Austria: Is the Salzkammergut cycle path worth it? – QUADEL

It’s better to have beads of sweat on your forehead from cycling than from the tedious search for a parking space – that alone is a good argument for discovering the Salzkammergut in a relaxed manner by e-bike. But the reasons for getting on the bike saddle in the region are of course more special: picture-perfect Austria, royal history and quite strange encounters await along the way.

Over 313 kilometers, the Salzkammergut cycle path connects the most beautiful corners of the historic cultural area in wide loops, which covers around 2,800 square kilometers and extends across the federal states of Upper Austria, Salzburg and Styria.

You can get on the cycle path – which is largely a circular route – in Salzburg, which is easily accessible. We cycled five stages:

1. Salzburg-Mondsee: 70 km and crystal clear waters

To start with a highlight: Salzburg’s old town with the cathedral, the Residenzbrunnen, Mozart’s birthplace. Inside the museum, a man in a cyclist’s outfit stands in front of a painting that shows the seven-year-old boy wonder in gala clothing. A strange composition.

Should you stock up on Mozartkugeln in the shop at the end of the tour as a calorie reserve for on the go? Or would you rather use a “Mozart” eau-de-toilet to smell better after days of cycling?

Outside, the sound of the Salzach drowns out the echoes of Mozart’s interactive audio samples. You kick your way out of the stream of visitors. Downstream and in the forest to Anthering, peace takes over.

Lush green meadows become companions, as do wayside shrines, scattered villages and farmsteads. In Hamberg, “Bartl’s Farm Shop” relies on honest customers and the sale of cheese and yoghurt: the change is on display in the wooden house.

When it comes to lake hopping, Obertrumer See impresses with mini beaches in Seeham, followed by Mattsee and Irrsee. The waters are crystal clear. Fish dart around. In warmer seasons you should have bathing suits on hand.

Shortly before the stage destination Mondsee, the homemade wood-fired bread from the Erlachmühle teaches you what bread can taste like. Plus a farmer’s cider.

The highlight in Mondsee is the basilica with its ancient angel figures and the artistic carved patterns on the benches. The children’s play area in the holy halls and the possibility of donating via cell phone and QR code can be seen as progress by the official church. Calendars and refrigerator magnets are used to market the Oscar-winning Hollywood classic “My Songs – My Dreams” (1965), sequences of which were filmed here.

2. Mondsee-Gmunden: 66 km and endless Klimt backdrops

The Mondsee is worthy of a film, reflecting clouds, steep slopes, yachts and passing swans. Private boat and bathing piers extend out onto the water.

After a break on the country road, the Attersee in Unterach reconciles itself with its atmosphere, the bathing area, the benches. On the west bank in Nußdorf, the pavilion at the jetty is ideal for a break. Opposite there is a peace tree, cuckoo calls echo from somewhere.

The church in Abtsdorf is almost completely covered with shingles and the bell rings when you drive through. On the northern edge of Lake Attersee, information boards and a raised bed garden in the park in Kammer are reminiscent of the painter Gustav Klimt (1862–1918). He enjoyed the summer here for many years. The majority of his over 50 landscape paintings were created at Attersee.

The last third of the stage to Lake Traunsee is an unpleasant dry spell, but the reception in Gmunden with the Ort lake castle, the promenade and the mountain backdrop is all the more pleasant. The entrance to the Kammerhof Museum seems inconspicuous, where director Johannes Weidinger is enthusiastic about the “Toilet & stuff” section.

“It is the history of the toilet over the last 200 years, since the Biedermeier period,” is how he describes the original collection, which is explained by its connection to local ceramic production. The showpieces are a water closet with a dolphin decoration that belonged to Empress Sisi, a travel toilet for her meal Franz Joseph and a custom-made piece for the conductor Herbert von Karajan, who refrained from using his hands in the quiet place. It was a toilet “with a water jet, a hairdryer and a foot pedal for flushing,” explains Weidinger.

The collection of historical chamber pots is also curious. Another part of the museum focuses on the salt that gave the Salzkammergut its name and has been mined for 7,000 years.

3. Gmunden-Hallstatt: 65 km and empty lockers

Would you like something more? Confectioner Michael Klein invented the Salzkammergut tart for his Gmunden coffee house “La Sonett”. “I and my team wanted to create a tart that reflected the region by combining the Gmunden dairies and the Bad Ischl salt,” says the 34-year-old.

