The Grossglockner high alpine road, better known in German as Großglockner Hochalpenstraße, is definitely the best thing I've ever seen in Austria. If you have already been there, then perhaps you will not be surprised by the news that this place is included in the list of “1000 places to see before you die”, along with the Grand Canyon, Petra or Venice. If you haven’t been, then you urgently need to add this place to your personal list of plans for the near future, because, as you know, there can only be mountains better than mountains, and what’s more, there are enough mountains in that area. About 300 three-thousanders on 1,100 square kilometers, 246 glaciers, the highest mountain in Austria - Grossglockner (3,798 meters), half-green, half-snowy slopes and an incredible zigzag winding road - without hesitation I call this place the pearl of Austria.

Officially, the Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse is 48 kilometers long: this is the toll part of the road (28 euros for a one-day pass), the most difficult to drive, but also the most beautiful. Unofficially, there is a traditional route starting from the settlement of Bruck, near Zell am See, and ending near Heiligenblut. If you go towards Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse, you will still take this route, because there are simply no other roads there. In total, it turns out to be 75 kilometers of stunning panoramic views and an unforgettable day.

The first, free part of the road is very beautiful Alpine houses, green fields with cows grazing on them, mountains visible in the distance and other delights of the Austrian Alps. Very beautiful, but, in general, not very different from the green beauties of Zillertal, which I wrote about. Maybe it's more deserted.

The fog that descended into the valley gave a special charm to this area that day. Since the road gradually went up, at first we drove straight in this fog, and then suddenly we drove out of it and found ourselves as if above the clouds. Very beautiful pictures:

As you approach the Hohe Tauern National Park, where the Großglockner Hochalpenstraße is located, the landscape outside your window gradually changes. Settlements are seen less and less often, but the views become more and more magical: lakes, waterfalls and, of course, mountains:

The closer to the toll section of the road, the more often snow-capped peaks are visible:

Immediately after entering the toll section, the road begins to go up sharply. But that's not the worst thing. The worst thing is that it begins to loop very sharply and steeply. If you believe the official website of the road and the signs placed on the highway, then there are 36 very sharp turns, these are the so-called Kehre. But, presumably, only the sharpest turns count, where the road turns almost 180 degrees. To all this you need to add at least a hundred more ordinary turns. As a result, I get quite sick in the car, and if it weren’t for the constant stops to take photographs, it would be quite difficult. But the views around you more than compensate for all this:

It’s not so high here yet, so the greenery is still visible:

Nasty goo-o-ors. As I already wrote, there are about 300 three-thousand-meter peaks in the national park:

The road goes further and further upward, only snow is visible around and it becomes quite cold. By the way, in addition to very sharp turns, the road is also distinguished by its narrowness. Trying to overtake someone here is pure suicide. The road was built 75 years ago, when the Austrian economy was in decline and it was urgently necessary to give work to several thousand people. According to the initial designs, the width of the road should have been twice as narrow as what we see now!

These are already snowy places:

One of the largest stops on the route is Edelweißspitze. It is also the highest point along the entire route. This is a small branch from the main highway, the road there is very narrow and very steep. At the very top there is an extremely difficult parking situation. Only a few dozen cars can fit there, and all the places, of course, are occupied. I had to carefully monitor who was about to drive away, run to take a place before someone dived into the vacant heel, and wait for the cars to move away so that I could park. All this took about 15-20 minutes. Many of those who arrived at the top were forced to leave immediately, because there was simply nowhere to go. I guess they were waiting downstairs for some of the cars to come down, or they were walking up with their feet.

