Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse

Austria's showpiece toll road to a glacier viewpoint at 2500 m.

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Why this ride

The Grossglockner road was built to be ridden slowly and looked at: thirty-six hairpins, a museum at the top and the Pasterze glacier at the end of the Franz-Josefs-Höhe spur. It is a toll road with published opening hours, and the gates close overnight - a late start can leave you locked out.

Roadbook

1. Bruck an der Glocknerstrasse start · 757 m

   Bruck is a small village in the Salzach valley, on the edge of the Pinzgau, and for most riders it has one job: it is the doorstep to the Grossglockner High Alpine Road. Zell am See and its lake lie a few kilometres to the east, the broad glacier-carved valley runs on to the west, and above it, to the south, the main ridge of the Hohe Tauern rises in long, dark flanks with ice on top. At about 750 metres, the village is warm and green in summer, with farmhouses, hay meadows and the sound of church bells.

   The high road itself, which you join a short way up the side valley toward Fusch and Ferleiten, is one of the great engineering projects of the twentieth century in the Alps. Construction began in 1930, in the middle of an economic depression, as a way to give work to thousands of unemployed men, and it opened in 1935. Around fifty kilometres of road, with some thirty-six hairpins, climb to a crossing at 2,504 metres near the Hochtor, designed so that cars could cross the main Alpine ridge at a gentle gradient. A toll is charged, and it is not small, but riders usually agree it is worth it.

   The road is open in summer only, with opening dates that vary from year to year, typically from late spring to early November, and it can close at short notice for snow, even in the middle of the season. Early starts pay off, because by midday the traffic of buses, camper vans, cyclists and bikes can slow things to a crawl. Weather also tends to cloud up in the afternoon. Check forecasts and webcams before you set off, and bring warm layers, because the top is often near freezing even in July.

   At Bruck, you will find fuel, a supermarket, a bakery and a few small guesthouses, and the larger town of Zell am See, only four kilometres away, has anything else you might need. Try a Kaiserschmarrn, the shredded pancake that Austrian mountain restaurants do with real pride, at one of the cafes on the way up. It is a gentle start to a very big day.

2. Fuscher Törl pass · 2428 m

   Fuscher Törl is where the Grossglockner High Alpine Road stops being a pleasant drive and becomes a stage set. At 2,428 metres, this high saddle gives the first big view over the whole Glockner range, with the Fuscher valley falling away behind you and ranks of rock and snow ahead, and the tiny shapes of cars and cyclists crawling up the hairpins far below. It is a place where most riders cut the engine, take off their gloves, and simply look.

   The road was a major engineering feat. It was built in the early 1930s, with thousands of workers employed during the Depression, and opened in 1935, at a time when mass motoring was only beginning. It is still run as a toll road, and the fee is part of the day's cost, so have a card or cash ready at the gate. A short, steep side road starts at the Törl and climbs to the Edelweissspitze, at about 2,570 metres, where a viewpoint offers a still wider panorama, with more than thirty peaks over three thousand metres in sight on a clear day.

   The riding on the northern ramp is superb. From the toll gate at Ferleiten the road climbs in broad, well-surfaced hairpins, with a gradient that never tires, and the vegetation falls away from forest to meadow to bare rock. Traffic can be heavy in summer, especially at weekends and in the middle of the day, so start early. Weather matters greatly: the road is open only from about May to early November, and fog, cold rain, or snow can arrive in any month. A warm layer and waterproof gloves are not optional.

   A restaurant and a small museum beside the road offer coffee, soup, and the sort of cake that Austrians treat as a serious matter. Marmots live in the rocks nearby, and are used to people, so you will probably see one. Keep your speed down near the cafes, where pedestrians cross without warning.

3. Hochtor pass · 2504 m

   Hochtor is the summit of the road. At 2,504 metres, a short tunnel of three hundred metres or so cuts under the ridge, and it marks the border between the provinces of Salzburg and Carinthia and the highest point on the Grossglockner High Alpine Road. On the northern side lies the long ascent from the Fuscher valley; on the southern, a descent past the Gamsgrube and toward the Pasterze glacier, with Austria's highest peak, the Grossglockner at 3,798 metres, rising to the west.

   Long before the road, there was a route. The Romans used the Hochtor as a crossing, and archaeologists have found a bronze statuette of Hercules and other offerings near the pass, evidence that travellers have thanked the gods for safe passage here for two thousand years. Medieval traders, pilgrims, and smugglers followed the same line, carrying salt and wine, and the little chapel at Heiligenblut, below on the south side, was built by people who had to cross the mountains on foot. Its tall Gothic spire, framed by the Glockner, is one of the most photographed views in Austria.

