So after our 2 days in the Berchtesgaden area, on our third day, we want to drive to Treviso, near Venice in Italy.

Having read a lot of the forum posts it seems like this drive will be dotted with places to see and stop ... Phewww!! It will probably be too long of a day ... But we are ready to pack some stuff into this one day ... If I chart out Berchtesgaden to Zell Am See to Heiligenblut to Treviso, Google maps gives me 7 hours ... PLanning for 5 hours of stop over, we are ready to make it into a 12 hours day starting at 8 or 9 AM ...

Also, what is the real route that is called GrossGlockner? Will the GPS have it? I found two ways to get to Heiligenblut.. Go Wast of the Berchtesgaden National Park and come down to Zell Am See or come down from the East on A10 and then travel West to St Johann and then to Zell Am See ... And then from Zell Am See I would come down south to Heiligenblut....

So here are some of the highlights I have read about ... Please help with a sanity check on what is worth stopping for and add more highlights NOT to MISS ...

Also, I am an avid photographer, so any advice on hidden gems from a photography perspective will be very welcome

- The town of Zell Am See
- Krimml Waterfall
- The town of Heiligenblut
- liechtensteinklamm gorge near St. Johann

I know I am asking a lot of questions ... But we got so excited to find out about the Grossglockner that we are now trying to make the best of that drive ...

Thanks in anticipation!!

Regards,
VIbhav

the drives in all of those areas are fantastic....nice and interesting things along the way...i don't think you would be making a mistake in taking any of them...

note some require a short train ride through mountains

Pray for good weather, otherwise all mountain views will be worthless. It's always tricky to plan a mountain excursion on one particular day. There is no guarantee for the weather even in highest summer and the likelihood of cloudless mountain tops is far below 50%.

The Grossglocker Alpine Road is the road going straight south from Zell am See via Bruck and Fusch to Heiligenblut. The toll section is between Fusch and Heiligenblut.
Going west or east from Berchtesgaden does not matter that much.
One caveat: Motorways in Austria require a toll sticker. If you do not plan to use any other motorways in Austria (which you won't have to to get to Italy), either take the Western route or use B159 which runs parallel to A10.

The Krimml waterfalls are quite west from your direct routing, so it would require a detour via St. Johann/Tirol and Kitzbühel and Mittersill. Or an even wider loop towards A12 and Zell am Ziller (not Zell am See!!) to avoid backtracking to Mittersill. In either case, the Eastern route via A10 or B159 would not get you into that region.

Thanks rhkkmk ... What did you mean by a short train ride? I intend to drive though to Treviso so not sure how that would work ...

Thanks Quokka ... Yeah, agree that the weather can be quite tricky ... We will try to see if we can build in some flexibility into the schedule ...

Cowboy ... We have made a note of the toll sticker already and will be planning to get one ... Getting one from a fuel station is the best? Krimml waterfalls, we will have to likely leav out for this trip ... unfortunately ..

So, is Zell Am See worth a stop ? or just a drive by ... Any particular favorite scenic stops for anyone on this drive? Or any favorite restaurants/ bakeries in any of the small towns on this route?

ALso, is this do-able in one 12 hour day or am I just being totally unreasonable??!?!

Hi,

First, you can buy the Vignette (Austrian toll sticker) at most any gas station or convenience store. It costs 7.80 Euro for a sticker that's good for 10 days (the cheapest one). You should easily find it by Berchtesgaden.

Zell am See (and the area) is beautiful. When approaching Zell am See, get off the "highway" before the tunnel to actually get into town and see the old town and lake.

The Grossglockner is the B107.

www.grossglockner.com

Heiligenblut is extremely picturesque.

Too bad you don't have an extra night. The area is filled with stunning scenery.

We drove from Berchtesgaden and overnighted in Heiligenblut on our way to the Dolomites. Without stopping in Zell am See (that time) it took us about 4.5 hours to get from Berchtesgaden to Heiligenblut. We did stop a few times along the Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse though. This was by way of Lofer/Saafelden/Zell am See/Bruck.

We have some photo's of these places at:

www.worldisround.com/home/pja1/index.html

www.worldisround.com/home/pja1/travel15.html

Paul

It's perfectly doable in one day, though in the end you may wish you had planned for two

After you made it to Heiligenblut and a bit further South almost to Lienz, you have two options:

A) Go via Kötschach-Mauthen and Plöcken Pass (B100/B110) into Italy, stay on that highway (S52), catch A23 near Udine, and take A23/A4 to Treviso. That will be the quickest route (unless there will be traffic jams on the motorway) but not as scenic as:

B) Go from Lienz via B100 (westbound) across the border into Italy to Toblach/Dobbiaco, then towards Cortina on S51. Take a small detour from S51 via P49/R48 to catch the view of the Tre Croci. From Cortina continue on S51 towards Belluno, and further on to Treviso. There will be more scenic byways from Cortina to the South, but I doubt that at that time of the day you will feel like even more mountain driving.