The lower part of this whole party is all sorts of cafes, toilets and souvenir shops, where stuffed animals of various alpine animals are found:

There are even krampus, about which I once wrote:

Actually, a view of the parking lot. These are all the parking spaces in these parts, there are no others. Here you can see four cars waiting for someone to free up a parking space. We stood there too:

The steepness of the turns on the highway can be assessed, say, here. A distinctive feature of the road towards Edelweißspitze is also its narrowness. I can’t imagine how two cars pass each other there. Most likely not. You need to act in the standard “Asian” way, i.e. Just honk before every turn. However, on the main route the road is still wider than this:

If you believe the official website of the road, then 30 three-thousand-meter peaks are visible at once on the Edelweiss peak. One of the panoramic views from above the parking lot:

A general view of the road, here you can estimate the number of turns, most of which are not even considered these same 36 terrible Kehres, an example of which you saw above:

Another panoramic view of the road. Here you can see how the road in the upper right corner goes into one of the many tunnels.

Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse is open only six months a year: somewhere from May to October, each year the dates are slightly different. In winter the road is closed for safety reasons. Judging by how much snow there was around at the end of September, one can understand the prudent Austrians. By the way, during the “working” six months the road is maintained in excellent condition.

Another look at the crazy windings of the road. If you look closely, you can see small expansions in places on the road: here you can slow down if you feel bad about taking pictures of the panoramic views. There are such exits along the entire road, and you want to slow down, if not at every first, then certainly at every second turn.

I already wrote somewhere in the comments that I saw photographs online of Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse in the summer. Almost everything around is green, and snow-capped mountain peaks rise above it all. At the end of September, as you can see, the grass is still visible in places, but there is already a fair amount of snow. At the end of October the road is closed because there is too much snow and the road becomes dangerous to drive on.

Here and there on the road there are these strange buildings of unknown purpose:

In some places the road goes into tunnels:

This is what the unnamed version of the previous tunnel looks like:

Inside the tunnel it was dank and cold, however, it was never hot outside the tunnel. But inside the tunnels there are absolutely incredible ice pillars. This is frozen water that has penetrated into the tunnel through small holes. Desperate attempt to photograph this from the car window:

Then the poet’s soul couldn’t stand it and he had to create an emergency situation on the road, namely, get out of the car right inside the tunnel (there are, of course, no exits there) in the hope that no one will need to drive through the tunnel at that very moment:

These ice columns grow incredibly evenly:

Let's go back to the fresh air. A couple more general views from different exits on the road:

At some point, the road stops twisting so brutally and going up sharply. The crazy 36 turns are left behind, endless snow gives way to surprisingly green views. Far, far away in the distance a small piece of Grossglockner, the highest mountain in Austria, begins to be visible. This is already closer to the standard tourist sites of Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse, which can be found on the website, in Wikipedia and in the booklets that are given to you at the entrance.

View of the road in the opposite direction. This is where we came from:

Here you can already see the handsome Grossglockner, below you can see a “small” wall - this is the dam of another mountain lake, of which there are many here.

Confused Grossglockner:

Here I went right into the middle of the road, so that it was clear what kind of view usually opens through the windshield of a car. To my right I can see a small piece of the next exit from the road where we parked:

Another version of the semi-tunnel through which we had to pass:

A little before reaching the tunnel, a view of a huge mountain lake-reservoir blocked by a dam opens up. You saw a piece of this dam in one of the previous photographs.

Immediately after the tunnel you come to the main attraction of these parts - the 10-kilometer Pasterze Glacier, located next to Grossglockner. The views there are absolutely fantastic, and photographs, unfortunately, cannot convey either the scale or beauty.

The hill from which this huge glacier slides:

Somewhere below you can see melting glacial lakes:

Quite an alien look, in my opinion:

The cul-de-sac near Grossglockner and the Pasterze Glacier is bustling with life. There is a huge information center, the Swarovski Observatory, cafes, souvenir shops, a multi-storey parking lot, several observation platforms and the beginning of a small trek through the mountains.

