Bike Tour Reviews: Innsbruck To Salzburg Through The Alps Along River Cycle Trails
Innsbruck to Salzburg: Through the Alps Along River Cycle Trails
COUNTRY: Austria
Self guided from EUR € 1230
Self-guided:
Saturdays, Mondays, and Tuesdays: May 11 - Sep 24, 2024 (minimum 2 participants)
Description:
You will cycle along the Alps from Innsbruck to Salzburg. In Innsbruck, you will follow the wide valley of the Inn river passing little historical cities like Wattens, Hall, or Schwarz. On both sides you will see huge, impressive mountain ranges - and…
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★★★★★ Kirk R 7 months agoBeautiful riding in Austria
The scenery on the ride through the Austrian Alps was amazing! Bike paths and trails on nearly the entire ride. The bikes we rented were in excellent condition. There was plenty of time to stop and explore the small towns along the route. The transfer of luggage was seamless, with prompt pickup and drop off each morning. The breakfast provided was very good and a great way to start the day. We will definitely consider another European bike tour in the future.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- 4
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ chuck hughes 7 months ago
Innsbrock to Salzburg
Great way to see Austria, really enjoyed the trip, and would recommend it to others. Everything was very well planned and it went very smoothly.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- 2
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Nancy Nestler 8 months ago
Where's the sun?!
Even though we were a bit unlucky with the weather, the trip was fabulous!! The trails were leisurely and well marked. I know we missed out on some views because of our weather, but what we saw was amazing!! I loved staying in different cities and lodging each night. All places were clean and staff was friendly. I'd love to go back and do this trip again -- hopefully with clearer skies.
I would suggest being sure all bikes are equipped with odometers and a front basket that has a place to display the written directions so they are easily accessible. I had this on prior tours and missed it greatly this time. But overall -- very excellent!! I'd do it again in a heartbeat!!- What was the date of your tour?
- August 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Lauren Brzozowski 9 months ago
Exceptional Scenery
This trip delivers epic views from start to finish. We were constantly in awe of the Austrian countryside and quality bike paths. This trip was enjoyable with a good amount of riding and opportunities for site seeing. It felt like a vacation. Hotels and villages were charming and well selected. We chose to add extra days in both Innsbruck and Salzburg. This was the right choice for us because it allowed more time for sightseeing. As mentioned in other reviews, the route book was challenging to navigate/ ride with, so we downloaded their GPS tracks which made navigation a breeze.
We loved the extra info in the route book such as places of interest along the route. We stopped at most and would recommend trying to see as many as possible. On a past biketour.com trip, the route book also included recommendations for restaurants. That would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for a great trip!- What was the date of your tour?
- Aug 15 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Tracey Thiele 9 months ago
Fabulous Tour
Tour through the Austrian Alps was fabulous! The scenery gorgeous, accommodations and breakfasts lovely, and the ease having our luggage picked up and delivered made for a lighter and joyful time on the bike. Recommend this trip to anyone wanting the independence of a self-guided tour along with the ease of having a tour company provide the GPS, make hotel reservations and shuttle bags.
- What was the date of your tour?
- August 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- about 10
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Larry Chambers January 22, 2023
A Bike Trip You Don't Want To Pass Up
Let me start by says this is a great ride!!! The ride is generally flat, some very small hills. Our group consisted of seasoned and beginner riders. Two in our group used E-Bikes with no problems. So, if you feel that you could not ride the whole trip peddling manually, get an E-Bike, worked great!
Your first two days you will be working your way to Zell Am Ziller, transfer point over the mountain. Zell Am Ziller is nice little town. Has a brewery, shopping and a nice little restaurant by the river. The train station in town is the pickup point. The drive over the mountain to Krimml is roughly an hour.
Krimml sits at the top of the canyon, so the ride going forward will be a slow downhill, flat spots, and a couple small rolling hills. The waterfall at Krimml is incredible. The 10/15-minute walk to the base is worth it. Now, if you really want to see more of the fall, be hike ready. It took us over 40 minutes to get to the café that is two-thirds up the falls. Nice stopping point. If you decide to climb the last section, it does get steeper. Honestly, if you stop at the café, that’s good enough. Also, give yourself roughly 3 hours if you climb the falls.
When you leave Krimml the next day, this will be your longest stretch. Don’t be intimidated, the route is straight forward. Take you time, enjoy the view, stop in Mittersill and have lunch in the square.
Zallar Am See is touristy, but still a beautiful city. We spent our day off going up to the top of the ski slopes. Great views if its not cloudy, just wear a jacket. Plenty of shopping and site seeing in town. The lake is also a good place to hang out.
Your trip to Lofer will offer a walk-in cave and gorges. The cave was interesting, takes 30 minutes. The gorge is a ride uphill. E-Bike for anyone who struggles with hills. Lofer is a small quiet town. Good stop to rest.
