Photo spot in Kitzbühel
The Kitzbüheler Horn and its alpine flower garden
A 1,996-metre summit reached by toll road or gondola, with a hillside of several hundred alpine species below it and the Grossglockner on the southern horizon — a July and August place above all.
About The Kitzbüheler Horn and its alpine flower garden
Get directionsThe Horn is the mountain on the other side of town from the Hahnenkamm, and it is the higher of the two. A toll road, the Kitzbüheler Horn Strasse, climbs to the Alpenhaus at around 1,670 metres, and the Hornbahn gondola does the same job from Kitzbühel; from either, a short road and a path finish the last stretch to the summit under its transmitter mast.
The Alpenblumengarten is spread over the slope just below the top — a free open hillside of several hundred alpine and high-mountain species, planted in beds and rock terraces, with gravel paths threading between them. In late June and July it is a wall of colour with the valley falling away behind it, and it is the reason to choose the Horn over the Hahnenkamm for a summer session.
From the summit terrace the view south is the payoff: the Kitzbüheler Alps in the foreground, then the ice of the Hohe Tauern with the Grossglockner and the Grossvenediger on the skyline in clear weather. Morning is when that distance is cleanest; by afternoon haze usually softens it.
Both road and gondola are seasonal, roughly late May to early or mid October, and the flower garden follows the same window — the beds are under snow well into spring. Check the current opening dates and toll before driving up, and take a layer: at just under two thousand metres it is often ten degrees colder than the Vorderstadt.
Best time to shoot
Morning in July and August — clean air to the Grossglockner and the flower beds at their best
Tips
Road, gondola and flower garden are seasonal, roughly late May to early October — check the current dates. Bring a warm layer; the summit runs about ten degrees colder than the town.
Other spots in Kitzbühel
The painted houses of the Vorderstadt
A curving pedestrian street of ochre, pink and green merchant houses under two church towers — the silver money of the 15th century still standing, and the one Kitzbühel frame that works in any weather.
The Hahnenkamm summit and the Streif start
Eight minutes by gondola from the edge of town to a grass or snow ridge at 1,665 metres, the Wilder Kaiser laid out to the north and the most feared start gate in ski racing under your feet.
The Schwarzsee at sunset
A small dark moor lake two kilometres out of town with reeds, a wooden jetty and the Kitzbüheler Horn standing behind it — the warmest swimming water in Tyrol in July, a skating rink in January.
Ready to book?
Our concierge team will hand-pick 2-3 photographers who know The Kitzbüheler Horn and its alpine flower garden — free of charge.