Schafberg

The Parliament

The neo-Gothic building on the Danube, completed in the early 20th century, seen up close by day.

The road begins in Budapest at the end of July, with the city seen mostly after dark. On Castle Hill, the white terraces of Fisherman's Bastion and Matthias Church, with its roof of colored glazed tiles, are lit like a stage set, while below them the Danube separates Buda from Pest. On the far bank, the neo-Gothic Parliament stretches like a band of gold above the water; by day, the same facade is seen up close from the square in front of it. The Danube banks and the Buda Castle Quarter are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Budapest

Budapest at night from Castle Hill: the Danube, its lit bridges and the Pest bank. By day, a view over the eastern districts in golden light.

Fisherman's Bastion

The bastion's neo-Romanesque terraces, built at the turn of the 20th century, look across the Danube to the illuminated Parliament.

Matthias Church

The Gothic church on Castle Hill, with its glazed tile roof, under floodlights. Franz Joseph and Elisabeth were crowned King and Queen of Hungary here in 1867.

Admont

The Enns valley near Admont, with meadows and the limestone walls of the Gesäuse on the horizon.

From there the route crosses into Austria. At Admont, the Enns valley opens toward the limestone walls of the Gesäuse mountains, and in the national park of the same name the river runs clear between forests, under a wooden footbridge. The next day brings the lakes of the Salzkammergut, a region named after the salt mined here for thousands of years: Hallstatt, its houses squeezed between mountain and water and the church spire rising above the rooftops, then the Schafberg, at almost 1,800 m, where the summit building sits right on the edge of a sheer drop and turquoise lakes spread out below. A cog railway climbs to the top. The Hallstatt–Dachstein/Salzkammergut cultural landscape is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. On the Styrian side of the region, around Bad Aussee, mown meadows and wooden barns complete the picture.

Gesäuse National Park

In Gesäuse National Park, the Enns runs clear between forests, under a wooden footbridge.

Bad Aussee

Green meadows, wooden barns and wooded hills around the spa town of Bad Aussee, in the Styrian Salzkammergut.

Hallstatt

The village on the shore of Lake Hallstatt, its houses packed between mountain and water, with steep walls closing in the lake.

Schafberg

The summit building stands on the edge of a cliff, with the turquoise lakes of the Salzkammergut spread out below. A cog railway climbs to the top.

On August 2 the road follows the Inn valley: from above, the village of Pill, the fields on the valley floor and the limestone peaks behind; in Innsbruck, the river carries the gray color of silt-laden water. Across the border in South Tyrol, at Racines, a stream drops in cascades through a wooded gorge below high meadows and scattered villages. The next day leads into Trentino and the hills of Nogaredo, where vineyards slope down toward the Adige valley.

Pill

The Inn valley from above, with the village of Pill, its farm fields and the limestone mountains behind.

Innsbruck

The Inn flows through the city, gray with silt, between green banks and limestone mountains.

Gilfenklamm

A narrow gorge cut by the Gilfenbach stream through white marble near Racines, crossed by trails and wooden bridges above the waterfalls.

August 4 is a day in the Dolomites, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2009. At the Pordoi Pass above Canazei, at 2,239 m, the walls of the Sella group rise straight out of the meadows, pale scree fanning out at their feet; farther east, around Cortina d'Ampezzo, dolomite peaks stand above conifer forests under summer clouds that build up in the afternoon.

Racines

In South Tyrol, a stream tumbles through a wooded gorge below the valley's high meadows.

Nogaredo

From the hills of the Vallagarina, vineyards run down toward the Adige valley, ringed by mountains.

Passo Pordoi

At the Pordoi Pass above Canazei, at 2,239 m, the dolomite walls of the Sella group rise from the meadows; a cable car climbs from here to the Sass Pordoi.

Cortina d'Ampezzo

Dolomite peaks above conifer forests on the roads around Cortina, host of the 1956 Winter Olympics and co-host, with Milan, of the 2026 Games.

The last leg runs through Slovenia. At Bled, in the evening light, a castle first recorded in 1011 sits on the rock above the lake; near Kranjska Gora, a small mountain lake mirrors the clouds and the forest; and in Ljubljana, the final stop, the banks of the Ljubljanica are lined with café terraces, willows and pastel houses.

Lake Jasna

A mountain lake near Kranjska Gora, mirroring the clouds and the surrounding forest.

Bled

Lake Bled in the evening light, with the castle, first recorded in 1011, on the rock above the water.

Ljubljana

The banks of the Ljubljanica in the old town, with café terraces, willows and pastel houses.