Grossglockner high mountain road on the map. Grossglockner high mountain road, Austria. Grossglockner high mountain road - photo

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-thousanders”, many viewing platforms, attractions with feeding of 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, the road began to be built, laying it through High Tower n. 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.

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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.

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 - that’s already enough famous to travelers serpentine with 99 turns.
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 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 at 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 walks through national park High Tower and named after herself high mountain 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 mountain road has been a candidate for inclusion in the list world heritage UNESCO.

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 catastrophic economic results of losses in the First World War, reduced its size seven times, lost its international markets and suffered from devastating 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 views. natural views.

Today the road is open for travel from May to October. The exact timing of the opening and closing of the road 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 there is no rain:

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 walking 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, you’ll end up in Italy right at Dolomites, or to 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 most high mountain in Austria - Großglockner. Located near the center 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 made 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:

Rest overlooking the most high peak 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 portion of not giving a damn. Helps a lot in setting life priorities)))

Additionally about the Alps and beautiful pictures:

1. Our trip to the Dolomites:

Evening was approaching and it was time to leave Königssee and go to the hotel. By the way, she was already in Austria.
As I already said, Austria is a very expensive country and for a long time I could not find a hotel or hostel that would fit the condition “no more than 2000 rubles / day for two.” But a long search was crowned with success and the guest house Haus Dachstein Schnitzer was chosen for the night. It was also chosen based on its convenient location - not far from Königssee, the high mountain road and Dachstein.
The hotel turned out to be a typical cozy Alpine cottage, converted into a hotel. And what I would like to mention separately is the very, very welcoming and smiling hostess named Katie.
We were just taxiing into the area near the house, and she was already standing at the door and joyfully waving at us! :)
She showed me where to park the car, gave me the keys and showed me to my room. She also prepared very hearty breakfasts :)

Despite the low cost for Austria, it was, without a doubt, best hotel for the entire trip!

The view from the room window is beyond praise!

Small but cozy room with a balcony...

And a shower stall placed on the carpet, right in the corner :)

View from the window. Car in a green parking lot.

23.07.2014
Gradually, our auto cruise was coming to an end, but 2 more destinations awaited us ahead. One of them is a high mountain road with the unpronounceable name Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse,
The path to it is quite picturesque. The highway constantly twists and turns from one tunnel almost immediately into another. After all, we are already in the mountains :)

Another tunnel. The railway passes on the left.

A short smoke break near a mountain river, which accompanied us a good half way.
Someone before us built a tower of stones on its bank. We also made our contribution:

Another stop at a colorful water source made of a hollowed out log + a beautiful view of the waterfall:

Here is the entrance to the Grossglockner panoramic road! How long have I dreamed of riding along the serpentine road! A few more meters and the dream will come true :)

Entry, by the way, is paid and never cheap - 34 euros.
I'll tell you a little about the road itself. It is named after the highest mountain in Austria - Grossglockner (3798 m). The length is 48 km, on which there are 36 sharp turns. It starts at an altitude of 805 m above sea level.

Along this panoramic serpentine you can drive towards Italy, but still the road was built precisely as a tourist attraction.
The history of the road dates back to the late 20s. XX century, when the need arose for a route through the Alps in order to connect the lands of Salzburg and Carinthia, and to spur the development of motorized tourism. In 1924, the highway project was presented, in 1930 the first rock explosion was carried out, and already in 1935 the road was put into operation. When in 1967 and 1975 Expressways across the Alps were opened, the road finally turned into an excursion panoramic road with beautiful natural views, losing its utilitarian meaning.
Now, this high mountain highway is open to traffic from May to October because in winter the snow height sometimes reaches 10 meters. The road is closed at night for safety reasons.

So, let's move in. Payment by card is 34 euros, you don’t even have to get out of the car. They issue a ticket indicating the license plate number and date of entry and an advertising leaflet with a commemorative sticker on the car

The road immediately climbs up and the first view is simply breathtaking! Here they are, His Majesty the Austrian Alps!

We stand with our mouths open for some time. Snow-capped mountains, which I had previously only seen in pictures in magazines or on TV, are here! Live! The storehouse of impressions in your head is instantly filled to capacity with emotions. I want to jump and gallop - we are in the Alps, in Aaaalpaaaah!!! :)
We take a few photos, and some Austrian guy on a bicycle helps us. How helpful people are here:)

The road, as I already said, immediately after entering it began to climb steeply and almost immediately there was a first 180-degree turn, and the rise did not stop! We drive further, I try to accelerate harder, I twist the steering wheel, fitting into the turning curve... and what the hell! Not having driven even 150 meters from the stopping point, the car suddenly begins to choke and stalls. Right on the rise! I hold the brake so as not to roll, I start it - horseradish! Does not start. Mysticism, what happened... I need to drive away, but I can’t, the climb is very steep!
Most likely, due to the sharp rise and the same sharp turn, the carburetor in the car simply took a breath of air instead of gasoline. You need to turn the car around, nose down. No such luck! Not only is the road narrow, but the traffic on it is heavy! Then we will roll backwards to the observation deck. And then that same elderly cyclist helped us again! He stood at the turn and showed us with gestures whether we could go or not!
Thank you, kind Austrian guy!

