Cycling Tours in northern-europe
Cycling from Salzburg: Austria & Germany
This is a self-guided hotel based cycle tour through southern Bavaria in Germany and the Salzkammergut region of Austria, starting and finishing in Salzburg. The route is ideal for easy to moderate cycling, following many dedicated cycle paths, riverside cycle ways and lakeside routes to wind up and down the verdant valleys and round the imposing hills and mountains with a new vista at every turn. This northern fringe of the Alps is blessed with quite striking scenery formed by mighty glaciers in ages gone by. The valleys are steep sided with wide flat valley floors ideal for cycling paths. The glaciers also carved deep hollows into the valley floors now filled with clear mountain water to form picturesque lakes many of which are visited along the way.
The beautiful city of Salzburg, on the Salzach River, is a wonderful place to begin a scenic cycling route. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the city’s most famous son and musical genius is hard to ignore as many attractions are centred round his life and works. This however is only one of the charms of this historic city, the Hohensalzburg Fortress stands guard on the hill overlooking the city and surrounding countryside, Castle Mirabel with glorious gardens, the early Baroque Salzberger Dome, the Abbey and Monastery should all be seen. The old city streets, shops, museums, cafes, restaurants and friendly atmosphere make it a charming place to be.
The Mozart Cycle Path follows a figure of eight, firstly west into the Chiemgau region of Bavaria then east through the beautiful Salzkammergut. Both areas are known for warm crystal clear lakes and scenery of meadows and pasture fringed by the Alps. On the first days ride you pass the ‘Silent Night Chapel’, where the famous Christmas carol was first performed. Cross the Salzach river and join the ancient salt trading route to the ancient walls and idyllic streets of Laufen and the old market town of Waging. There are plenty of opportunities for a first taste of Bavarian beer and warm hospitality. The trading and mining of salt generated great wealth in the region often reflected in the fortified towns and ornate churches along the route. In Bavaria nights are spent in Waging am See, Inzell and the larger Bad Reichenhall. As you wind from pretty village to ancient towns you pass museums dedicated to subjects as varied as mammoths and salt mining, or stop off to visit a brewery or a Spa in Bad Reichenhall.
On the forth day of riding cross back into Austria at Grossgmain where a visit to the rural heritage museum may be of interest before cycling trough Salzberg in time for lunch and a little sightseeing before pushing on to end the longest stage of the tour near Eugendorf. The next two days in the Salzkammergut are an eye-pleasing mix of mountains and lakes. A climb over the Scharfling Pass leads to the ‘Mozart Village’ of St Gilgen and Wolfgangsee where a night is spent not far from the lake. St Gilgen is a joy to visit its charm being the lakeshore setting with the mountains tumbling down to embrace the waters edge. The final day includes a walk of 3km with about 300m of ascent to Kehleiten. This takes most people just over an hour but is a great way to get to the top of the hill for great views and to be reunited with your bike. From here it is mainly down hill all the way through scenic gorges to arrive in Salzburg via Hellbrunn Castle where you can cool off in the fountains before reaching the end of your journey.
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