Timmelsjoch High Alpine Road

The Timmelsjoch crosses the main Alpine ridge at two thousand four hundred and seventy-four metres between the Ötztal and the Passeier valley in South Tyrol, and it is the highest paved pass crossing into Italy from Austria. A mule track for centuries, it was made into a road on the Austrian side in the 1950s and finished through to Italy in 1968; it is tolled and closed by snow from roughly late October to late May. In 2010 a set of five pavilions by the South Tyrolean architect Werner Tscholl was built along the route, each dealing with a theme - geology, the pass's history, the smugglers who used it, the road's construction - as sculptural objects in concrete and steel, which is unusual for a road and worth stopping for.

What you actually see

• A 2,474-metre pass to Italy - the highest paved crossing from Austria to South Tyrol.
• Five Tscholl pavilions - architect-designed structures on themes along the road.
• A smuggling route - the mule track history the pavilions cover.
• High bare terrain - moraine and rock above the tree line on both sides.

When to go

June to October; the pass is closed by snow the rest of the year. Half a day.

Honest expectations

Tolled, and closed for more than half the year. Weather at the top turns fast. Motorcycle traffic is heavy in summer. Caravans and trailers are barred on parts of the route.

Nearby

Sölden and the Ötztal glacier road are north; Merano is down the Italian side.