The Grossglockner High Alpine Road: 36 bends, the Pasterze and the Gamsgrubenweg

Fusch an der Grossglocknerstrasse, Heiligenblut

1. 7:30 am1

   Toll gate at FerleitenFusch an der Grossglocknerstrasse

   €46.50 for a car day ticket in 2026, less for motorcycles and electric vehicles, and reduced to €36.50 after 18:00. The gate opens around 05:00 in high summer and the road closes for the night — it is not a public road, it is a toll attraction with hours. Enter early: the ticket lets you exit and re-enter at Ferleiten or Heiligenblut the same day at no extra cost, and the light before 09:00 is the reason to be here.

2. 8:20 am2

   The cobbled spur up to EdelweissspitzeFusch an der Grossglocknerstrasse

   A 1.6 km cobbled dead-end off the main road and the highest point you can drive to — thirty-seven summits over 3000 m from the tower at the top. The cobbles are original 1935 and rattle; take it slowly and it is fine in any car. Do it first thing, the small car park fills by 10:00 and there is nowhere to turn round.

3. 9:15 am3

   Fuscher Törl and the Hochtor tunnelFusch an der Grossglocknerstrasse

   Fuscher Törl has the memorial to the road's builders and the best view back down the northern hairpins. Hochtor at 2504 m is the watershed and the old Roman crossing — the tunnel is unlit and short, and the far side is a different climate. Expect snow banks at the roadside into June.

4. 10:15 am4

   Coffee at the Glocknerhaus, above the Margaritze reservoirHeiligenblut

   On the branch road toward Franz-Josefs-Höhe, looking down at the turquoise Margaritze reservoir with the Glockner behind it. This is also the trailhead for the Gletscherweg down to the Pasterze if you would rather walk than ride the funicular.

   20 min walk · 1.5 km
5. 11:15 am5

   Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-Höhe and the GamsgrubenwegHeiligenblut

   The Grossglockner at 3798 m and the Pasterze, Austria's longest glacier, from one terrace. Note the hard rule: you may only drive up to Franz-Josefs-Höhe until 15:30. The Gamsgrubenweg runs level from the car park through a series of galleries and is where the ibex and marmots actually are — twenty minutes out is enough.

   8 min by train or taxi · 2.5 km
6. 12:20 pm6

   Gletscherbahn funicular down to the glacier floorHeiligenblut

   About €12 return for a 143 m drop that saves a steep climb back out. What you get at the bottom is not the glacier any more but the ground it has left behind since 1963 — the markers on the walk down are dated and the distance between them is the story. Bring a layer; it is materially colder on the moraine.

   17 min by train or taxi · 11 km
7. 1:40 pm7

   Lunch back up at the Alpengasthaus SchareckHeiligenblut

   Roadside on the descent to Heiligenblut, unfussy, and the Gulaschsuppe and Apfelstrudel do the job. Sitting outside you can watch cyclists arriving at the pass having earned it considerably harder than you.

   14 min walk · 1.1 km
8. 5:30 pm8

   Dinner in Heiligenblut under the church spireHeiligenblut

   The gothic pilgrimage church with the Glockner directly behind it is the photograph everyone takes of this village, and it works best in evening light from the meadow below the road. Exit the toll road here and you are already past the southern gate — no second charge, and the Mölltal road onward is free.