Here you can see the top floor of this entire civilization. Under the parking lot are just half of the delights listed above, i.e. this level of parking is located on the roof:

View of the mountains, lakes and road from one of the top viewpoints – the road that starts the local trek:

At the very beginning of the trek there is a monument to Emperor Franz Joseph, who once also made small treks in these places:

Let's go down a little lower, to where the presence of civilization is felt especially acutely. View of one of the observation decks from a slightly higher vantage point:

One of the main attractions of these regions is they, the promised murmultirs. A sign like this alerts you to the presence of vibrant mountain life right under your feet:

And indeed, below, right ahead, you can see many, many holes, from which well-fed marmots scurry back and forth, accustomed to being watched from somewhere above and throwing food to them:

In German, the marmot sounds touchingly pleasant - Murmeltier:

By the way, in German the verb “murmeln” means “to grumble”, “mumble”, so the marmot is literally translated as “a grumbling animal”, or “a grumbling and muttering animal”. :)

Lots of murmults. Judging by the number of burrows visible in the distance, there are a LOT of murmultires:

Actually, it’s not difficult to guess what the marmots walking below are waiting for: they are so accustomed to “manna from heaven” periodically falling on them from above that now they are simply brazenly walking around waiting for this very manna. This time they were sent pieces of bread as manna:

Well, it’s time to leave these lands after all. All good things come to an end, such as the time available. A farewell look at the views around us on the way to the southern exit from Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse:

If you remember, at the very beginning I wrote that the classic travel route is from the settlement of Bruck near Zell am See to the settlement of Heiligenblut, which is located on the south side of the road. Part of the road on this route is toll, part is free. The southern end of the road - the settlement of Heiligenblut - is a free piece of the road. If you follow the indicated route, you will have to go beyond the paid part (the ticket is valid all day for an unlimited number of entries and exits, and the paid part begins immediately after Heiligenblut).

It’s worth going beyond the toll part towards Heiligenblut for the simple reason that there is a fairly famous and incredibly beautiful mountain church here - the Church of the Holy Blood:

The church itself is probably not that different from other churches in the area, but because of its location and the legend that the blood of Jesus Christ is kept inside, Heiligenblut has become a very popular tourist destination.

Inside the church:

There is a small cemetery near the church, from where there are views of the surrounding area:

Well, let’s add some variety to the snowy snow: a beautiful yellow autumn...

This is a shortened version of three posts on related topics. Primary sources here.

Today is a photo report about one of the most beautiful mountain roads in Europe. To be honest, I have only seen more picturesque serpentines in China in the town of Zhangjiajie - a serpentine with 99 turns already quite well known to travelers.
And in Europe, the most beautiful and highest mountain road is located in Austria, the Austrian Alps.

This is what the serpentine looks like:

This is a toll road, something like a national park. You can enter by car, motorcycle, electric car, and pay an entry fee.

Back in 2012, entry by car cost 32 euros; today the price has risen slightly to 35 euros per day. If you want to buy a ticket for a month, the cost is 54 euros (by car).

Yes, my photos were taken in 2012, and for 4 years I didn’t know how to put a thousand beautiful photos into one post. It was so difficult to choose 40 pieces.
Today, this panoramic road has a separate website where you can get acquainted with possible walking routes, choose hotels and restaurants (there are several on the territory).
And 4 years ago I was just planning a route from Vienna to Munich and on the map I found an intricate serpentine road - I really wanted to go there. Well, let's actually go. Just like that, seeing a point on a Google map. (follow the link for the location on the map itself). There was not a word about this road on the Russian-language Internet.

Beautiful Austrian landscapes along the way:

We turn left in the Zell-am-See area (coming from the direction of Vienna), approach the entrance where the toll is paid:

And immediately the beauty begins. We admire the sky, the clouds that are unable to hold the rays of the August sun.

The cows, which we immediately nicknamed Milka, are also here, enjoying nature.

Looking around, you see a lot of noisy mountain waterfalls. Although it was the end of August, they had not yet dried up. We believe that there will be more snow ahead. August mountain snow:

Great, really:

Serpentines and a shelter with a hotel in the middle:

High mountain panoramic road Großglockner-Hochalpenstraße It runs through the Hohe Tower National Park and is named after the highest mountain in Austria, Grossglockner, whose height is 3798 m.