Finally, heading to Salzburg. I didn’t think we would see anything as good as the previous days, but I was wrong. This stretch offers farmland views and various things to stop and see. We decided to head straight to Salzburg because of our limited time. I would recommend you book an additional day in Salzburg, lots to see. One stop I would recommend is the brewery called “Augustiner”. As Americans, we don’t see breweries like this. You don’t have to be a beer drinker to enjoy the beer garden or even the beer halls inside. It’s just cool!!! I would also recommend the fortress above the old part of Salzburg. Go early!!
One thing I do need to note. The map and directions that are provided can be confusing in some spots (usually when leaving or getting into larger towns). I recommend using a GPS. If you do run into issues, the locals are very helpful.- What was the date of your tour?
- July 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 2
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Much easier
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Nicolas Roggeman October 7, 2022
Great scenery, wonderful routing and fabulous hotels
Although we left it a little late to do this ride, starting on September 13th, we thoroughly enjoyed this fabulous self-guided tour. The scenery is to die for – lots of quaint villages set in the mountains on excellent bike paths most of the way and the hotels, for the most part, offered fantastic rooms, plentiful breakfasts and charming hospitality.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 13-19, 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 2-3
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers, Families with teens, Families with young kids
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Harry Kaufman October 5, 2022
What's not to love!
The trip was wonderful, the scenery is beyond beautiful, and Bike Tours promptly fixe3d the one bicycle problem we had.
My wife and I loved every day. The one issue and I don't say complaint, because we had a wonderful time was the maps. The maps are basically worthless. Maybe Vasco De Gama could have figured them out, but we couldn't. Of the problems, they are in a book so you can't loo k at them while you are cycling because they are in your panier, and I can't memorize them. Most of the time, you follow the trail and you can figure it out, and if you get lost so what? You are lost in a beautiful place. The last day was pretty rough, good luck getting to and finding a way to and out of Bad Reichenall. But we did and loved it.
So, we cannot wait for the next trip!!
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 1
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers, Families with teens, Families with young kids
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Megan Lunde October 4, 2022
Lovely Ride through the Alps
Overall, this was a very good trip. The itinerary is top-notch along well-marked trails, through a variety of landscapes - farmland, ski towns, narrow gorges, along a lake. I recommend the route with the rest day in Zell am See - we had a great day there!
We did have a few concerns with the local tour company. The quality of the bikes rented from the bike shop was not great - my bike was too small for my body but they had run out of bikes, so I was stuck with it for the week. Some of our group had arranged for bikes to be delivered to the starting hotel. It's a good thing others went to pick up in person, because the bike shop had no record of delivery and half our group would have been stuck without bikes for 2 days.
As others have mentioned, the guidebook is hard to follow. However, the general routes are along bike trails that are well marked. We did pretty well by following the path signs to our destination each day.
Our biggest mishaps were with the hotel and luggage transfer. We were a group of 4. About half the time, we had two adjacent rooms in the same hotel - no problem. Other nights, we were split across two different hotels. One night, we had a really strange configuration - 3 of us had a triple in one hotel, while 1 person was assigned to a different hotel across town. Every time we got split up, some luggage went to the wrong hotel. It didn't help that the tour company only provided 1 luggage tag per room. Seems like an easy fix to include an adequate number of luggage tags per traveler. Our final night in Salzburg, our hotel had no record of our reservation. It took awhile to figure out the issue - our reservations had been made against the wrong name.
On the whole, this is a lovely trip. Unbeatable scenery and value for the price.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 4
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Nicolas Roggeman September 23, 2022
Amazing Austrian Alpine
From Innsbruck through the Zillertal Valley, to Krimml and down toward Zell am See, Lofer and ending up in Salzburg – what an adventure, what great sights, doesn't get any better. The hotels were spectacular, and in spite of the rain in late September, we had a fantastic time.
- What was the date of your tour?
- mid September 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3-5
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Families with teens, Families with young kids
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Katherine Johnson September 20, 2022
Fantastic
We were blown away by the quality of the cycle trails and the beauty of Austria. The accommodation was comfortable and the breakfasts were lovely, and the bikes were comfortable! We highly recommend this trip!
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★★★★★ Robin Jones September 16, 2022
Breathtaking scenery and flawless trip
This was an incredible trip and the perfect way to see Austria! Cycling through the back farm lands was incredible and we were amazed at how absolutely green it was! The hotels were nice (some quite noisy)depending on where your room is located. Our bikes were top notch and we couldn't have asked for more. They were easy to handle, comfortable and worked perfectly for the duration of the trip. We didn't use the provided guide book but used google maps instead. This allowed us to take a few "off route" trails. It's amazing how accessible Austria makes it for people to be outdoors and enjoy nature, and the maintenance of the trails are perfect. We were concerned when the travel company did not provide us with luggage tags for our luggage transfers but they arrived daily without a problem. I would HIGHLY recommend this trip!
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 0
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat easier
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Jessica Phelan September 12, 2022
Beautiful Scenery!
