We woke by 8:00, had our typical European breakfast , packed the car and were on our way to Innsbruck by 10 AM. We looked at the map, read a travel sheet I printed on the Internet and were off for the smallest roads and mountain passes. The trip from Castelrotto, by the Italian motorway (Autostrada), would normally take about 1 ½ hours to Innsbruck. Our route took over 6 hours, but was well worth it. The roads we took were extremely narrow and winding, and at the highest poi
nt, as we went through the Jaufenpass near the Italian/Austrian border........the elevation was 2094 meters (approx. 6400 feet). The views from this point were spectacular in all directions. The route we took today is said to be “one of the most rewarding drives in the Alps. However it involves steep climbs and descents, hairpin bends and unprotected drops and should not be undertaken by anyone not confident in their mountain driving skills.” This alone made our chosen route mandatory for me! Our rented VW Passat handled it with no problem, but like in the past, I rarely was able to come out of second ge
ar for most of the mountain climbs. We finished the mountain route as we entered into Austria through the Brenner Pass. As with all of the border crossings on this trip, customs was totally transparent and non existent. From the border it was only about 25 miles to Innsbruck. At this point I thought it would be easy to just hop on the motorway to finish the trip to Innsbruck. To our amazement, the toll for this 25 miles was 8 Euro, or approximately $11. I later found out that this part of the Austrian motorway is one of the
most expensive in the world, due to the engineering work and construction. We finally reached our hotel in Innsbruck by 4 PM. We walked around a bit and stopped in a local brewery for one of the best beers of the trip. We finished the day with a relaxing dinner, apple strudel and cappucino and then off to bed.
We woke by 8:00, had our typical European breakfast , packed the car and were on our way to Innsbruck by 10 AM. We looked at the map, read a travel sheet I printed on the Internet and were off for the smallest roads and mountain passes. The trip from Castelrotto, by the Italian motorway (Autostrada), would normally take about 1 ½ hours to Innsbruck. Our route took over 6 hours, but was well worth it. The roads we took were extremely narrow and winding, and at the highest poi
nt, as we went through the Jaufenpass near the Italian/Austrian border........the elevation was 2094 meters (approx. 6400 feet). The views from this point were spectacular in all directions. The route we took today is said to be “one of the most rewarding drives in the Alps. However it involves steep climbs and descents, hairpin bends and unprotected drops and should not be undertaken by anyone not confident in their mountain driving skills.” This alone made our chosen route mandatory for me! Our rented VW Passat handled it with no problem, but like in the past, I rarely was able to come out of second ge
ar for most of the mountain climbs. We finished the mountain route as we entered into Austria through the Brenner Pass. As with all of the border crossings on this trip, customs was totally transparent and non existent. From the border it was only about 25 miles to Innsbruck. At this point I thought it would be easy to just hop on the motorway to finish the trip to Innsbruck. To our amazement, the toll for this 25 miles was 8 Euro, or approximately $11. I later found out that this part of the Austrian motorway is one of the
most expensive in the world, due to the engineering work and construction. We finally reached our hotel in Innsbruck by 4 PM. We walked around a bit and stopped in a local brewery for one of the best beers of the trip. We finished the day with a relaxing dinner, apple strudel and cappucino and then off to bed.
2 comments:
You deserved the apple strudel and cappuccino...what a trip!
You're a wild mountain man bob!
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