Drive Austria's most spectacular mountain road on this 10-day loop from Salzburg, crossing the legendary Grossglockner High Alpine Road via Zell am See, East Tyrol and Innsbruck.
Planning an Austria alpine road trip itinerary that goes beyond the tourist trail? This 10-day loop from Salzburg crosses one of Europe's most dramatic mountain roads, drops into the sun-soaked valleys of East Tyrol and arrives in Innsbruck with the Nordkette mountains filling the windscreen. No cruise-ship crowds, no packaged tours: just a hire car, a toll ticket and some of the finest mountain scenery on the continent.
| Stop | Nights | Drive from previous |
|---|---|---|
| Salzburg | 2 | Start |
| Zell am See | 2 | 90 km / 1 hr 15 min |
| Heiligenblut am Grossglockner | 1 | 80 km / 2 hr 30 min |
| Lienz | 2 | 50 km / 50 min |
| Innsbruck | 2 | 110 km / 1 hr 30 min |
| Kufstein | 1 | 65 km / 1 hr |
| Return to Salzburg | — | 95 km / 1 hr 15 min |
Arrive in Salzburg and spend two nights in Mozart's baroque city. The Old Town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and earns a full day on foot. Start at Getreidegasse, walk through to the Dom Cathedral and Residenzplatz, then ride the funicular up to Hohensalzburg Fortress for the best view over the rooftops and the Alps to the south.
On the second day, visit Mirabell Palace and gardens in the morning. Cross the river for the less-visited Nonnberg Abbey and the quieter Nonntal quarter. If time allows, a short drive east into the Salzkammergut lake district makes a good afternoon detour.
The 90 km drive south from Salzburg takes an hour and a quarter and delivers you to one of Austria's most scenically placed towns. Zell am See sits beside the Zellersee, with the Schmittenhöhe gondola rising from the town centre to 1,965 m and a panorama of peaks in every direction.
Use the first afternoon to ride the gondola and walk a section of the Pinzgauer Spazierweg ridge path. On day two, drive 15 km to Kaprun and take the cable car onto the Kitzsteinhorn glacier (3,029 m), open year-round. This is the warm-up for the Grossglockner the following morning.
The Grossglockner toll road starts at Bruck, 12 km south of Zell am See. Fill up on petrol before you leave; there are no stations on the high alpine road itself.
Eight days through the finest UNESCO towns of Bohemia and Moravia: Prague's Astronomical Clock, the bone church of Kutná Hora, Telč's Renaissance square, the fairy-tale castle bend of Český Krumlov and Pilsner Urquell in Plzeň.
Leave Zell am See early and join the Grossglockner High Alpine Road at Bruck. The 2026 toll is 46.50 EUR per car. The 48 km road climbs through 36 hairpin bends to 2,504 m, with the Edelweissspitze lookout (2,571 m) delivering 360-degree views across more than 30 peaks above 3,000 m.
The unmissable stop is Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-Höhe (2,369 m), where a short funicular descends to the edge of the Pasterze Glacier: 9 km long and Austria's largest. Allow two to three hours here. On the descent into Carinthia, Heiligenblut's Gothic church spire points against the Grossglockner summit in one of Austria's most photographed scenes. Check in for the night and let the day settle.
Lienz is a genuine surprise. Most visitors drive through without stopping, but East Tyrol's compact capital sits at the confluence of the Drau and Isel rivers, ringed by the Lienz Dolomites, with a character distinct from the rest of Tyrol. The Roman settlement of Aguntum, just east of town, was one of the Alpine region's most significant Roman towns.
Use the first day to explore the old town and climb to Schloss Bruck, a 13th-century castle housing a good regional museum and a collection of Albin Egger-Lienz paintings. On the second day, hire bikes for a section of the Drau cycle path heading east through the valley, or take the Hochstein gondola to trails with views of the Dolomite wall to the south.
The drive from Lienz to Innsbruck follows the Felbertauern road through the Hohe Tauern before rejoining the Inn Valley. Innsbruck arrives with the Nordkette ridge filling the valley end like a stage backdrop.
Spend day one in the Old Town: the Golden Roof (Goldenes Dachl), the Dom Cathedral, the Hofburg Imperial Palace and the Tyrolean State Museum can all be visited on foot in a single day. On day two, take the Nordkette cable car from Rennweg to Seegrube (1,905 m) and then Hafelekar (2,334 m). The ridge walk above the city is one of Europe's most accessible high-altitude experiences, taking under 25 minutes from the Old Town. The Innsbruck Card covers the cable car and most museums.
Kufstein sits at the Inn Valley's meeting point with Bavaria, the medieval fortress rising from a rocky spur above the river. The daily Heroes' Organ recital at noon echoes across the valley from inside the fortress walls. Walk the old town, cross the bridge for views back to the fortress and the Kaiser Mountains, and take a coffee at a riverside terrace before the final drive home.
The 95 km run back to Salzburg follows the Inn Valley to Rosenheim, briefly crossing into Bavaria before cutting south through Freilassing into Austria. Allow 90 minutes.
When to go: The Grossglockner High Alpine Road is open late May to mid-November, with the exact date varying by snowfall. The peak months of July and August see the most visitors at Franz-Josefs-Höhe; an early start before 9 am keeps queues manageable and delivers better light for photography.
Getting there: Salzburg Airport (SZG) serves most major European hubs. Car hire is available at the terminal. Innsbruck Airport (INN) is an alternative if you prefer to start or finish there.
Costs: Austrian motorway vignettes (toll sticker) are required on the autobahn, costing around 9.90 EUR for 10 days. The Grossglockner toll (46.50 EUR per car) is paid at the booth on entry and covers both directions.
Fuel: Fill up in Lienz or Zell am See before the Grossglockner section. There are no petrol stations on the high alpine road.
Language: German throughout. Most hotels and restaurants in tourist areas speak English well.
From Cambridge's Gothic spires to Ely's cathedral rising above the flat Fens, this journey through Cambridgeshire takes in Bronze Age causeways, a Norman cathedral with a theatrical three-arched West Front, and Stamford, England's finest stone town.
The full route — stops, maps, and driving times — is on Routebook by Kington.
A 10-day loop through Austria's alpine heartland, combining Mozart's baroque Salzburg with the legendary Grossglockner High Alpine Road, the quiet valleys of East Tyrol and Innsbruck's dramatic mountain backdrop.
Routebookby Routebook
