Zillertal High Alpine Road

The Zillertaler Höhenstrasse runs about forty-eight kilometres along the western flank of the Zillertal, climbing from the valley floor at around six hundred metres to over two thousand at its highest point, with several branches up to the alps - Melchboden, Zellberg, Hochfügen - and it is a toll road built for the alp farms and the ski areas and kept open for touring in summer. It is not a pass road: it runs parallel to the valley rather than crossing to anywhere, so it is driven for the view, which takes in the Zillertal below and across to the Tuxer and Zillertal Alps with their glaciers. Alp huts along it serve food, paragliders launch from the higher pull-ins, and walking routes run onto the ridges above. It closes with the first heavy snow.

What you actually see

• Forty-eight kilometres of high road - running along the valley flank, not over a pass.
• Alp huts along the route - working pastures serving food through the season.
• Glacier views opposite - the Tuxer and Zillertal Alps across the valley.
• Paragliding launches - the higher pull-ins used as take-off points.

When to go

May to October; the road closes with snow. Half a day.

Honest expectations

Tolled, narrow in places, and with steep branch roads. It closes for the winter. Cloud on the flank cuts the view. Motorcyclists use it heavily at weekends.

Nearby

Mayrhofen and the Schlegeis reservoir are up the valley; Hintertux is beyond.