The Großglockner: More Than A Beautiful Road

When you travel to another place by train or by plane you are usually limited to the city. Technically, Barb and I were bogged down on top of a mountain: our hotel was 2.300 meters above sea-level. While this did funny things to our crisp bags and plastic bottles, it did not stop the two of us!

We had cars, and driving licenses. We could drive to the sights near us without having to wonder how exhausting it would be to get back up 1.000 meters. It was time to explore! What did the Großglockner have in store for us?

Hochalpenstraße

The high alpine road on the Großglockner is among  motoring enthusiasts known as one of the best driving roads. I can see why - and I am inclined to agree - while you climb up the Großglockner you have a stunning view, the curves are fun, and there are enough spots to pull over and take photos.

The mountain is not too hard on the car - and you can crawl it up without a problem in your daily commute - even trucks managed to creep up! The words road rage are unknown on the top of Austria.

Furthermore, the road is smooth and you don't feel like you are going to fall down any time soon. It is a fun drive combined with a stunning view. For the particularly daring, you can cycle it up as well ...

Heiligenblut: Gössnitz Wasserfall

Heiligenblut is a picturesque village on the South side of the Großglockner, and yes, it does look a bit like your stereotypical alpine town. What you can find here is the Gößnitz Wasserfall:

You can easily park your car near one of the camp sites and then head up a path to the waterfall. It's about 2 kilometers on foot. Hence you'll be there in no time, and with little to no effort.

The next stop is back up the Glockner again. This time going left on the roundabout!

Kaiser-Franz-Josefs Höhe

Once you made it past the small hotels and the lonely radar trap your inner car lover can get another kick out of this journey. Two of the four exhibitions on the Kaiser-Franz-Josefs Höhe are car-themed. One is bike-themed. The other deals with the nature on the Glockner.

The exhibitions are free. Even though it is rather small, there are some good pieces. It works it's way through the times of the car.

As I write this I noticed that Barb and I somehow managed to photograph only three cars, and no bikes at all. So for further information I kindly redirect you to the official site.

However, it seems that we managed to document the line of model cars. They span from age old and finish with Le Mans Endurance Series and F1 racers. It was an utter joy and adorable. A personal favourite of mine was this drawing of a RBR car from 2010:

It's either Vettel or Webber. My heart tells me it's Webber

The Highest Point of Austria:

If you don't mind stretching your legs, you can walk along a small path through several smaller caves  and then you'll have a perfect view onto the peak of the Großglockner: The highest point of Austria.

This is a great moment in life, and it would change me as a person while solving every unanswered question of the universe ... At least if the weather decides to be kind. After all you are as high as the clouds, which can lead to, erm, difficulties:

It's there, I promise