Grossglockner 2025

A few years ago, when I drove along this beautiful road for the first time, I knew it wouldn't be the last. This year, we managed to do it again, and to our delight, twice.

Although this information is publicly available, I will give you a few facts right at the beginning.

The road took five years to build and was officially opened on August 3, 1935. This year, it celebrates its 90th birthday.

It is approximately 48 kilometers long.

It climbs 1,748 meters.

There are 26 numbered turns.

The steepest gradient is 12%, and at the turn-off to Edelweissspitze it is even 14%.

The road is open from April to November, and its opening hours vary throughout the season.

Until the end of May, it is open from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., from June to the end of August from 5:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., and from September only from 6:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

However, the last possible entry onto the road is always a maximum of 45 minutes before its closure.

The price for entering by car is €45. If you want to visit the road again in the same calendar year, you will only pay €17. Entry is linked to the car's registration number.

However, you can save a lot on the entry fee if you choose accommodation at the point of entry. Many accommodation facilities will give you a Sommercard as a bonus for staying overnight, which is a card that gives you free or significantly discounted access to local swimming pools, cable cars, the Ferleiten Wildlife Park, and, most importantly, the high mountain road we have been talking about all along.

When we were here a few years ago, we stayed at the Wasserfall Hotel, where we were satisfied. This time, however, we stayed at Apart-Pension Oberreiter, which was even better and ultimately cheaper, and we can't help but highly recommend the hotel. Everything was clean, fragrant, the owners were nice, and the Wi-Fi was fast.

On our way down to Italy, we stayed here for two nights to make sure that at least one of those two days would have good weather so we could enjoy the trip to Grossglockner and hopefully take some pictures.

In the end, it worked out, and we spent almost the whole day traveling among the three-thousand-meter peaks. In addition to lots of photos, a few shots from a drone, and experiences from the ubiquitous panoramic views, we also came away with sunburned hands, heads, and basically all uncovered parts of our bodies. So we definitely recommend not underestimating the mountain sun and its power.

It was Sunday morning, so there were a lot of people there with us. Slow cars, fast cars, motorcycles, disciplined cyclists, less disciplined cyclists, and occasionally a caravan or bus. After a whole day on the road, we had had enough, so although we were a little disappointed, we left the Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse before the real feast for the eyes and camera lenses began, associated with the arrival and departure of the day. But I was already thinking about coming back here in a few days, on our way back from Italy.

We finally managed it. In less than two weeks, on Thursday, we returned. We stayed at the same hotel, but this time we had a different plan for our trip to Grossglockner. We decided to set off early in the morning so that we could watch the sunrise in the mountains and still make it back to the hotel for breakfast. It turned out to be a great idea.

It meant getting up at 4:30 a.m., but it was worth it. Right after the entrance opened at 5:30 a.m., we were standing at the gate. The guard told us that the weather at the top of the mountain was terrible and that we wouldn't be able to see anything, but we weren't discouraged and continued on. So he recommended that we drive slowly, and we followed his advice. We drove a large part of the climb in clouds, so we couldn't go any faster than walking pace. On the other hand, we were the only ones on the road, so we could fully concentrate on the journey. When we drove out of the clouds, we knew that, despite the guard's warning, it was going to be really good. We chose a spot on the route where we could see directly to the east, I set the camera to time-lapse mode, tried to take some pictures, and also flew a few batteries in the drone. Everything was quiet, there were no crowds of tourists, and the whole road was practically ours alone. Simply fantastic...

It's probably not worth describing. You can get a little taste of the atmosphere from my amateur photos, videos on my Instagram, and eventually YouTube.

In any case, I definitely recommend visiting Grossglockner on a weekday and getting up early.

I can't help but compare our Crosstrek with the previous XV 1.6, which we took to Grossglockner last time.

As I wrote in my notes from the Dolomites, the XV took us to many beautiful places that we probably wouldn't have been able to reach with a car from another manufacturer, so I don't want to disparage it in any way, but specifically, the 1.6 engine was simply too weak for this particular discipline of constant steep climbs.

The Crosstrek is simply in a different league in this respect, let's not kid ourselves. Thanks to its more powerful engine and electric assistance, it has no need to run at high revs and subsequently push the oil temperature to its limit.

The car is therefore quieter, both in terms of acoustic comfort and because you don't have to worry about how long and steep the climb will be and whether you'll have to find a place to stop so the car can catch its breath.

You can simply enjoy one of the most beautiful roads in the world, which is what you want. Behind every bend, you will find beautiful views of the surrounding mountains, and you could just sit back and enjoy them if you didn't have to concentrate fully on driving. At one of the stops along the way, which is also the highest point of the road, you can see as many as 30 three-thousand-meter peaks.

And with a good car, you'll enjoy the trip twice as much, believe me...

Finally, I would like to add one more tip for flying drones in Austria and elsewhere abroad, namely an integral part of flying within the framework of local legislation, which is drone liability insurance. As in other countries, the minimum coverage is set at 750,000 SDR, which is approximately CZK 22 million. When I started looking for this insurance, I found only one relevant link to insurance from ČSOB, where, after contacting them, I received an offer for an annual premium of around CZK 8,000. After further searching, I found a contact form for insurance on the DronPro website, and from there I received an offer for an annual premium of CZK 9,200. For context, I will just add that this is a drone weighing less than 250 grams, with a camera, for hobby use and with insurance for Europe and the world. And with coverage of the aforementioned 750,000 SDR required by Austria.

I couldn't resist and, after consulting with my friend František, whose Instagram you should definitely check out, I browsed a few drone groups where quite a few people were discussing the same problem, and there I learned about the Coverdrone website, where I managed to get the same insurance for less than €18 per year and less than €2 per month. So I tried it, and everything is legitimate and confirmed by the Austrian Civil Aviation Authority itself. And the coverage is up to €1,300,000, so it easily meets the legal requirement. So you don't have to worry about it and don't pay unnecessarily higher amounts to a few local crooks who have created a monopoly on this specific insurance in our country.