Isn't it fate? Is it really going to end like this before it even begins? Do you really have to turn around and go back? No, no, no and no again! Travel 3000 km and shamefully escape from an Alpine serpentine road? Right now! Can't wait! We will try our best! A Muscovite must drive the ENTIRE route, do you hear, ALL!
And he seemed to hear me :) after a few minutes of parking, the car started up as if nothing had happened, and then I tried to go through such steep climbs and turns more smoothly.
The engine power is certainly not enough - second gear at most, or even first gear.
On descents, as usual, there was engine braking, but even in first gear the car picked up speed. I had to use the brakes, which quickly overheated. Therefore, we made several, so to speak, technical stops in order to cool the brake mechanisms. But I boiled them thoroughly :)

Another recreation area combined with a souvenir shop.

In general, there are a lot of observation platforms with stunning views here. We stopped almost every 100-200 m. :)
Actually, that’s why we drove 48 km there and 48 km back - almost 8 hours. But it was worth it! Incomparable views!

From time to time there were cars with unusual camouflage paint schemes. These are automakers testing prototypes of promising models. Pictured is the newest Opel Astra 2015:

Another observation deck and....what a meeting! Guys with driver Yura driving a Nissan Almera from Moscow! Russia will welcome you!

How pleasant these meetings are far from the Russian Federation! Greetings, smiles, exchange of impressions, complete and mutual goodwill!
The guys are going to the Czech Republic, and we are from there :) They are only at the very beginning of their vacation, and we are already wrapping up!
Of course, they were also a little dumbfounded by the fact that we were here on Moskvich. Of course, they are also hugely impressed by Grossglockner!
Yura, if you suddenly read these lines, know that I send you greetings from Nizhny Novgorod!

Well, here are just the views, what words can describe them? :)

An old SAAB 900 from Holland.

By the way, there are a lot of vintage cars and a lot of motorcyclists at Grossglockner. There are even those who conquer the road by bicycle (remember the elderly Austrian who helped us?) and even on foot! They go and tourist buses, despite the slopes.
You see the guy with the bike on the right! This is the same old Austrian! When we drove past him, he always waved his hand at us in greeting :)

Such units used to clear the road from snow:

Another observation deck:

Souvenir shop + restaurant. So let's say, an enlarged vacation spot:

Another vintage Morgan car at the highest point you can drive a car:

Of course, we also came here and there should have been gorgeous views from here, BUT! In sunny weather. And then, as luck would have it, it began to drizzle and everything was plunged into fog.
The temperature is +4.6 degrees, then a few hundred meters below - +25 :)

Parking and high-mountain hotel with a shop:

The highest point is 2571 m above sea level :)

By the way, the road here, to the very top, is some fun! Buses are prohibited here because even passenger cars have difficulty passing.
It was difficult to film how we climbed, but there is a video of the way back from this peak:

We went into the store to warm up and buy souvenirs.
Alpine shooter!

Rich Swiss residents drive a very expensive Porsche Carrera GT

Dangerous descent 17 km long! Warning about the need to engage a lower gear in the gearbox:

Some interesting plant, but I don’t know which one:

"Fog comes down from the high mountains...". I saw with my own eyes how this happens! Here he begins to envelop everything...

And literally after a few minutes nothing is visible:

The weather in the mountains changes instantly. The sun is shining, but in a couple of minutes clouds can easily appear and it will rain. Then everything passes just as quickly and it’s sunny again.

"Sight" for an overview of the Grossglockner peak - the highest mountain in Austria.

The equipment that once built this serpentine:

And this is the technique that conquers this serpentine road :) 2262 m above sea level!

The rare NSU Ro 80 is the first production car with a rotary piston engine.

Natural contrast - snow and greenery in the background

“Okay, I’ve had enough of mountains, ups and downs, 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 in the center of Innsbruck.

It was a day off, we quickly found a parking space in the center, and the parking meter politely reminded us that parking was free on Sunday. As it turns out, the central pedestrian street is only a 5-minute walk away. 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 rise to observation deck The city tower (height 56 meters) and the view from there brought due variety to general impression from 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 one, 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 some 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 everyone sharp turns 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. During the peak tourist season, cars have to queue here 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 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)

The landscapes became more harsh 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 are going 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. What if you stock up? 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, on 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 straight path lay past small settlements. But a little later the road again began to wind around another mountain. We drove through a couple of these “mini passes” in the dark. average speed our movement was slow 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 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. She really amazed me, it's not so easy to get there being 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 the Hohe Tauern National Park (German: Hohe Tauern). Named after the highest mountain in 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, 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. Having looked at the maps, I saw two large lakes, which were mentioned on Booking. 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, and the lake is home to 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. Let's go with the cars German numbers, signs about speed limits in the country. I found a U-turn and entered Austria again, reminding me 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 tolled, 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 still won’t see anything around. 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, only from the photographs of the house did I begin to understand what I was running from. It'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