The Glocknergruppe forms the central part of the Hohe Tauern. The Grossglockner is Austria's highest mountain, 3,797 m. It is beautifully situated in one of Austria's wildest areas. This, of course, attracts many tourists, not only hikers and climbers, but also many day-trippers who pass through the Hochalpenstrasse. You've been warned.

The Grossglockner itself is not exactly a walkers mountain. For those who are fairly trained in ice and rock, it is still a challenging summit. If you do choose to go up, and reconciles oneself to line up under the summit, it would be just as nice to start in Heiligenblut. This is where, more than 200 years ago, the first successful climbers gathered.

The area, allthough it is not particularly large, lends itself to a fine trek. The most obvious route would be to start in Kaprun, walk south, and combine both the Glocknergruppe and Schobergruppe into a hut-hopping tour lasting for a week. This tough walk can be made without any dangerous glacier crossings.