   The south ramp is a delight. After the tunnel, the road drops in a long series of curves with fast, open views, and the surface is excellent. The hairpins are more spread out than on the north side, and the road swings around cirques and past waterfalls, with the glacier visible below. Take care on the descent, because brakes work hard, and in summer afternoons, thunderstorms can strike with little warning. Snow can lie on the ground in July, and the road may close for weather at any time.

   Fuel is not available on the high road itself, and Heiligenblut, about five kilometres from the pass, is the first place on the south side with services. Zell am See, on the north, is the bigger town, and Rauris is a smaller valley town to the east. A toll is charged for the road, with a lower rate if you go early in the day or late. The restaurants and refuges at the top and near the glacier serve hot food, and a coffee with a view of the ice is a fine way to recover your composure.

4. Franz-Josefs-Höhe sight · 2369 m

   Franz-Josefs-Höhe is a balcony hung at 2,369 metres on the southern flank of the Grossglockner. A short spur from the main high road leads to a vast car park, a visitor centre and a long terrace, and from the rail you look straight across at the Grossglockner itself, the highest mountain in Austria at 3,798 metres, and down onto the Pasterze, the country's longest glacier. The summit is a pyramid of dark rock and ice, the glacier a grey, crevassed river sliding between lateral moraines. It is among the most famous views in the Alps.

   The place is named for Emperor Franz Joseph I, who visited the area in 1856 with his wife Elisabeth, and rode up to look at the glacier. A century and a half later, the ice has changed beyond recognition. The Pasterze has shrunk dramatically, retreating several kilometres and thinning by many tens of metres, and the old viewpoints now look down on a lake and rubble rather than ice. Signs along the path show where the surface once stood, and it is hard to avoid a moment of silence. A cable car once brought visitors down to the ice, and a path still runs along the slope.

   The detour from the main road is a few kilometres of broad, well-surfaced bends, climbing past meadows and bare rock, and it is as pleasant a ride as any on the route. You will probably share it with tour buses and campervans, so patience helps. Wildlife is better than you might expect: marmots whistle from the rocks near the car park, and ibex sometimes appear on the slopes. The air is thin and cool, and the light can change in minutes as cloud sweeps across the peak.

   There is a cafe and restaurant at the terrace, serving hot drinks and Austrian dishes, and a shop, though prices reflect the view. Fuel is not available here, so arrive with enough from the valley, from Heiligenblut or beyond. The best time to come is early in the morning, before cloud builds on the peak and before the crowds arrive, and on a clear day the summit sometimes carries a little banner of snow blown from the ridge. Wear warm gloves, even in summer.

5. Heiligenblut finish · 1301 m

   Heiligenblut is the village that every picture of the Grossglockner seems to include. The Gothic church of St Vincent, with its slender spire, stands on a knoll at the head of the Mölltal, and behind it the great snow cone of the mountain rises above forested slopes, the whole composition so tidy that it looks like a painting. At about 1,300 metres, the village is the last settlement on the Carinthian side before the high road climbs toward the glacier, and it has been a pilgrimage stop for centuries.

   The name means holy blood, and the legend behind it is a good one. A Danish nobleman called Briccius, so the story goes, was travelling home from Constantinople with a vial of Christ's blood when he was caught in an avalanche in the mountains, and the relic was later found, miraculously preserved, under the snow. The church was built to house it, and a small shrine inside holds an elaborately carved Gothic altar and a relic container. It is worth stepping in, even if you are not religious, because the stonework and carved wood are lovely.

   The ride into Heiligenblut from the north, over the Hochtor and down through a series of hairpins, is one of the Alps' great descents, and arriving here feels like a reward. Coming the other way, the climb starts with a few gentle turns before the valley tightens and the bends pile up. The road can be crowded in midsummer, but quieter in the early morning or in September, when the larches turn gold and the first snow dusts the peaks. Weather changes fast; thunderstorms are common in July and August afternoons.

   The village is small, about a thousand people, but serves visitors well. There are guesthouses, cafes, a few shops and restaurants serving Carinthian specialities such as Kasnudeln, a cheese-filled pasta, and Almkäse from nearby pastures. Fuel here is limited, and it is wise to rely on the bigger places in the valley, Lienz in East Tyrol being the nearest sizeable town, about twenty-four kilometres away. If you can, spend the night. The mountain at dusk, with the last light on its summit, is better than any photo.

Where this sits

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Added from the global pack: the checkpoints are real landmarks with published coordinates, but this line has not been ridden and verified like the scouted routes.