain, poor visibility, relative coolness.

There is a church nearby. They seem unusual to us, but they have them in every city, like standard ones.

If you look closely, at the top right is the first of the lakes - Attersee.

I went down to the lake itself. In good weather there is a small children's water park here:

Gasoline prices. As in the rest of Europe, there is no 92 gasoline, there are 95 and 95 super. Diesel is also normal and super. At the same time, at least people’s logic is in order: gasoline is more expensive than diesel, and not like ours...

What should be sold at a gas station near such a lake? Fishing gear!

While I was filling up, a guy pulled up in an old Porsche. Just in case, I asked permission to take a photo - good luck! Cars of this type are not uncommon in these places.

Wikipedia writes that: “The water in Attersee is crystal clear, transparency is up to 30 meters, the lake contains a large number of fish."

Sorry for the excessive number of photos of my motorcycle. There are almost no people around, I am traveling alone, and except for my native Steed against the backdrop of mountains, lakes, etc. There's nothing else to photograph :)

Behind these trees there is an imperceptible change from Attersee to Lake Mondsee.

About an hour later the rain stopped.

Closer to the city, near the park, people began to appear, and I was able to take at least one photo of myself. Women don't know how to take pictures without flowers in the frame :)

I wanted to get there as quickly as possible. I drove along the autobahn and, since I have a navigator on my phone, which is always in my pocket, I managed to pass my exit, but only noticed it when I realized that I had entered Germany. There were cars with German license plates and signs about speed limits in the country. I found a U-turn and entered Austria again, reminded of the vignette:

Again, I couldn’t think of anything better than having lunch at McDuck. Another mistake of the whole trip was eating at this establishment. I have always had an excuse why I stay here - almost 100% confidence in the availability of the Internet, the adequacy of the price and the minimum time spent. Now I understand how stupid it was. By the way, only in this place was Vkontakte blocked as a malicious site :)

That's it, the major roads are over, now there is an almost empty two-lane road leading to Großglockner. There are no people. I passed through a couple of towns and wanted to withdraw money, but everything was closed, the banks weren’t working. At the ATM I managed not to understand the “card code” question. And he just wanted me to enter a PIN code, the existence of which I didn’t even remember...

As my sister put it, after looking at the photographs, she understood the following about Europe: “There are no people, no garbage, the weather is bad” :)

Here it is, the entrance to Großglockner! The road is toll, a section of 48 km costs 23 euros for a motorcycle, and 33 for a car. There are also different combinations for different numbers of days, etc.

Of course, sitting at home, all this seemed like a little fun to me. I didn’t even really know what a mountain serpentine was. It seemed to me that upon entering the road they would simply open up to me. beautiful views. But HIGH a mountain road and involves climbing to a height.

Favorite photo:)

Turn after turn, higher and higher. This is not easy for old Steed, the load on the engine is heavy, and the radiator fan starts turning on periodically (Steed has water cooling).

There is not always a barrier along the road; sometimes it is replaced by stone pillars, and sometimes there is simply a fishing line stretched along the cliff. I suspect it's an alarm system in case someone falls off the road...

Then vague doubts began to torment me. Will this all end with me driving into the clouds?

There were so few people that I sometimes stood alone for several minutes and listened to the waterfalls rustling in the distance and the cow bells rattling.

Almost no landscapes are visible anymore:

Alpine cows, there are quite a lot of them:

Next rise:

Here all my worries came true. I drove into the clouds... Visibility was 50 meters maximum. Moreover, it started to rain. It's good that there is almost no one there. During all my time on Großglockner I saw a dozen motorcyclists and a maximum of a hundred cars.

If you listen closely, you can hear the bells of grazing cows rattling:

I didn’t take photos in the fog/clouds, because you can’t see anything there anyway, why take photos?) If at least something was visible in the distance, I took a photo, so photos can’t convey the whole atmosphere.

Frankly speaking, it was creepy, and scary, whatever. A motorcycle is not a sustainable vehicle. Rain increases the risk of falling, your feet and hands get wet. You can only see the edges of the road, the bump stop is not everywhere, and you realize that behind this fog lies a many-meter abyss and if you fall there, they will not find you right away.

Photos don't convey this feeling as well as videos. You can see and feel what the transition from normal weather to clouds looked like:

The ascent ended and the descent began. Passed behind maximum height— Hochtor pass (German: Hochtor) — 2504 m:

Even when I was admiring this place on the Internet, I knew that this turnoff from the main road leads to the observation deck. But I no longer had any desire to go there. Firstly, I won’t see anything around anyway. Secondly, it became a pity to drive the motorcycle somewhere high up again.

And in general, then I did not feel any pleasure. I had one thought - to quickly drive through this Großglockner. I looked at the odometer and counted down the kilometers when this nightmare would end. I increased my speed and stopped less often.

Of course, now I regret that I did not see my own special beauty in all this. But what to hide, it was only from the photographs of the house that I began to understand what I was running from. That's great!

In excellent weather there are a lot of people here, the abundance of motorcycles is simply amazing. I was there completely alone.

