Thrill seekers young and older will enjoy the adrenaline rush of crossing the Highline 179 Suspension Bridge. Are you planning a trip to Garmisch or any of the surrounding southern Bavarian areas and looking for additional activities beyond Munich and Neuschwanstein Castle? You are in luck! Mommy and Me Travels found a unique hike that led up to the Highline 179 supsension bridge in Reutte Austria. You should consider adding it to your vacation and adventures if you are in the Reutte Austria areas.
Highline 179 Suspension Bridge Austria Facts
Shortly after driving into Reutte Austria on your way from Garmisch to the Neuschwanstein Castle, you can’t help but notice a walking bridge high in the sky between two hills. If you are like me, you start to wonder what it is and why it’s there. Well low and behold we ended up stumbling across Highline 179 Suspension Bridge Austria. This is the largest suspension bridge of its kind in the world. Highline 179 forms a walkway between Fort Claudia and the Ehrenburg fortification. It is 114,60m high, 406m long, and provides 360 degree views for your enjoyment. The bridge opened to visitors in Nov 2014 and then in Dec 2014 it was named as “Longest Tibet-style footbridge” by Guinness World Records.
How to get to the Austria Suspension Bridge
When driving along B179 in Reutte Austria you will have no problem spotting the highline bridge. Although, we did have a little difficulty trying to figure out how to access it. Learn from our mishaps and follow the signs for Burgenwelt Ehrenberg parking lot. Don’t forget to pay for parking before you head up to the entrance. From the parking area to the entrance you have to hike up a foot path for about 15 to 20 minutes. Along the path are fun story boards, in both German and English, that make it an adventure hike for kids and also allow for quick short resting stops. The path is well marked and can easily be accomplished with children. My 5 year old was able to walk it on his own and it was an easy enough hike to carry my infant. We love our Moby Hip Seat and Baby Carrier that you can get here on Amazon.
Highline 179 is a Budget Friendly Activity!
The cost to access the bridge is 8 euro for adults and 4 euro for children 4-14 years old (as of 2017). This cost covers crossing the Highline 179 suspension bridge roundtrip. It allows for you to walk around both ruins, Fort Claudia and Ehrenburg Fortification, on each side of the bridge and then hike down the way you started. For the avid hiker, there is another path you can hike down on the other side of the suspension bridge but it was not as clearly marked nor was it as smooth of a walk from what we could see. We chose to re-cross the bridge (bonus) and then hike down the way we walked up because I knew my son could easily handle that hike. The ruins at Fort Claudia and Ehrenburg Fortification are free for visitors. This makes a budget friendly (and healthy) way to spend a few hours or a whole day.
Fort Claudia and Ehrenburg Fortification in Reutte Austria
When you reach the top you can explore around Fort Claudia before crossing the pedestrian suspension bridge to Ehrenburg fortification and hiking around it. These are 2 of the 4 structures that are part of what is known today as the “Burgenwelt (Castle World) Ehrenberg”. Both structures are ruins but interesting sights for kids to see what happens to buildings over time. My eldest was making a game out of the different structures of trying to guess what each place was used as. He was very creative about the best place to protected against the dragons. LOL.
Fun Fact:
Guinness World Records for “Longest Tibet-style footbridge”
14,60m high, 406m long, and provides 360 degree views
Crossing the Highline 179 Longest Suspension Bridge
The highlight of the trip is of course crossing Highline 179, the longest suspension bridge in the world. The pedestrian suspension bridge is secure but does sway a little on a windy days. My son thought it was the neatest thing being able to “walk across the sky”. The day we went it was not too crowded but it was windy. The lack of crowds made accessing the bridge easy. We were able to get great pictures with very little wait time for a location. The wind might have kept the faint at heart away. What about you, Are you adventurous enough to try it out?
Final Thoughts about Highline 179 Austria
Don’t miss out on the Highline Bridge! It was definitely a great way to breakup our drive from the Neuschwanstein Castle back to our hotel in Garmish. Want more fun kid friendly adventure ideas for this area? Check out our fun days at Dinosaur Museum Altemuhlta and Therme Erding Waterpark. You might also be interested in our ideas for a 3 Day Kid Friendly Munich Vacation.
Save for later and share now to Pinterst!
SHOP WITH US
This sounds like a one-of-a-kind adventure, and I love that there are interesting storyboards along the hike to the bridge. That is a very smart way to encourage people to take breaks! I would love to get such a spectacular vantage point while crossing the bridge, and also have a closer look at the ruins. Great find!
I stayed in Garmisch for 3 days and saw many beautiful places there but missed this beautiful Highline 179 Suspension Bridge. I would love to have adventurous fun here as it looks like walk across the sky and admiring the beautiful Alps. I should have read your post earlier. But for next time, I will keep this in mind.
I love adventurous activities and this sounds so fun! Plus, I like that you get to visit the two attractions on either side of the bridge as well. Wish I had known about this when I visited Munich and Neuschwanstein Castle a few years ago!
Wow! This suspension bridge sounds like a bucket list thrill that I had never heard about, even when we visited Austria. I guess we have to visit again just to see the bridge over highway 179.
This sounds so fun! I would love to go on the Highline 179. I’ve taken a cable car up into the Austrian Alps, so I can imagine the scenic views you get from the highline.
As someone who is terrified of heights, I’d have to opt out of crossing this record-setting suspension bridge. However, I’d love to be firmly planted on one side (or the other) and take pictures of the brave folks heading across!
I get totally freaked out when bridges sway! It’s even worse when people jump on bridges just to make them move. But, from now on, I will also think of crossing bridges like this to be the same as “walking across the sky”.
We have one similar here in the U.S. It’s called the Gatlinburg SkyBridge in Tennessee. It’s a bit scary if you’re afraid of heights, in my opinion, to cross. However, the views are amazing! My son went to Austria, so maybe the next time he or one of us in the family are there we should visit this bridge.
I bet the views were just amazing! My thrill seeker boyfriend would be all over this adventure. He would be dragging me along behind him. Checking out the ruins would be more my speed.
Sounds intriguing! I’d love to visit Austria – hopefully sooner rather than later 🙂
What a neat bridge! Thanks for sharing 🙂