There are tons of possible small detours from route B to catch stunning sights, which should please the photographers eye. One could be from Toblach to Pragser Wildsee / Lago di Braies(appr. 10km o/w). You get an idea when you do a Google picture search for Pragser Wildsee.

Thanks a lot PAul ... For the info on the vignette and for your lovely photos ... We unfortunately do not have an extra day but we might be able to swizzle some stuff around as we finalize our plans for the first two days in Berchtesgaden ... Based on your feedback, we will definitely stop over at Zell Am See and Heiligenblut....

Cowboy, thanks a lot for your response for the routes... So we are going to Dolomites for 3 days after we cover Venice ... I will definitely keep your info about the Pragser Wildsee for that part of the trip .. I will be posting a few questions about the Dolomites as well and hope that you will guide me there as well ...

So for the route from Lienz To Treviso, if I look at Google maps, it gives me about 200 km, 3 hours on S51 and then A27 straight to Treviso ... But if I chose to go through the Kötschach-Mauthen and the A23 down, it makes it 280 km, 3 1/2 hours ... Looks like the COrtina route is shorter and quicker but then I am not sure how the driving is on S51 .. Since you mentioned that the quickest route will be the A23, I was confused ... Is it because the S51 is a mountain drive and that route might take longer than the 3 hours Google is estimating? Since we will be going to Dolomites later on, we would (hopefully!) not stop too much after we leave Lienz even if we are driving through them, and might even enjoy a nice scenic drive at the end of the day as compared to the freeway not as scenic ... So any suggestions will be welcome on the choice between those two routes ...

Also, does anyone have any feedback regarding the liechtensteinklamm gorge near St. Johann?? Is it worth for us to drive from the eat of Berchtesgaden to come down to the Grossglockner to try to squeez in the gorge too?? Is it worth it?? Is it something I can see off the road or with a small hike or is it more of a day trip kind of place?

I found the road from Kötschach-Mauthen towards A23 less busy than the roads heading towards Cortina, around Cortina, and also going through Cortina. Honestly, I did not calculate both options like you did, and I assume that on a good day it really does not matter that much which route you will take. It's probably more my feeling that 1 hour on busy roads wears me down more than 1 hour on a road with less traffic (IMO). The S52 is more like an US highway with extra width, as also by-passes most villages or towns - which the routing via Cortina will make you go through (not necessarily bad vistas at all, just a bit more time-consuming).

Got it COwboy !! I also prefer to drive on a highway after a long day even if it takes me a bit longer than inner roads with stop and go traffic ... I will just decide based on how the day has been going ...

Anyone has any favorite places to eat on the Grossglockner route? Any small bakeries in small towns ?? We love those kind of finds ...

Also, what are the "not to be missed" stops on the Grossglockner? Any walks to be done??

Reposting the gorge question

Also, does anyone have any feedback regarding the liechtensteinklamm gorge near St. Johann?? Is it worth for us to drive from the eat of Berchtesgaden to come down to the Grossglockner to try to squeez in the gorge too?? Is it worth it?? Is it something I can see off the road or with a small hike or is it more of a day trip kind of place?

That section of B107 which is the Grossglockner Alpine Road has no real villages for appr. 50 kms - it's just the road with opportunities to eat at dedicated rest or viewing areas.
The last village will be Fusch, with a couple of more or less rustic inns, and the first on the other side will be Heiligenblut.
Places to eat are listed here:
http://www.grossglockner.at/en/hocha...e/gastronomie/
I would not expect too much from the culinary stops along the road. The Alpine Road is a massive tourist magnet, and wherever many tourists are, great food is usually on the retreat.

Ideas for short hikes can be found here:
http://www.grossglockner.at/en/hocha...e/wandertipps/
But most will just stop at the parking lot near the Franz Josef glacier and take a look at the glacier.. sometimes even us Europeans can be quite American

Unfortunately, I know nothing about the Liechtensteinklamm. Its website says that the accessible part of the gorge is 1km long - so I would assume that the average time you need to see it all won't be more than 1 hour.
You can find some info and pictures, also in English here:
http://www.liechtensteinklamm.at/

Unless things have changed, the Grossglockner opens for travel on 1 May. Good traveling. You will be seeing some fabulous scenery.

Thanks a lot Cowboy for your wonderful insights once again ... I agree .. touristy places do not have the best food .. I am hoping to find some local hidden gem ..

Thanks Jinx ... yes we are hoping that by the time our trip comes around in June, it will be gorgeous to drive on ...