In one place I liked the tunnel in which the light was turned on by a motion sensor. It’s very cool: you’re driving, and the lights ahead gradually light up in the darkness.

When descending, you must not forget about engine braking. No one has canceled conventional brakes either, but there is a very high chance of them overheating, which should be avoided.

Heiligenblut is the finishing point of Groglockner.

I stopped to catch my breath, and then

The total length of Austrian roads is 200,000 km, of which about 2,200 km are toll roads. Tolls apply on all Austrian expressways, as well as on several high Alpine roads and tunnels.

Toll roads in Austria are distinguished not only by the excellent quality of the road surface (however, free roads, including those in rural areas, can also boast of this), but also by the service for travelers. Every 10–15 km on the highway there are parking lots equipped with:

  • sinks with drinking and technical water;
  • toilets equipped with everything necessary;
  • recreation area;
  • trash cans.

Increased driving safety is ensured road signs, warning several tens of kilometers away about difficulty of passage due to deterioration weather conditions, repairs or traffic accidents. This makes it possible to choose a convenient detour route in a timely manner.

Payment for travel on toll roads

To drive on a toll road, you need to purchase a vignette at any gas station upon entering the country - a special card indicating the fact of payment.

Vignette cost

The vignette must be attached only in accordance with the instructions indicated on it. An incorrectly affixed vignette is considered invalid. The fine for driving without paying for cars is 120 €, and for damaging a vignette – 240 €. In court proceedings, the amount of recovery can reach 3,000 €.

Find out more about fines in Austria by subscribing to our newsletter.

Payment for tunnels and special road sections is made upon entry and is accepted in both cash and by bank card. The cost depends on the length of the section and the number of trips.

Acquainted with up-to-date information by cost toll roads You can also calculate the route and approximate travel time on the website: www.vignette.at and in our article.

Panoramic roads of Austria

The panoramic high mountain roads of Austria are also worth a stop. They are tourist routes that offer travelers breathtaking mountain scenery. Some of them, such as the Loser panoramic road, lead to popular ski resorts, others just connect settlements, but run through picturesque parts of the country.

The most famous of them is the Großglockner High Alpine Road, named after the high peak Austria - Großglockner. It is a mountain serpentine with very sharp turns, road travelers will have to climb to a height of 2.5 km. The length of the road is 48 km.

Timmelsjoch High Alpine Road is a road connecting the Austrian region of Tyrol with the Italian province of Bolzano. The Brenner Pass quietly transports tourists from one country to another: crossing the border here is a pure formality.

Among the most famous panoramic roads in Austria are also:

  • Gerlos Alpine Road– a zigzag road leading to the Krimml waterfalls through green alpine meadows.
  • Silvretta High Alpine Road– a road that runs past the mountain lakes of the Tyrol region.
  • Nockalm Road– another option for lovers of alpine meadows and high climbs (height – 2 km).
  • Villach Alpine Road– gives you the opportunity to admire the snow-capped peaks and impressive cuts of rocks.

All high-mountain roads are paid upon entry; if desired, you can pay not only for travel, but also for an excursion. They are usually not accessible to travel winter time, as well as in case of worsening weather conditions. Driving on most high mountain roads is prohibited at night (after 20.00).

Panoramic roads in Austria provide not only a comfortable ride. The view of the Alps from them allows us to confidently call them one of the attractions of Austria.

The panoramic high-mountain Austrian Grossglockner road, which is a serpentine of 36 turns, is a charming a tourist route, introducing you to the beauty of protected natural areas Central Alps.

The forty-eight kilometer road, passing through and connecting the federal states and, begins in the commune of Fusch an der Großglocknerstrasse and ends in Heiligenblut. It passes through the Hochtor Pass, where the Kaiser Franz Joseph Center is located at an altitude of 2369 meters. It offers stunning panoramic views of the glacier and Austria's highest mountain, Großglockner. Actually, the road was named after this 3798 meter mountain peak.

A plan for the construction of a mountain road was presented by a group of experts in 1924. It was a difficult period in history economically. The country suffered from catastrophic financial losses as a result of the First World War, and therefore the project was viewed with skepticism. The government was forced to return to consideration of the project in 1929 after the financial markets began to fall. This event greatly affected Austria's weak economy. It was necessary to somehow employ several thousand people.

Construction began on August 30, 1930, and four years later the head of Salzburg drove along the new highway. A year later, in August 1935, the Großglockner High Mountain Road was put into operation and opened to the public. Interestingly, construction costs turned out to be less than planned, and tourist attendance in the first years significantly exceeded the most optimistic estimates. Subsequently, a phased modernization of the road was carried out. Its width and the number of parking lots located in the most picturesque places increased.

From the first day of operation, travel on the road was paid. The fare averages 20-50 euros, depending on the validity of the ticket and the type of transport. In winter, the passage is closed because the snowfall often exceeds 10 meters.

Every year, driving through scenic route, about one million people admire the alpine beauty. Stages of professional cycling races take place here, and many European automakers also like to test out steep mountain slopes their latest car models.

Grossglockner high mountain road - PHOTO