Krimml sits at the very top of the Salzach valley in Pinzgau, where the Hohe Tauern close in and the river is still a loud young thing. The village is small, under a thousand people, and it exists largely because of water: the Krimml Falls drop in three stages for something like 380 metres, which makes them the highest in Austria and among the tallest in Europe. You hear them before you see them, a low roar that gets into the car park, and in the afternoon the spray hangs in the trees like fog.
Most riders park the bike and walk the path beside the falls, which is steep but well built and takes a couple of hours with photo stops. It is worth doing in your boots if you can stand it, because the upper viewpoints are where the scale finally makes sense. The falls are part of Hohe Tauern National Park, and the cold, mineral smell of the place stays in your jacket for the whole ride afterwards.
The road starting here is the Gerlos Alpine Road, a toll road, so keep a few euros or a card handy at the booth. It climbs out of the Krimml gorge in a series of tight, well-surfaced bends, with trees close on both sides, then opens into higher meadows toward the pass. Traffic can be heavy with tour buses and campervans on summer weekends, so an early start pays: the light is soft on the cliffs before ten, and you get the hairpins mostly to yourself.
Fuel is the one practical thing to sort before you leave the valley. Krimml itself is tiny, and the next real choice is Neukirchen am Großvenediger, about eight kilometres back down the valley, where the Großvenediger glacier peak stands over the town. If you are riding up toward Gerlos with less than half a tank, turn around and fill there; the pass section is short, but it is no place to start counting kilometres.
Weather up here changes in an hour. A morning of clear sky can give way to cloud sitting on the road by lunchtime, and even in July the shade near the falls is properly cool. Pack the rain layer, and remember that the pass is open year-round but can see snow outside summer. When you leave, the climb is the best part of the day, and you will be glad you came up on this side of the mountain.