Length Großglockner High Alpine Road about 48 km. This is a serpentine road with 36 turns. The road begins at an altitude of 805 meters and ends at 1301 meters. The maximum height is the Hochtor pass - 2504 m above sea level. The maximum slope of the road is 10.2%.
Since 12 January 2016, the Großglockner High Road has been a candidate for inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

To be honest, when I came to this road, I was sure that it was modern. It just opened, in the year 2010. But while typing these paragraphs, I decided to look for history. I’m surprised, the road was built back in the 1930s and was considered a national treasure of Austria.
In 1924, a group of Austrian experts presented a plan to build a road to Hochtor (high pass), but everyone was skeptical about the proposal. At that time, in Austria, Germany and Italy there were only 154 thousand private cars, 92 thousand motorcycles, and 2000 km of asphalt roads. Austria suffered from the disastrous economic results of its losses in the First World War, reduced its size sevenfold, lost its international markets, and suffered from crippling inflation. Even a simple 3 meter wide gravel road project with passing lanes proved to be too expensive.
The impetus for the construction of the road, which would open the barren Alpine valley to motorized tourism, came from a downturn in the New York stock market in 1929. Then the government revived the Grossglockner project in order to give jobs to 3,200 (out of 520 thousand) unemployed. In the new project, the road was widened to 6 m, counting on 120 thousand visitors per year. The state decided to cover construction costs by introducing a toll for road use.
On August 3, 1935, the Großglockner high mountain road was opened and put into operation. And a day later it hosted the international automobile and motorcycle races Grossglockner Races.
Instead of the projected 120 thousand visitors in 1930, the road attracted 375 thousand visitors and 98 thousand cars. After World War II, the number of visitors increased and by 1952 reached 412 thousand visitors and 91 thousand cars. In 1962, 360 thousand cars and 1.3 million visitors crossed the pass. In general, this road is the real historical pride of Austria.

The opening of the Felbertauern motorway in 1967 and the Tauern motorway in 1975 not only reduced traffic by almost 15%, but also forever changed the character of the high mountain road: from a utilitarian transalpine route to an excursion panoramic road with beautiful natural views.

Today the road is open for travel from May to October. The exact timing of road opening and closing depends on weather conditions. Before visiting, you should look at the road’s website for more accurate information. It is also closed at night. In summer it is open until approximately 21:30. It is very scary to walk in the mountains in the dark surrounded by wild animals.

The annual traffic of the road is approximately 900 thousand people. It is said to be one of the most visited places in Austria today.

There are several stopping points along the way, all with designated parking spaces, picnic tables or views. There are also restaurants or cafes with souvenir shops in the main points. There are definitely stands with views of the mountains, signed with names and heights. There is also visual information about local vegetation and local wildlife. There are places from which you can see the most significant points.

At this pass we found snow and had a lot of snowball fights:

Serpentines with farmsteads:

This is what the highest Hochtor pass looks like, 2504 meters high:

It was getting dark, it’s good that it’s not raining:

Fensterbach waterfall, begins at an altitude of 2058 meters:

The same waterfall passes under the road and rushes down:

This is Lake Margaritzenstau, and above that is Lake Sandersee. They are connected to each other by a small stream. But the height difference in this picture alone is at least 250 meters.

This stop is Alpencenter Glocknerhaus. There is a parking lot and a hotel with a restaurant. And several hiking routes into the mountains.

You pass this place when you go to the Pasternze glacier. And to do this you need to turn right, before reaching the town of Heiligenblut. That is, if you are driving from the northern entrance to the panoramic road and have reached the town of Heiligenblut, then you need to return to the roundabout that you passed a couple of km ago.
If you don’t turn off, then you end up in Italy, right in the Dolomites, or in Slovenia.

