This trip is and old friend to Blue Marble Travel... the first route they developed, and possibly still their best. It offers glorious biking through magnificent mountains, flowered villages, and along beautiful rivers on quiet bike paths. Pedal around opal lakes and past terraced vineyards. Pull up at pastry shops where the cakes’ decoration rivals that of the landscape.
Austria is full of the glory of an old, rich civilization, without the militarism of a powerful one. Music, art, history, palaces and crown jewels...
Tour Details
Duration
12 Days/11 Nights
Location
Austria
Season
August - September
Tour Type
Road Touring
Nearest City
Salzburg (Munich) to Vienna
Physical Condition Required
Good
Destination(s)
Alps to the Danube, Austria
Distance Traveled
Varies Day to Day
Fully Guided
Yes
Guest Capacity
19
Support Vehicles
Local Rail Lines - No Sag Wagon
Bike Rentals Available
Yes
Bike Brands
Bikes are custom-built, 21-speed road tourers, designed for the biking that is done.
Accommodations
All hotels (and sleeping berths on overnight trains) are included in the cost of the trip. Blue Marble bypasses chain hotels in favor of family-run inns: pretty in the country, central in the towns. A 17th century courtyard is preferred to an in-room TV.
Transportation to Start Site
Please contact Blue Marble for details.
Dining
Breakfast (continental) is included, except on overnight trains. It is generally taken at the hotel. Snore.
Most dinners are also included. You are on your own for dinner (and its expense) two nights per “trip week”. Included dinners may be taken in a group, or you may dine on your own, or in smaller “sub-groups”, with suggestions offered by the coordinator. On nights when you prefer one of these latter options, funds will be distributed sufficient to permit a wide selection of restaurants.
Meals are special events, and a focus of the trips, especially in the Latin countries. Choice is never lacking. But Blue Marble pride themselves on their ability to show local cuisines, often different from anglo-American tradition. “Picky” eaters, or those with special diets which exclude food types or groups, may find this focus tiresome. And since special diets are rare in Latin Europe, hosts are surprised by them. Complex dishes may contain some food you wish to avoid, hidden as a seasoning. Chefs who take pride in their creations are not only unwilling (or unable) to remove the offending ingredient, but can be unwilling to even discuss the recipe! Fortunately, the flexibility of the meal program allows you to retreat to a pizza place if the cultural experience becomes oppressive.
About Liquor
Guides showcase regional wines and beers. Guests pay for their own drinks.
Rates
$3,695.00per personCurrency Converter (Rates shown are in US Dollars. Rates and terms are subject to change.)
Additional Rate Info
Optional Private Single Room Supplement: $650 See Blue Marble's website for Canadian and Euro prices.
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Tour Itinerary
Days 1-2: Road Biking: Salzburg The route begins with time for play in Mozart’s birthplace. The town, dominated by a stunning castle and spread along the banks of a tree-lined river, is almost too storybook. You keep thinking you see Julie Andrews on the streets.
Visit the Marionette Theater and the Mozart House. Bike out to Heilbron castle, whose fountains unexpectedly hydrate. Perhaps catch a concert at the castle. Or maybe never escape the tree-shaded, song-filled beer gardens. Cycling on the river bike path is the best way to get around, but trolley-buses are available for those trying to forget that they’re on a bike trip.
Days 3-8: Road Biking: The Austrian Alps They will quickly be reminded: Mount your trusty steed for the ride to Vienna. Words cannot express what Blue Marble feels for this beautiful journey. Bike along picturesque Alpine valleys, snack on wiener schnitzel and currywurst, cable-car up mountains, visit salt mines, monasteries, ice caves, and wine bars.
Bowl nine-pins against the local league. Go boating on wild and undiscovered lakes, so different from Swiss or Italian counterparts. Picnic in flower-filled meadows, sip wheat beers in waterside cafés, watch the crowning of the local nasturtium queen, or listen to an oom-pah band on the village green. All surrounded by the natural pageantry of these favorite mountains.
Austria’s most famous pastry shop is on the route, as are Kaiser Franz Joseph’s villa and Schubert’s trout. The pace is relentless. Rest, relaxation, eating, drinking… oh yeah, and biking.
Days 9-11: Road Biking: The Danube to Vienna From Steyr, a charming city at the confluence of two rivers, cycle down the Danube bike path, surrounded by vineyards and pampered by terraces serving fruity apple juices and fresh white wines. Two nights on the river. Visit Melk, home to a spectacular rococo abbey. Then pedal through the pretty wine towns of the Wachau to Krems, the country’s viticultural capital, and on to Vienna.
Days 11-12: Road Biking: Vienna Vienna is one of Blue Marble Travel's favorite cities. The music is beautiful, the city’s history is rich; diversions are legion. Tour the town on its trademark red trams. Experience the delightful contrast between Hofburg castle, home to the Holy Roman Empire’s crown jewels, and the festive heurigen, serving up wines of their own fabrication to happily soused patrons. Music, art, beauty, and late nights in trendy bars are all in store.
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