Alpine Scenery in Austria: Summit Roads, Glaciers and Gorges

The Seegrotte Hinterbrühl is a show mine in a former gypsum mine near Vienna, where visitors walk through mine tunnels and take a boat trip on an underground lake the operator calls Europe's largest. Here is what the site is, how it fits a Lower Austria route through the Vienna Woods, and how to plan the stop.

Gesäuse National Park is Styria's only national park, a limestone gorge where the Enns runs wild between Admont and Hieflau. Two visitor centers, ranger guides, rafting and marked trails give you a way in without a full day on foot.

Piber, west of Graz, is where the Spanish Riding School's Lipizzaner stallions are born and raised. Here is how the guided stud tour works, what you see in the stables, and how to fit the farm into a Styria route.

The Schöckl is Graz's local mountain at 1,445 meters, reached in about seven minutes by six-passenger cable car from St. Radegund. Here is how the seasons, hours, plateau sights, the Witches' Express toboggan run and the summit restaurants fit into a half-day outing from Graz.

The Grossglockner High Alpine Road is a toll panoramic road across the Hohe Tauern, from Fusch in Salzburg to Heiligenblut in Carinthia. Here are the published tolls, opening months, the stops worth building in, and how the pass fits a longer Austria route.

Edelweissspitze is the highest point you can drive to on the Grossglockner High Alpine Road, climbed by a short cobbled spur with six hairpins. The summit inn has been in one family since 1935.

Hohe Tauern National Park is Austria's largest protected mountain region, and much of it works without a long hike: the National Park Worlds exhibition in Mittersill, the Krimml Waterfalls, cable cars to the peaks and the Grossglockner High Alpine Road. Here is how the valleys, villages and fees fit together.

Kals am Grossglockner is a small East Tyrol village in the Lienz district, spread across hamlets below Austria's highest mountain. This guide covers the village layout, the landmarks in the center, the valley road toward the peak, and how Kals fits an East Tyrol route by train, bus or car.

The Malta High Alpine Road (Malta Hochalmstraße) is a 14.4-km toll climb through the Maltatal valley in Carinthia to the Kölnbrein Dam, Austria's tallest, standing 200 m high at 1,902 m. Plan on the tunnels, hairpins and waterfalls on the way up, the Airwalk platform and exhibition at the top, a daily 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. season from May 8 to October 26, 2026, and free parking at the dam.

The Nockalm Road is a 34-kilometer toll road across the Nockberge in Carinthia, running from Innerkrems to Ebene Reichenau. It opens from early May to the end of October, bans motorcycles overnight, and pairs gentle curves with alpine huts, free exhibitions, and two high points above 2,000 meters.

The Pasterze Glacier is best seen from Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-Höhe on the Grossglockner High Alpine Road, where the ice lies below the Grossglockner and year markers show how far it has pulled back. Here is what the viewpoint delivers, how fast the glacier is retreating, and how to plan around the road's season and high-altitude weather.

Austria's Alpine villages sort into four types: medieval old towns like Feldkirch, lake towns like Zell am See, Belle-Époque valleys like Bad Gastein, and small mountain hamlets in the Bergsteigerdörfer network. This guide describes what you actually see in each and how to slot them into a route by train, bus or car.

The Austrian Alps are a summer region first: pick a base in Tyrol, Salzburgerland, Carinthia or Vorarlberg, then connect it with a toll road, a lake boat or an ÖBB train. This guide covers the towns, high roads and lakes worth building a route around.

Gerlos is a compact Tyrolean village in the Zillertal Arena, roughly midway between Zell am Ziller and Hochkrimml. This guide covers how the village is laid out, the drive over the Gerlos Alpine Road past the Durlaßboden reservoir, the Krimml waterfalls beyond the toll road, and the walks that start from the valley floor in summer.

Ride the Patscherkofelbahn from Igls in two sections to alpine terrain above Innsbruck. Summer tickets range from a one-way ride to a Zirbenweg combination, the cable car runs 09:00 to 17:00, and the mountain huts each keep their own rest day. Plan the summit and the stone pine ridge around those fixed points.

The Timmelsjoch is a 2,509 m pass road from the Ötztal in North Tyrol over the border into Val Passiria in South Tyrol. The drive buys you high alpine scenery, five free Timmelsjoch Experience stations and Austria's highest museum, the Pass Museum, set right on the border.

Austria's two most practical waterfall stops are very different days out: the Krimmler Wasserfälle demand a 4 km trail with roughly 431 meters of climb, while the Gollinger Wasserfall is a short easy path in the Tennengau with the autobahn out of sight and earshot. Here is what each one asks of you, when the water runs strongest, and how both fit a Tyrol-Salzburg route.

The Semmering Railway is the world's first mountain railway, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and still an ordinary working line on the Südbahn. Here is what UNESCO listed, how Carl Ghega's tunnels and viaducts were built, and how to ride the mountain section on a regular train.

The Kanzelbahn lifts you from the shore of the Ossiacher See to the Gerlitzen summit plateau at 1,911 m in about 18 minutes. Here is how the two cable car sections work, what the marked trail network offers, where the mountain huts sit, and how the autumn extras change the trip.

The Villacher Alpenstrasse is a paid-access mountain road that climbs 16.5 km from Villach to the Rosstratte on the Dobratsch, with panoramic viewpoints, a glass Skywalk, an Alpine garden and a bird exhibition. Here is how the drive unfolds and what to know before you go.

Eisriesenwelt above Werfen is the world's largest ice cave, a 42-kilometer limestone system in the Tennengebirge. Plan on a 40-minute climb, a short cable car ride and a 75-minute guided tour through ice that stays below freezing all year.

The Liechtensteinklamm is an out-and-back boardwalk through a gorge up to 300 meters deep outside St. Johann im Pongau, ending at a thundering waterfall. Here is how the walk works, where the four parking lots sit, and what the Helix staircase built in 2020 asks of smaller visitors.

Fusch an der Grossglocknerstrasse is the small Pinzgau village at the northern end of the Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse, the toll road that climbs past 2,500 meters into the Hohe Tauern. This guide separates Fusch from Bruck, walks the drive stop by stop, and lines up the 2026 toll prices, opening windows and the no-car ranger bus option.

Krimml Waterfalls throw the Krimmler Ache down 380 meters in three cascades, the largest waterfalls in Europe. This guide covers the three drops, the gravel trail and its timings, where wheelchair access ends, the WasserWelten complex at the base, the ticketed season, parking on Gerlos Straße and arrival by bus or car.

The Schmittenhöhe is Zell am See's local mountain, a 1,965-meter summit reached by cable car from town. In summer it delivers the Kaiserblick panorama platform, easy summit walks, family trails built around Schmidolin the dragon, and a launch site where paragliders step off beside the top station.