Our very loosely planned route to Tuscany took us across France, Belgium and Germany into Austria, to cross the Alps into Northern Italy via the Timmelsjoch Pass. This provided the opportunity that I’ve wanted to complete for some time, to ride the Ötztal Glacier Road. A single leg of tarmac leading high into the Tyrollean Alps, the highest paved road in the Alps, second highest in Europe. There is a small toll charge, but it’s worth it for the views, the ride and experience.
Riding the Road: riding through Sölden Ski Village and just before the start of the Timmelsjoch, there is a turning off to the right, it's not well signposted, or rather it is, but then so are many hotel and ski lodges, so it's difficult to read! The climb rate steepens immediately and we rapidly gain altitude above the village of Sölden and it's not long before we arrive at the toll booth and then on to the spectacular Ötztal Glacier Road. Despite the continuing rate of climb and unguarded curves, the RT, still fully loaded as we hadn't checked into a hotel, provided surefooted and swift progress. In no time at all we were above the tree line and into the bleak, barren and beautifully peaceful alpine world. The road becomes more technical near to the top with a few tight hairpins and little in the way of edge protection focusing my mind not on the spectacular views but the task at hand, riding the road. The 13km road brought us to the ski station, which in the summer time is almost totally devoid of any other souls, just a few maintenance teams servicing the snow machines to make a start on preparing the slopes for the ski season, and the occasional MTBer enjoying the outrageous routes this area provides.
Two glaciers provide the headline, the Rettenbach immediately presenting itself behind the Sölden Ski Station, and a second, the Tiefenbach Glacier, but to see this we had to pass through the mountain via the Ross-Mittermaier tunnel, where at the exit we were at the highest point of the glacier road (2830 m), and at the highest point on any paved road in the Alps and allowing us unspoilt views.
Back by the Sölden Ski Station there is a little chapel reached by a simple gravel road, where not only does the little chapel remember everyone lost on the Ötztal Mountains but also enjoys a spectacular view back down the alpine valley back towards Sölden.
We arrived back in Sölden in good time to find a hotel for the evening, which was very comfortable and had a useful underground garage for the bike, not that security was going to be an issue here! It was also a nice stroll into the village centre for a good selection of bars and restaurants.
View back down the Otztal Valley
Hotel for the night had a nice alpine feel to it - Apart Enzian
Sölden
A 3d model of the ski runs showing the ski station, chair lifts and road
Outside the 007 expo!
Prost!
Local hooch! Nice!
Cool number plate!
Getting here from home was simply a case of setting the GPS for Sölden, via a couple of interesting waypoints, Dahn in Germany for some amazing cake being one of them and coffee at PolePosition near Ötztal Bahnhof. But in essence it was a simple exercise of using autoroutes and autobahns to get to Austria as quickly and effortlessly as possible. Getting away from work and catching an evening train saw us make Lille for the first night! Then we made Stuttgart for the next night (there's a Premier Inn not far from the Autobahn that's great VFM with an underground carpark).
From here, and despite traffic chaos around the south Bavarian town of Füssen, we made it in time to ride the High Road to the glaciers!!
Early evening train on a day of SE chaos, Motorways closed looking for lost prisoner and Eurotunnel Folkestone closed for a few hours because they found parts of bomb on a vehicle, good work spotting it! Anyway, we made it through the gridlock of Kent and boarded an almost empty train!
Parked right under our balcony at the B&BHotel in Lille
First night, first cheers 'Sante' !!
We're trying!
Germany knows its cakes, and this cake shop in Dahn is amazing! I've been here a few times now! Well worth the deviation! PS the roads here are also good!
Ready for the rest of the day!
Premier Inn just south of Stuttgart and met the efficiency objective!
Deviation no. 2 - Pole Position Café near Ötztal Bahnhof!
A little bit about our BMW R1250RT. Fully loaded with its wide spread of torque and agile handling meant it was still a lot of fun on the climb and decent, feeling safe and secure at all times. We already knew that the bike is very capable as a tourer, comfortably covering big miles in a day almost regardless of the weather, and then be fun when you get somewhere interesting, and this afternoon on the Otztal Glacier Road proved it's agility and performance.
Camera kit: - Canon EOS M6 + EF-M 22mm & EF85mm (with adapter) Lens; DJI Mini 3 Pro drone, and an old iPhone.
Trivia – A section of the Glacier Road was also used for a fast chase scene in the James Bond “Spectre” film, and there’s a cinematic exhibition called “007 Elements”in Sölden village covering this and other 007 film locations in the area.