Zillertal, Krimml and the Grossglockner

Route description

From Innsbruck, with its Golden Roof and the Nordkette cable car rising above the city, take the A12 east along the Inn valley and turn off into the Zillertal. The B169 runs up the flat valley floor to Mayrhofen, surrounded by high peaks and side valleys.

From Zell am Ziller the B165 climbs the Gerlos Pass, a toll road with hairpins and a reservoir near the top, then drops into the Salzach valley at Krimml. The gradients are steep, so motorhome drivers should use low gears on the descent.

The Krimml Waterfalls fall 380 m in three steps, and a well-made path climbs beside them with viewpoints over each drop. Allow half a day for the walk up and back, and expect spray near the lower falls.

Follow the B168 east through the Pinzgau to Bruck, then take the Grossglockner High Alpine Road over the main ridge of the Alps, a toll road reaching 2,504 m and usually open from May to early November. Detour to the Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-Höhe for the view of the Grossglockner and its glacier, then descend through Heiligenblut and the Möll valley to Lienz in East Tyrol.