The basis is a shortcrust pastry tartlet. There is also milk cream, roasted milk powder, caramel in the shape of Lake Traunsee and three hazelnuts as symbols for the local authorities of Gmunden, Traunkirchen and Ebensee.

Klein’s accommodation above the café is also unusual: the “Benedict” apartment, furnished in the former Volksbank safe. The preserved safe door leads into the bathroom with the original lockers – but they are empty.

The route from Traunkirchen via Bad Ischl and Bad Goisern is lost in mediocrity and heads towards a highlight: the eastern edge of Lake Hallstatt. It couldn’t be more wonderful than Obertraun, away from traffic, partly close to the bank and over a wide footbridge with a non-slip surface. The last loop of the day leads on the cycle path to Hallstatt.

4. Hallstatt-Trautenfels: 52 km and expensive lederhosen

“Hallstatt is not a museum,” warn boards in Chinese and English. Sometimes the town on Lake Hallstatt drowns in floods of visitors. When it comes to souvenirs, the Tinnef is at the top, so the works of the ceramic artist Thomas Gschwandtner are quickly overlooked.

“It’s all handmade,” he says. According to the 55-year-old, the triple-fired tree of life sells best when it is hung up. Every summer he maintains a special relationship with the bike. At the “Salzkammergut Trophy,” a mountain bike marathon, he acts as the devil and cheers on the participants.

Today’s stage is the most attractive in terms of changes in landscape and route, partly on dirt paths. It winds its way into the most remote corner of the Salzkammergut cycle path: through Styria to Trautenfels.

In the traditional costume capital of Bad Aussee, Christian Raich is one of the last Lederhosen makers in the region. The 54-year-old makes short models, only made to measure and made from tanned deer, buckskin or chamois leather. “Leather pants never go out of fashion,” he says.

You could even show up to a funeral in lederhosen: “That’s traditional for us.” Ordering takes patience. Raich has a year’s lead time. The cheapest model costs 1700 euros.

It goes through meadows and woodland, past a wooden chapel. In front of it there are flower pots and a milk jug. The Grimming mountain range (2,351 meters) rises majestically. Other photo motifs include the steep roofs of the Styrian houses, the ski jump on the Kulm, and finally the castle of Trautenfels.

Since the long-distance cycle path is not a completely closed circular route, you take the train from Trautenfels at Stainach-Irdning train station and rush back to Bad Ischl with your bike on board.

5. Bad Ischl-Salzburg: 60 km and former summer resort

Franz Joseph met his Sisi in Bad Ischl and the couple later lived in the imperial villa. The Austrian royals prepared the ground as a historic celebrity patch; this is where the Viennese summer resort society came together.

The fixed point in the holiday landscape is St. Wolfgang on Lake Wolfgangsee with its pretty streets, tourist shops, the church and the legendary “Im weissen Rössl”. The hotel was the setting for numerous film adaptations and sets for Ralph Benatzky’s operetta of the same name.

The cyclist’s muscles relax on the ship to St. Gilgen, mountain and lake backdrops are the big cinema here. The last body of water on the tour is Lake Fuschl. Later the impressions fade into the landscape.

The finale is a beautiful route through forest and meadowland. Welcome back to Salzburg. There are little love locks stuck to a bridge. The fortress and ice-white mountain peaks loom in the background.

Tips and information:

Travel time: The cycling season lasts until mid-October and starts again in May. In July and August, it is advisable to reserve accommodation in good time.

Arrival: By car it takes around two hours to Salzburg from Munich, nine and a half hours from Hamburg and seven and a half hours from Berlin. There are also numerous train connections from Germany.

The cycle path: The Salzkammergut cycle path is marked with green and white cycle signs and designated as “R 2” – in Styria: “R 19”. The level of difficulty is low and there are no Alpine passes to overcome. It goes over asphalt, paths, gravel, hiking trails and side roads. There are a few free bike service stations with pumps and tools along the route. There are also e-bike charging stations.

Planning and organization: Either on your own or as a package arrangement with bike rental, accommodation and luggage transport from neighborhood to neighborhood via Salzkammergut Touristik or OÖ Touristik.

Accommodation and supplies: The infrastructure is good along the way with accommodation, refreshments and shopping opportunities. When it comes to accommodation, the selection ranges from private room rentals (including on farms in the countryside) to inns and comfortable star hotels.

Information: salzkammergut.at