The hills are alive with the sound of freehubs and crunching gravel: SalzburgerLand Gravel Tour is a new network of gravel cycling routes taking cyclists on some of the most scenic bike rides the world has to offer.
Whether you cycle for pleasure or pain, there’s 7,000km worth of exploration to do, with rides along either the seven-day ‘gentle’ or ten-day ‘rough’ routes, which can be done either as a multi-day adventure loop or you can select a leg to do on its own.
So, which route will you be taking?
The ‘gentle’ route
While 460km and 6,700m of elevation sounds anything but ‘gentle’, but the circuit has been designed to be done over five to seven days.
Starting and finishing in Salzburg, the route takes in incredible scenery with large stretches on cycle paths, gravel paths, old railways as well as river and lakeside paths as riders pass through Strubklamm gorge, the Salzkammergut lakes, the ancient Postalm road, Lake Zell, the Leogang Mountains and the Saalachtal valley.
There are plenty of things to do along the way too, such as trips to natural rock pools, Fuschlsee and Wolfgangsee lakes and the Vorderkaserklamm gorge natural swimming spot. It’s not all water though, Mittersill is home to the Hohe Tauern National Park, and the Liechtensteinklamm gorge in St. Johann has a new must-see Helix stairway between the cliffs. There are also culinary stops including the Almkäserei Schnitzhofalm Alpine dairy, where you can taste the renowned Almkäse cheese.
And you can finish your holiday by relaxing in Salzburg and discovering the wealth of art and culture it has to offer.
The 'rough' route
The harder route does take in highlights from the gentle tour, but expands to total a massive 650km and 12,700m of elevation for ten to 12 days of adventure, so make sure you're up to the challenge if you want to take this one on.
The big talking point of the rough route is the mountains. It includes Zwölferhorn above Wolfgangsee, the Radstädter Tauern range, Leogang's incredible Asitz and Aschauer Sattel. However the highlight is surely the ascent of the remarkable Grossglockner High Alpine Road, the highest paved mountain pass in Austria and a true bucket list-worthy climb.
It's not all scenery and suffering on this route though, there's history with the Mauterndorf Castle and the Edenvest castle ruins, there's more nature at Wildpark Untertauern, and there's food at the Lärchenhütte hut looking over the stunning Wolfgangsee lake.
But the real highlight is, of course, the cycling.
One step at a time
While both routes are incredible adventures, it is possible of course to just go and ride a smaller section. Not everyone has ten days to spare. You can do as much or as little as you want, and there are plenty of easily accessible points of the road connected to towns with train stations including Radstadt, St Johann or Saalfelden, as well as Salzburg itself. So jump in where it suits you and enjoy the ride.
For the full details visit salzburgerland.com