Waterfalls, more waterfalls:

Signs for walking routes. The red dot is a high level of difficulty, the target is easy. The time indicated is how long to stomp to the point:

Thus we approach the Kaiser Franz Joseph Center. It is located at an altitude of 2369 meters and offers views of the Großglockner mountain (the highest in Austria) and the longest glacier in the eastern Alps - Pasterze.

The center is a 4-story building in which visitors are shown everything that is most interesting about the highest mountain in Austria - Großglockner. Near the center there is a large number of parking spaces, as well as a multi-storey garage. But apparently we arrived too late, the parking lot was empty, just a couple of cars. And not a soul.

Here is the glacier itself. Its length is about 9 km, located at an altitude of 3463 to 2100 m above sea level.

The melting of the Pasterze Glacier began in 1856 due to a combination of high summer temperatures and low winter precipitation. According to the pictures, since 1852 the glacier has already decreased by 200 meters!!!
You can walk along the glacier by going down. Part of the descent can be done by cable car from a 143-meter height (85% slope), or by walking down the steps. But the ice is already breaking. Photos of fractures:

We looked at the mountain along the glacier, saw a path and decided to take a walk along it:

This is what the road looks like: you walk along a huge rock, passing through wet, cold tunnels. There seemed to be 6 of them in total from 250 to 800 meters:

Along the way we came across posters with the names of mountains, descriptions of vegetation and animals. In the photo below right is a gopher. Do you see? It disguises itself as a dry landscape:


There is a shelter right next to the glacier. I think this is for winter walks:

Suddenly mountain goats came out to cross our path. Photo without enlargement. They actually walked like this, side by side. You could easily grab one by the horns. This is how, walking through the mountains, you find yourself in a real safari park. This meeting makes me feel a little uneasy and I want to get back into the car before dark. Then we realized why the road was closed at night:

We later had a similar meeting with ungulates in Israel. There is a very soulful town there, Mitzpe Ramon, where mountain goats live among people and walk in their yards.

And we are returning to the Alps. This is the highest peak in Austria - the shy Großglockner, hidden behind the fog:

And this is our path. We returned along the same route.

Where were we going? I don’t know, they just wanted to go around the glacier and see what was behind it. We reached the remains of gentle waterfalls and signs that you can go down there to Italy, and there to Germany. We decided to return.

A little mountain sunset:

A rest stop with a view of the highest peak in Austria:

It is at this moment that you understand the insignificance of human existence. And the insignificance of all our huge and serious problems. Once you get to the mountains, you don’t care about anything at all. This is the place to get a small dose of not giving a fuck. Helps a lot in setting life priorities)))

Additionally about the Alps and beautiful pictures:

1. Our trip to the Dolomites:

I dreamed of preparing today’s post for a very long time, since it will talk about the most beautiful place of our entire trip. I really like alpine mountain passes. Firstly, the roads are laid in very beautiful places, and secondly, the Europeans made sure that tourists here were as comfortable as possible. The Austrians are not at all behind Switzerland in this regard. Today I will tell you about one of the most picturesque mountain routes in Austria - the Grossglockner panoramic road. Welcome to Austria!

Immediately after Verona we headed to the Austrian town of Lienz, which is located very close to the Grossglockner road. To be honest, it turned out a little crumpled due to the long distance (300 km) and the late departure from Verona. We had to cover part of the route in the dark: we hardly saw Lienz and the Dolomites. We spent the night in a small country hotel on the outskirts of Lienz.

How nice it is to wake up early in the morning, leave the hotel and breathe in the cold mountain air. This is an indescribable feeling!

Europeans tend to get up very early, especially in rural areas.

The village where we spent the night is called Lavant. There is a parish church of St. Ulrich, located on the mountain:

We didn’t go up there, but here’s a photo of the interior of the church from Wiki, isn’t it cool?

