I don't see much of a discussion on either driving the Grossglockener Road or taking the Hungerburg funicular. From whatever I have read about these -- both seem quite spectacular ? Can people who have taken this post if that is the case or not.
We plan to visit that area in mid May (2014) and wanted to check if they are really worth visiting ?
There's a chance the Grossglockener Road won't be open by mid-May, but it should be OK this year (mild winter).
Their official web site says open from beginning of May; would probably have to phone & check in advance in May.
I cannot comment on the Hungerburg funicular as we did not use it. We did drive the Grossglockner Road in Mid May 2007 and I would recommend it highly. We drove from the Dolomites to Heiligenblut, Austria where we spent the night. Heiligenblut is a beautiful scenic little town sitting in a valley with views of the Grossglockner peak. From the balcony of our hotel,( Edeweiss) the views of the Grossglockner and the other peaks were great. The picturesque little church makes for great photo ops with the Grossglockner in the background. If you get a chance to stay one night in Heiligenblut and then start your Grossglockner drive the next morning as we did you will have plenty of time to enjoy the day and the beautiful views. Maybe eat lunch at the panorama restaurant with close up views of the Pasterze glacier and the Grossglockner. Quite a few of the hotels in Heiligenblut were closed in May since that is not the peak season for the little skiing and hiking village but there is always something available and the rates tend to be lower at that time. Also I did not see any of the lifts running when we were there in May. Heiligenblut is a great little town to relax and recharge the batteries. The Grossglockner is definitely worth a visit in my opinion.
We have done this drive along with staying at the Edelweiss Hutte at the top as well. Our weather in mid-June 2011 was not so great. We got snowed in at the top and could see nothing. We had to wait until about noon the next day to leave. Even the folks in the serious 4WD started down and decided it was too icy to leave the parking lot.
Finally someone came up to open the shop in the parking lot and said it was okay, just to go slow. So we did. It was several switchbacks and at least 1000 feet down before we got below the clouds and started seeing less snow. The road was still wet, but not icy at that point. White knuckles all the way for me. There are no guardrails.
If the weather has been good this year, and it is not raining at the bottom when you start up, it should be fine for you. It was raining at the bottom for us, and even though the person who took our money said it should be okay, by the time we got to the top, the rain was much heavier and the wind was blowing sideways.
What we saw on the way up and down before we got into and after we got out of the clouds was beautiful and well worth the drive, but I sure did want to wake up in the morning and see everything from the top. I guess it just wasn't meant to be.
We were in Innsbruck last June and did the Funicular all the way to the top. It was beautiful. To go all the way up from Innsbruck, we took three different funiculars - you get off one and get on the next one in the same little building. I believe a single roundtrip is $30 or 30 Euro, I can't remember. However, we minimized this charge by purchasing the Innsbruck Pass, which is 33 Euro for 24 hours or or 41 Euro for 48 hours. It got us the full funicular ride, free museum entrance to ALL museums, AlpenZoo entrance (very cool zoo), a bike rental and tons more. The Innsbruck Pass was a great deal. You can read about it here: http://www.innsbruck.info/en/experience/innsbruck-card.html
I really liked Innsbruck - the Funicular was just of the many nice things. It seemed a city with a good vibe to me - not too crowded, outdoor markets, east to get around and soaring mountains surrounding it all.
Hi,
We've done both and both are worth doing. Actually did the Nordkettenbahn twice. The Hungerburg funicular is the first leg of the trip. You can do just this, or continue on to the second stop, Seegrube, or go all the way to the top, Hafelekar. The trip from Insbruck to Hungerburg is by funicular. The trip from Hungerburg to Seegrube is by cable car, as is the trip from Seegrube to Hafelekar station.
We also stayed a night in Heiligenblut with the Grossglockner drive. We went from Berchtesgaden area, over the Grossglockner and stayed in Heiligenblut. Afterwards we continues to the Italian Dolomites. We stayed just outside Heiligenblut here:
http://www.ederhof-heiligenblut.at
In the Innsbruck area, we've stayed 5 times at the Gasthof Badl in Hall in Tirol, as recently as 4 months ago.
Paul
Thanks Lane, Lo, Valerie & paul.
I am convinced now & will pencil both of them in my itinerary. Thanks for all the other tips as well.
