Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse: Built to Fix Depression-Era Unemployment, Now Austria’s Most Dramatic Drive

The Grossglockner High Alpine Road was built between 1930 and 1935, not primarily as a tourist attraction but as a public works project employing 3,200 men during the depths of the Depression. The engineering required blasting 48 kilometres of switchback road through solid granite at elevations that kill people in bad weather. The road opened in August 1935 and has been generating revenue ever since – a rare public works project that more than paid for itself.

The toll in 2026 is EUR 46.50 per car (EUR 40 for electric vehicles), and the road runs from approximately late April through early November depending on snow. The 2026 season opened on April 25, which the operator noted was exceptional – the first full opening that early in ten years. The season ends in early November when the first heavy mountain frosts make the upper sections dangerous. Outside those windows, the road is closed completely.

Driving the Road

The 48-kilometre route connects Bruck in Salzburger Land with Heiligenblut in Carinthia, crossing the Hochtor Pass at 2,504 metres. The drive takes 1.5 to 2 hours without stops; most drivers who are doing this properly allow 4 to 6 hours. Traffic moves in both directions at most sections; narrow passing places are clearly marked. Motorcycles make up a significant proportion of summer traffic, and the road has been a European motorcycling destination since it opened.

The best strategy is to go on a weekday, start early (gate opens at 6am), and have the higher sections in the morning before weather builds. The main visitor plateau tends to clear of large tour groups by mid-afternoon.

Key Stops

The Edelweissspitze branch road climbs to 2,571 metres and is the highest point accessible by car in the Austrian Alps. The circular observation platform at the summit looks across more than 30 peaks above 3,000 metres on clear days. A mountain restaurant operates here in season.

The Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-Hohe plateau at 2,369 metres faces Grossglockner (3,798 metres, the highest peak in Austria) directly across the Pasterze Glacier. The Pasterze is the longest glacier in the Eastern Alps, and the visitor centre documentation of its retreat since the 19th century is sobering in a way that abstract climate statistics are not. The glacier has retreated so significantly that the funicular descending from the plateau now delivers visitors to exposed rock that was fully glaciated within living memory. The glacier margin has moved hundreds of metres uphill since the funicular was built. Walking to the current ice edge, which requires navigating over loose moraine, gives the recession direct physical reality.

The Fuscher Lacke, a high-altitude lake at the road’s midpoint, has a short walking circuit around the shore and alpine wildflowers in June and July that justify a 20-minute pause.

The Hochtor Tunnel marks the provincial boundary between Salzburg and Carinthia. The south side of the pass drops more steeply than the north side and the first view of the Heiligenblut valley below is one of the better moments on the drive.

Heiligenblut

The village at the southern terminus of the road has a Gothic pilgrimage church whose slender spire against Grossglockner behind it is one of the most reproduced alpine images in Austria. The church holds a relic claimed to be the blood of Christ, carried to the valley according to local tradition in the 9th century. The village functions as a year-round resort (skiing in winter, hiking in summer) and has reliable hotels and restaurants using regional Carinthian produce.

Where to Stay

Hotel Senger in Heiligenblut is the well-regarded mid-range option with mountain-facing rooms and a kitchen using local ingredients. For the Salzburg approach, Bruck an der Grossglocknerstrasse offers accommodation at lower altitude and is 40 minutes from Salzburg by car.

Practical Notes

The webcams on the Grossglockner website at kaiser-franz-josefs-hoehe are worth checking the morning of your planned visit. A cloud-covered day at the Pasterze plateau means you have paid 46 euros to sit in fog. The views are the product; the weather delivers them or it does not.

Fog and sudden weather changes are common above 2,000 metres even in mid-summer. Bring layers regardless of conditions in the valleys below.