Michael Kranewitter via Wikimedia Commons

Someone left several cases of beer cooling in the fountain opposite the hotel entrance:

Starting from Lienz, the road smoothly rises into the mountains and passes through the most beautiful places with an abundance of observation platforms.

The Grossglockner panoramic road itself starts from the town of Heiligenblut, 40 km from Lienz.

The road got its name in honor of the highest mountain in Austria - Grossglockner, whose height is 3798 m. Here it first appears in view (snow-capped peak):

The Grossglockner road is not an ordinary road for utilitarian purposes, rather it is a tourist attraction. For faster travel, use the A10 expressway.

The panoramic road is a serpentine of 36 turns, about 48 km long. At the very beginning of the road it has a small branch that leads to the Pasterze Glacier and the Kaiser Franz Joseph Center. There is the maximum approach point to Grossglockner.

Image from websitewww.grossglockner.at

Well, here we are finally on the road itself. Some historical facts: it was put into operation in 1935. However, when in 1924 a group of Austrian experts presented a plan to build a road through the Hochtor Pass, it was met with skepticism. At that time, in Austria, Germany and Italy there were only 154 thousand private cars, 92 thousand motorcycles, and 2000 km of asphalt roads. Austria suffered catastrophic economic losses in the First World War, reduced its size sevenfold, lost its international markets, and suffered crippling inflation.

Even a simple 3 meter wide gravel road project with passing lanes proved to be too expensive. The impetus for the construction of the road, which would open the barren Alpine valley to motorized tourism, came from a downturn in the New York stock market in 1929. This disaster greatly shook poor Austria. Within three years, production fell by a quarter. Then the government revived the Grossglockner project in order to give jobs to 3,200 (out of 520 thousand!) unemployed. In the new project, the road was widened to 6 meters, counting on 120 thousand visitors per year. The state decided to cover construction costs by introducing tolls for road use.

On August 30, 1930, at 9:30 am, the first rock explosion was carried out. Four years later, the head of the Salzburg government drove along the new road for the first time. A year later, the Grossglockner high mountain road was put into operation. And the very next day the international automobile and motorcycle races Grossglockner Races were held on it.

Construction costs turned out to be less than planned, and 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. Now the fare averages 20-50 euros, depending on the validity of the ticket and the type of transport. A standard 1-day passenger car ticket costs 32 euros.

The road is open to tourists from May to October. In winter, the passage is closed because the snowfall often exceeds 10 meters.

Here is a short video taken on the way to the Kaiser Franz Joseph Center. By the way, it was filmed just a few days before we visited there:

Around the next turn there is a magnificent view of the glacier and the Grossglockner peak. The Pasterze Glacier is the largest in Austria, its length is about 9 km.

The melting of the glacier began as early as 1856 due to high summer temperatures and low winter precipitation.

Despite record summer temperatures in Europe, scientists from the Swiss Academy of Natural Sciences attribute the melting of glaciers to long-term climate changes.

Find two tourists in this photo:

A branch of the road eventually leads to the Kaiser Franz Joseph Center. In addition to the standard tourist infrastructure (restaurants, tourist center), you can find several exhibitions here, for example, the Grossglockner Glacier and Peak Museum. There is even a museum of automobile history, although I could not find information about it on the Internet. Apparently this is a temporary exhibition. In general, the Grossglockner road attracts owners of vintage cars from all over Europe, but more on that later.

This place is visited by a huge number of tourists, so there are several spacious parking lots, including one multi-level one.

The overwhelming number of tourists are pensioners. They sit on the veranda of the restaurant, bask in the sun and have lunch. Happy old age!

Grossglockner was first conquered in 1800. The first attempt to climb was made a year earlier, but failed due to bad weather. A day after the first ascent, a wooden cross was placed on the summit. In 1879 it was renovated and dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the marriage of Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth, who visited Grossglockner in 1865.

