driving through one of Europe’s most scenic roads – Grossglockner Road

When we were in Austria in October, we planned a day to go see the scenic Grossglockner Road. It is 30 mile long road that snakes up to Grossglockner mountain, which is the highest mountain in Austria. This alpine road is the highest paved road through the mountains in Austria, and is even considered one of the most scenic drives in all of Europe. It is only open from May until the beginning of November because there is so much snow so we were lucky to be there at the end of October. We knew we had to take the drive!

It was about an hour from where we were staying so we stopped in a small town called Zell am See on the way there. When reading about the town online, it seemed like a very cute picturesque place with a lot going on. However, we were there so early in the morning and it was a holiday, so not much was going on when we got arrived! Everything was closed and there were barely any people there. There is a beautiful lake where you can see the mountains in the distance, but it was so foggy in the morning that we couldn’t see across it. It was still beautiful in it’s own regard though. After spending about an hour there, we headed on our way towards Grossglockner Road.

Quiet Zell am See!

Swan in the fog

Looking at the scenic lake!

Just a few people around

As we got closer to Grossglockner Road, the fog started to lift and the sun came out, so we knew we were going to have a great day! As we got closer, the views were so awesome and we kept stopping to look and take photos of the Alps around us. Before we even got to the toll booth, we were already in awe of the scenery. Once we got to the toll booth, we knew we were in for a treat! It was 36 euro but it ended up being 36 euro well spent.

We passed through a few towns on the way there

Mountains and waterfalls!

Road straight to the mountains

Looking out!

As you can imagine, once we were inside, we still couldn’t help but pull over every few minutes! Any time we saw a great photo op, we stopped. After the first five stops or so, we realized that it might take our whole lives to get to the peak, so after a little we didn’t stop as much and instead just enjoyed the beauty while we were driving. The road winded through the mountains with many hairpin turns.

One of our many stops!

Picnic tables everywhere!

Mountains covered in snow!

There were a few different view points with parking lots, so we ended up mostly stopping at these viewpoints. There weren’t many people driving on the road when we were there, but some of the viewpoints were slightly crowded. Some viewpoints even had picnic tables for lunch. We made sure to take plenty of jumping photos at each stop too.

There’s always time for jumping photos!

So beautiful!

Which road?!

Mountains all around us!

Jump Part One!

Jump Part Two!

As we got closer to the top, we saw cyclists riding up. The incline is so steep at certain spots that even the car was having a hard time, so we can’t even imagine how hard they were working on their bikes. It is definitely a great accomplishment to say that you have biked this road, so it was amazing seeing all of it in action.

Go go!

Taking a break

The higher up we got, the more snow we saw. We didn’t go the whole 30 miles through the road, but once we were about 25 miles through, we turned around because we had to go back in the direction that we came in. Albert saw a perfect spot and we got out and felt like we were on top of the world! No one else was there at first, but then people saw our car pulled over and they came up to enjoy the view as well.

Let’s go!

The best view!

Mountains for days!

Lobey!

We saw a watch tower that looked more like a tree house and of course we had to stop. There were beautiful views and the mountains around us made us feel so small. We climbed to the top a little bit, but to be honest it wasn’t the most secure so we made it fast!

Climbing up

Follow me to the mountains!

Back to the car we go!

After going through the road, we headed back to Zell am See. Since it wasn’t foggy anymore, we were able to see the mountains this time and the reflection on the lake. There were more people in the city this time, but still not too many.