Rostock to the Austrian Alps: Kammersberg Road Trip (7 Days)

From the Baltic coast to the heart of the Styrian Alps: a full week driving south from Rostock through Germany to a mountain base at Kammersberg, with four alpine day trips. Two travel days down, four days in the mountains, one long day home.

Day 1 — Rostock to Nürnberg (630 km)

South on the A19, A24 and A9 through Brandenburg, past Leipzig and Bayreuth. German motorways are toll-free for cars, so it flows. Break around halfway in Leipzig, then an evening in Nürnberg’s old town — the Kaiserburg, the Hauptmarkt and Nürnberger Bratwürste.

Day 2 — Nürnberg to Kammersberg (450 km)

A9 to München, A8 toward Salzburg, then the A10 Tauern Autobahn through the Tauern tunnel and down into the Mur valley. The Austrian vignette and the A10 toll start here. Salzburg makes a beautiful optional stop before you reach your base at St. Peter am Kammersberg in upper Styria.

Day 3 — Murau and the Grebenzensee (40 km)

An easy first day: the historic town of Murau on the river Mur with its castle and brewery, and the idyllic Grebenzensee by the Benedictine abbey of St. Lambrecht.

Day 4 — Turracher Höhe and the Nockalmstraße (120 km)

An alpine panorama loop over the Turracher Höhe — one of Europe’s steepest passes, with three mountain lakes — and the Nockalmstraße, a panoramic toll road with 52 hairpins through the Nockberge.

Day 5 — Sölkpass and the Dachstein (150 km)

The big alpine day. The wild, toll-free Sölkpass over the Niedere Tauern, the photogenic lakes of the Sölktäler, then up to the Dachstein glacier with its Sky Walk and suspension bridge.

Day 6 — Your pick: Red Bull Ring, Graz or Hallstatt

Close to base: the Red Bull Ring F1 circuit at Spielberg. For culture, the Styrian capital Graz. Or the icon — Hallstatt, the most photographed village in the Alps, on its mirror-still lake.

Day 7 — Kammersberg home to Rostock (1,060 km)

The drive home — one long haul, or split with an overnight in Nürnberg or Leipzig.

Tolls and costs

Austria needs a 10-day vignette plus the A10 Tauern section toll and the Nockalmstraße toll; Germany is toll-free for cars. Use the cost calculator for fuel and nights on your dates, and rent the car in Nürnberg for the best rates.

This trip is also in the free Roadcut trip planner: change the number of days and where you sleep each night, pick your vehicle to see the fuel cost, check the weather on the road, and open each day in Google Maps, Apple Maps or Waze.