The name Glocknerer first appeared on maps in 1561. Grossglockner first described in his book Balthasar Ake: naturalist, geologist, geographer, doctor, scientist, who is considered a pioneer of mountaineering. Interestingly, until 1918 the mountain was privately owned. Currently, Grossglockner belongs to the Austrian Alpine Community.

When you zoom in as far as possible on the previous photo, you can see how a large group of climbers is currently conquering the peak. I noticed this quite by accident when I was preparing a post. Now there are about 5,000 ascents of Grossglockner annually.

To be continued in the next post.

Materials used in preparing this post.

A small lyrical digression. You can skip ahead to the next two paragraphs if you want.

Once upon a time, when I first got behind the wheel, I was wildly afraid and did not feel at all confident in the driver’s seat. However, I was fabulously lucky with an instructor who had truly angelic patience and “rolled” me out. Yes, it rolled out so much that after nine months of driving experience, I ended up on Lago-Naki in a car with a ground clearance of 13 cm (without taking into account protection). And this was in those days when this road was “suitable only for off-road vehicles.” It's a pity that we found out about this after the fact. However, we successfully got to the top and went down! I didn’t ruin the car, they themselves remained unharmed, but after 10 hours of driving I got wet to the point of my underwear and called myself bad names five hundred times for my arrogance. But the “long” weekend spent like this was a great success, we gained impressions, delight and had an absolutely magical rest! And they became incurably sick with a passion for mountains and mountain roads. Sanka, thank you! I still love you and am immensely grateful! You gave me the chance to make my most cherished dreams come true.

So, I must say that I was lucky not only with the instructor, but also with my husband. Seeing how attached I am to the steering wheel and my cars, not only has he not even once in all these years even tried (!) to get behind the wheel on all our trips (I don’t know how he manages to do this - I definitely wouldn’t be able to!) . But every year he even tries to find and offer me some wonderful mountain road as a decoration for the route. “Everything is there just as you like!” - he says. This means that the road will have crazy hairpin turns, elevation changes and mind-blowing views. Moreover, the more terrible the road, the more often it is mentioned in all sorts of ratings “the most dangerous roads..., the most difficult roads..., the most beautiful mountain roads... etc.,” the better. And the stronger I will be in my desire for her. So the road to Lysefjord in Norway appeared on my personal list of conquered roads, and last year the Stelvio Pass was on our route - . And that’s how the Grossglockner Alpine Road was added to our route this year. Thank you, gladchenko !! You are my knight and my hero!

Now let's return to Austria.

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.

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

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.

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!

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.

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

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).

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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, expanded and equipped with extensive tourist infrastructure designed for guests of different age groups, preferences and abilities.

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.

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.

The route runs from the entrance to the road through intermediate passes and peaks to the glacier and the large Kaiser Franz Joseph tourist center next to it. 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 it would be +4 °C on the glacier it was very 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.

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

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! Really, beauty?!” - 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!

And here it is Heiligenblut and its main attraction - Gothic Church of St. Vincent.

According to legend, the Danish knight Bricius brought here a religious shrine - the Blood of Christ. According to the same legend, on his way home he was caught in an avalanche, which buried him. And he was found by three ears of corn that had sprouted over his body. This legend was even reflected in the coat of arms of Heiligenblut (taken

22.07.2017

Grossglockner Hochalpenstraße

Großglockner high mountain road– this is the most beautiful panoramic road in Austria and probably one of the most beautiful in Europe, it is visited by more than 1 million tourists a year.

The road begins in the federal state of Salzburg in a village in a town Fusch an der Grossglocknerstrasse(Fusch an der Großglocknerstraße), and ends in Carinthia in a pastoral postcard town Heiligenblut(Heiligendlut), or vice versa, depending on where you start the journey from)))

This is the very heart of Austrian Alps: highest mountain, largest glacier Pasterze, the most beautiful village Heiligenblut, the most beautiful panoramas and all this is located in the largest national park Hohe Tauern. If you are planning to travel around Austria in the warm season, be sure to stop by here. You will be guaranteed a lot of bright impressions.

