47.09° N · 12.84° E · Hohe Tauern
The Großglockner-Hochalpenstraße crosses the Hohe Tauern National Park between Fusch, in Salzburg, and Heiligenblut, in Carinthia. It is 48 km with 36 hairpin bends climbing to the Hochtor, at 2,504 m, and a branch to the Pasterze glacier, at the foot of the Grossglockner, Austria's highest mountain. The one-day toll for a car costs €46.50.
Part of Hohe TauernAlps
Who offers it
Independent companies: you book with them, on their terms. Prices are as they publish them and may change.
Step by step
At Fusch, on the Salzburg side. Next to the ticket office starts the walk to the Käfertal, short and suitable for pushchairs.
The first great balcony above the bends. From here start the cobbled branch road and the 30-minute footpath to the Edelweiss-Spitze, at 2,571 m.
A pond with the road-menders' house and the exhibition on how the road was built. Nearby, the Haus Alpine Naturschau, with its marmot cinema.
A tunnel on the watershed between Salzburg and Carinthia. At the south portal, the Passheiligtum exhibition tells 3,500 years of crossing the pass.
The end of the glacier road, facing the Grossglockner and above the Pasterze. It is the long stop of the day: it has its own page.
The village with the church and the Grossglockner behind.
The Großglockner-Hochalpenstraße is Austria's best-known mountain road. It links Fusch, in Salzburg, with Heiligenblut, in Carinthia: 48 kilometres and 36 hairpin bends crossing the Alpine watershed at the Hochtor, at 2,504 m. It was designed by the engineer Franz Wallack, built between 1930 and 1935 and opened on 3 August 1935. It has two branches: the one to the Edelweiss-Spitze, the highest point you can reach by car (2,571 m), and the glacier road, which ends at the Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-Höhe, facing the Grossglockner (3,798 m).
It is not a route for getting from one valley to another: it is the excursion. You cross four bands of vegetation, from forest to rock and ice, and stop every few kilometres. Allow a whole day.
All the exhibitions along the road are free with the toll. They are open from 9 to 17; the visitor centre at the Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-Höhe, from 10 to 17.
The road opens from early May to early November and is closed in winter because of snow; reopening in 2027 is planned for early May. The hours change by month:
Driving outside those hours is prohibited. You also cannot camp beside the road, even in a campervan.
2026 prices for one day:
Campervans up to 3,500 kg pay as a car. You can buy the ticket at the ticket offices or in the road's online shop; you do not need to book. Parking at Ferleiten costs €4 for four hours and €10 for the day.
By motorbike it is one of the classic routes of the Alps; at the Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-Höhe there are lockers for storing your helmet and gear. In a campervan you can drive up without trouble, but without staying overnight on the road.
By bike, the road company recommends starting before 8:00 or after 15:00 to avoid the traffic, not riding side by side, descending slowly and not cutting the bends. At Ferleiten it sells voluntary accident insurance for €4 a day. The maximum gradient is 12% on both slopes.
With children it works well in stages: the Haus Alpine Naturschau, the Käfertal walk and the Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-Höhe viewpoint, where with luck you will see marmots. Dogs may enter the exhibitions on a lead, except the visitor centre at the Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-Höhe. Throughout the national park a lead is compulsory.
Up there it can snow in midsummer and fog covers the Grossglockner in minutes. Check the webcams on the official website before setting out and drive in low gears on the descent so as not to overheat the brakes.
Who it's for
What to bring
More to do
Itineraries
Tips
From June to August it opens at 5:30. In the morning there are fewer cars at the viewpoints, and from 18:00 the car toll drops to €36.50.
It is the busiest stop. Arrive before mid-morning and leave the Fuschertörl and the Edelweiss-Spitze for the return.
The Glocknerbus climbs from Zell am See and Kaprun with a national park ranger, on Tuesdays and in summer also on Thursdays.
Questions
In 2026, €46.50 per car per day, €40 per electric car and €36.50 per motorbike. After 18:00, €36.50 for the car and €30 for the motorbike.
From early May to early November. The rest of the year it is closed because of snow, and you cannot drive at night.
A whole day with stops. The Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-Höhe alone, with the walk and the visitor centre, takes two to three hours.
Geocaliahttps://www.geocalia.com/en/austria/carinthia/hohe-tauern/things-to-do/grossglockner-high-alpine-road
