Bottom cable car station Patscherkofelbahn - Patscherkofel (path 350 via Lanser Alm and Zirbenweg)

Access to starting point:
From Ljubljana, we drive on the highway past Salzburg in the direction towards München. At the multilevel junction Dreieck Inntal we go on the road A93 in the direction of Innsbruck/Kufstein/Brenner. When we return to Austria we continue to exit 75 in the direction of Innsbruck-Mitte. At the large roundabout we go to the third exit in the direction of Igler Str. We continue on the road which is moderately ascending, past settlements Vill and Igls. Following the signs for Patscherkofel Talstation soon after Igls at the crossroad we turn left and we follow the road to a large parking lot at the bottom station of the cableway, where we park. The parking fee is 6 euros for all day, and when buying the ticket for the cableway, it will be refunded. Free parking is a little lower by the road.

The second option (avoid buying Austrian vignette): from the main Slovenia on the highway A2 we drive to one of the border crossings with Austria and we continue towards Lienz. We continue on the road number 108 past Matrei and Osttirol and on the main road over the mountain pass Felbertauern (the road is payable, in 2020 the price was 11€ for personal cars). In the settlement Mittersill we go on the road B165 and on a narrower road we ascend to mountain pass Gerlos (1628 meters; payment 10€). From there we descend to the eponymous settlement and we continue to the junction on the road B169. After a good 20 km we join the road B171 (direction Schwaz/Jenbach/Wörgl/Strass i.Z.), which we follow to the settlement Hall in Tirol, where we turn left in the direction of Ampass on the road B171a. After crossing the river Inn we turn to the right and we follow the road past hamlets Ampass, Aldrans and Lans to a large parking lot at the bottom station of the cableway, where we park. The parking fee is 6 euros for all day, and when buying the ticket for the cableway, it will be refunded. Between the bottom stations of cableways on Patscherkofel and Nordkette and through the center of Innsbruck there is also a regular bus connection route J.

Path description:
Following the signs for Patscherkofel and Lanser Alm, from the parking lot at the bottom station of the cable car we ascend on the macadam road by the ski slope to the juncture with an asphalt road which relatively quickly brings us to the inn Heiligwasser. Just below the inn we go left on a wide forest road, following the signs of the path 350. By the road, we can use numerous unmarked, but well-beaten shortcuts through the forest - but in doing so we are not allowed to stray too high. After a good hour and a half of walking from the starting point, we go to the turn-off of a narrower path, which through a small bridge over the stream brings us to the mountain pasture Lanser, on which we can have a snack with wonderful view on the valley of river Inn.

From the mountain pasture, we continue towards the south in the direction of the upper station of the cable car. The path in this part runs through an idyllic forest, from which we pass to open area below the upper head of Patscherkofel; from there to the hut Patscherkofel Schutzhaus and the upper cableway station Patscherkofelbahn there is only few minutes of comfortable walking.

At the signpost near the mountain hut we again go on the path 350; and from here to a crossroad a little below the summit we will walk on a very popular, panoramic and relatively gentle path Zirbenweg. The latter in long turn crosses the entire northern and eastern slope of Patscherkofel, and it all the time offers beautiful views on hamlets in the valley of river Inn and mountain chain Karwendel above them. After a good 30 minutes of walking, at the mountain hut Boschebenhütte at an altitude approx. 2080 meters we leave the path Zirbenweg and on a well-marked path we ascend steeper towards the western summit of Patscherkofel. A little before the peak we step on a wide panoramic ridge and in few minutes we ascend to the upper plateau, where there is a big transmitter and a cross on the peak Patscherkofel.

From Patscherkofel Schutzhaus to the top, we can otherwise come faster on more direct official paths or well visible unmarked shortcuts.

On the way: Alpengasthof Heiligwasser (1240m), Lanser Alm (1735m), Patscherkofel Schutzhaus (1970m)