• the length of the road is 48 kilometers,
• the highest place on the panoramic road - perval Hokhtor (Hohtor) , 2504 m.
• the road passes by the top of the mountain , actually named after her alpine highway and it is the highest in Austria.
• On panoramic highway 36 turns are stated, but in reality there are much more of them; only the largest and steepest ones are marked.
• maximum road gradient is about 12%

On the road from Carinthia there are two exits from the main road: one leads to Kaiser Franz Joseph Center, and further to the observation deck on the Pastertse glacier, from here there is a cable car that can go straight down to the glacier, or you can also use the steep stairs. If you have time, take a walk to the glacier; it has been melting for more than 120 years, but the spectacle is breathtaking. But we do not recommend traveling on the glacier itself without an experienced guide: there are many deep crevices under the fragile ice. This is the largest glacier in Austria - 9 km long, a huge colossus of ice, snow, mud and stones, descending into the valley.

The second, less known, but very spectacular exit leads to the observation deck on the mountain Edelweissspitze, 2573 m. Many drivers do not dare to climb it, it is steep but absolutely passable, as a reward you will have a view of 37 three-thousanders and, it seems, 18 glaciers. Just to see this place is worth coming to Grossglockner.

Route and map of the Grossglockner High Alpine Road

There are many places on the road for panoramic photography of all the surrounding alpine beauty, with convenient parking, diagrams of where you are and what is around you, and even information centers.

Without any effort at all, you can photograph mountain goats and marmots (these are, in general, symbols of Grossglockner); they are not afraid here and willingly expose themselves to camera lenses. There are even playgrounds for children.

Prices for proad trip

• 35 euros for a car,
• 25 euros for a motorcycle

The road does not operate all year round, but from May to October; there are no exact opening and closing dates, it all depends on the snow cover. In winter, the road is covered with snowdrifts up to 10 meters high, in recent years this has happened rarely, but nevertheless, we once drove up the road to a part that had not been cleared of snow and in front of us stood a snow wall the size of a two-story house, it is very impressive how and a photo of how this wealth begins to be raked in the spring, now this is done by large snow removal equipment, and in the first years of the road’s operation 300 strong Austrian men climbed the mountains with shovels! It took about a month to clean it...

So it’s best, plus in the summer there are more chances to really see all the surrounding beauty, and not clouds with rain.

The operating time of the Grossglockner high mountain road is from May to October.

• May until June 15: 6:00 — 20:00
• June 16 - September 15: 5:00 — 21:30
• September 16 to October: 6:00 — 19:30

The last tourist is allowed onto the road 45 minutes before closing.

History of the high mountain road:

Construction of the road began in 1930, exactly one year later! (can you imagine such deadlines for our builders?!!) it was solemnly opened, a few days later a rally was already held here. Now this road is very popular among cyclists and motorcyclists. Sometimes it’s very scary to be on sharp turns at the same time as them. And in the summer there are sooooo many of them.

The road was conceived back in the 20s of the 20th century, but was not built, because they did not believe in the technical feasibility of implementing such a complex project, but in the 30s, Austria was tormented by the crisis after the First World War and in order to provide work for 3,000 people, the Austrian government allocated a budget for the construction of a high-mountain highway. It was built in a year and spent less money than planned (can you imagine this in our realities?).

On the second day after the opening, the Grossglockner Races for cars and motorcycles were held here; they continued here until the Second World War. And now owners of all kinds of rare cars regularly organize races and trips here. Status bike races also take place here.

Initially, the road was intended to be a toll road, and from the first days there was more traffic on it than expected. Until the 50s, the road was used as a regular highway, but with the opening roads A10 the main flow of cars “on business” took a detour along a flat road, and tourists began to use the Grossglockner serpentine even more actively.

In 2016, the Grossglockner panoramic road was submitted as a candidate for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List.