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In pics: Exploring the Austrian Alps in an Audi A5 Avant

21st April 2025, 13:09 by Ananth Iyer

After Innsbruck to enter the Alp region you must pay further toll of 4 euros each side. For this they have placed toll booths with attendants.

BHPian Drexler recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Not so long ago in a galaxy not so far away, three friends decided to do a roadtrip through the Alps to Austria.

As the long Easter weekend was coming, me and my friends decided that it was a perfect time for some adventure. As usual, I arrived at the usual rental place hoping to find a car that could assist us on our intergalactic adventure through Austria. At first, they offered me a Golf GTI, a capable machine for the adventure but I had already experienced its wrath on a previous roadtrip. (Here's the link to it - Stuttgart to Munich in a Golf GTI) I would have happily taken the GTI had I not seen another capable and beautiful machine. The Audi A5 Avant. It almost felt like fate. Two years ago, I had worked on the chassis of very same car while I was working at Audi. Filled with emotions and nostalgia I turned to the salesperson and asked how much extra for the Audi A5. Much like a Jedi master guiding me through my journey she replied with a smile, “Are you interested in that car? It would be just 25 euros more”. With a grin on my face I said, “I’ll have that car please.” It was as if the Vorsprung Durch Technik Force had spoken to me. I knew the A5 would be my Millennium Falcon. (Enough with the Star Wars reference)

We had decided to go to Wild Wasser Weg, 300kms away from Ingolstadt, Germany (where I live) and close to the Austrian Italian border. Wild Wasser Weg is a location in the Alps with numerous waterfalls and treks. It is famous for Skiing in Winters. Being spring we had decided to do a summer trail and then visit the famous waterfall. This writeup is also a lesson for people like me who do not research before going to a place. I had checked the temperatures, 22ºC sounds perfect and being a trail, I wore shorts and running shoes. Oh, how naïve I was. (More on this later)

Started the journey at 8:00 AM. The route planned was – Ingolstadt – Munich – Rosenheim – Innsbruck – Wild Wasser Weg (Final Destination)

To drive in Austria, one must get a Vignette (Toll) before starting the journey. The price of Vignette changes according to the location you’re visiting. For us Vignette costed 15 euros.

This time I was not in the mood to drive fast; I wanted to do a leisure drive. Thus, the cruising speeds did not exceed 120kmph. Till Innsbruck the drive was mostly uneventful apart from few scenic mountains

After Innsbruck to enter the Alp region you must pay further toll of 4 euros each side. For this they have placed toll booths with attendants. Roads after the toll booth are different from regular roads and are designed for heavy snowfall during the winter season. There was some amount of gravel on the road, but the grip was not compromised at least for the speeds that I was driving. This is the part where I was eager to push the car through the curvy roads although with a speed limit of 80kmph. I was also accompanied by a couple of sportscars and bikers. Eventually I stopped the car at a parking spot for some photos.

Drove further to the main spot where we had planned the “trail”. Turns out, it was a trek. If a 2 hour trek on running shoes and shorts seems difficult, it only got more intense halfway through. Few professionals with proper gear who were descending informed us that the reason they were descending was because the trek had become too dangerous due to the snow and black ice formed above. They advised us not to continue after a checkpoint. We obliged. Reached the checkpoint which was also beautiful. Here are few pictures of the trek, the view and the danger forward.

Car parked at the bottom of the mountain

The trek

View from checkpoint

The dangerous path further

After spending some time above, we returned to the bottom of the mountain and did a trail towards main waterfall. This part seemed pretty simple now. The trail was along a water stream with mountains on both sides.

The main waterfall a.k.a. Lonavala for Mumbai and Pune people. One good thing about this waterfall is that they have built a big wooden observatory deck where people can sit and have drinks.

Picture of waterfall from the observatory deck.

It was 15:00 and as we had cut down our trek by 2 hours, we had a lot of time in our hands. We decided to explore Innsbruck as a friend of mine had not visited the place. We were looking to have lunch as well. Decided to drive to Innsbruck, have lunch explore the city and then head home. From Wild Wasser Weg, Innsbruck is a 35min drive.

Reached the city centre and parked our car. If we are travelling to a new city and are unsure about good restaurants, our go to Italian restaurant is L’Osteria. Thus, headed to L’Osteria and ordered Pasta and Pizza. Food was decent. The time was 16:30 when we started to explore the city. Here are some pictures:

Golden roof

City Centre

On the Innbrucke

The time was 17:30 and we decided to head back home. There are two ways to come to Ingolstadt/Munich from Innsbruck, either by Autobahn E45/E60 or through the German Alps near Garmisch Partenkirschen i.e., A9 & A95. As the Alp route is more picturesque, this route was chosen.