Brennerpass | 1374 METER | Innsbruck Sterzing

The Brenner Pass, or Brenner for short, is a border pass in the Eastern Alps between the Austrian state of Tyrol and the autonomous province of South Tyrol in Italy. With its pass summit at 1,370 metres, it is the lowest mountain pass of the eastern Alpine divide. Both access routes to the Brenner Pass lead through the main valleys of the Alps: to the north the Sill and Inn valleys, and to the south the valleys of the Eisack and Adige. Along with the Gotthard, San Bernardino, Simplon and Mont Cenis, the alpine pass is one of the most important and most frequently used routes for transalpine traffic.
 

The picture shows the two different facets of the Brenner Pass very aptly. On the one hand, there is the transit route over the motorway, with the legendary Europa Bridge, which is subject to a toll.

On the other hand, there is the toll-free, so-called ‘old Brenner road’, which leads under the Europa Bridge and connects Innsbruck with the Brenner Pass. Unfortunately, both routes are often congested during holiday periods, which is why alternatives such as the San Bernardino, the St Gotthard Pass or the Fern Pass and Reschen Pass are becoming more and more interesting.

The two routes differ only slightly in terms of length. The distance between Innsbruck and Sterzing is 53 kilometres on the motorway and just 3 kilometres more on the old Brenner road.