This trip was absolutely stunning. The views were beyond beautiful form everywhere. For the most part you are riding along the river and the ride is very relaxing. Most days are fairly flat with a few small hills and many downhills. The trails are well marked and the map by the guide company is pretty easy to follow. Our group did the trip with hybrid bikes, but if I were to do it again, I would definitely get an e-bike. There is one day with some really big climbs and an e-bike would have made the whole a thing a bit more leisurely. We also did not pack helmets since they wouldn't fit in our suitcases and the bike shop ran out of rentals. I would advise bringing one with you.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2022
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Sara Ching September 12, 2022
Beautiful scenario in the Bavarian alps
The route is breathtaking. From Innsbruck to salzburg, we opted for the rest day in zell am see (100% recommmended) where we got a day off to take the gondolas up to see the mountains, go to the glacier lakes in kaprun and swim in zell am see lake. The hotels and breakfasts were great! The bike company they use to source the bike was a bit disorganized, the bikes were ok though seats were the hard racer types. Bike company also an out of bags and locks. They didn’t give us enough baggage tags and when they split our groups across two hotels, the baggages were often at the wrong hotel. There weren’t a lot of recommendations on optional things to do and places to eat so you definitely have to do a lot of your own research. Overall I would recommend the tour because the itinerary and accommodations were very nice but the agency that ran the tour itself could be better organized.
Also note the second day of biking (day 3) has a lot more uphills and downhills than it seems. And it rained really hard the last three days of our tours so definitely make sure you have good rain gear if you go in September.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 2
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Earl Naue August 9, 2022
Innsbruck to Salzburg Ride
This was our first of two bike tours in Austria this year and both were handled by two different tour providers and the services and directions provided by each were significantly different. The lodging choices were excellent for both, but riding directions were on opposite ends of the spectrum. Advise that you go with a tour company that provides an application with directions utilizing GPS.
- What was the date of your tour?
- May 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 4
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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BikeTours.com staff reply from Liv August 24, 2022
Hi Earl,
Thanks for your comments. I really hope you had a great holiday through this beautiful area. I just wanted to point out that we do offer GPS rental with this tour (see Dates & Prices). I agree, using GPS really makes a world of difference.
Thanks again,
Liv
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★★★★★ Barbara Owens August 9, 2022
The scenery was great. The maps and tour company were not.
This was our second tour with Biketours.com and we discovered that there is a huge difference between the tour companies they contract with in Austria. Our first tour was great. This one, not so. The map book and directions provided were just terrible. Rather than say "follow the well marked trail named xx, it was "go to the end of the hamlet and turn right" No street names. No named landmarks or areas. The ENTIRE book was that way. One day we had to be transported by van over a mountain but it did not explain that. It said to be at a train station in a certain town at 2 pm. We got there, thinking we were taking a train but could not figure it out. I called the company and they said a van was coming to get us. Other people on the same route also did not understand and they literally rode over the mountain. Communication from the company was terrible -- and I speak German!
- What was the date of your tour?
- May 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 2
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
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BikeTours.com staff reply from kirsten August 9, 2022
Thank you for traveling with us again, Barbara! We are sorry to hear that the route information provided to you was not clear and detailed. We have passed your message along to our partner to ensure that these issues are addressed, in hopes that future travelers will have an easier time following the maps as well as be made aware of included transfers during the tour. We appreciate you reaching out!
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★★★★★ Tricia Hoggan August 8, 2022
Amazing
It was wonderful. The scenery was spectacular. The hotels were perfect. I can't say enough good things about the trip.
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★★★★★ Richie and Trish October 12, 2021
Gute Fahren im die Berge
We had an amazing time on this tour. The scenery was breathtaking. It was so exciting to cycle along these beautiful rivers with the alps rising above us on both sides. The days just flew by as we cycled along. This was our seventh European tour and this ride compared very favorably with other rides we’ve taken. When we arrived in Innsbruck we found that we had to walk to a bike shop to pick up our bikes. Normally the bikes are delivered to our hotel but we took the walk and the shop owner was very helpful. Although the bikes were very heavy we found them quite roadworthy. They may have been the best bikes we’ve used in Europe. The hotels we stayed at we all lovely and provided us with great breakfasts. We especially enjoyed the Hotel Post in Zittertal with its rooftop infinity swimming pool. It was amazing. We also enjoyed having a rest day in Zell am see although it was hardly restful. We hiked, took a boat excursion and went to a fabulous spa for a swim. Many reviews of this tour complain about the book that accompanies the tour and now we know why. It’s very confusing and was not at all helpful. Usually the books on these tours are much more helpful and give recommendations for lunches and dinners. This book did none of that. The trail is well marked in most places but not in others. We often found ourselves scratching our heads trying to make sense of the signs on the trail and the directions in the book. We are seniors and found ourselves walking the bikes up hills from time to time but most of the ride was gentle easy riding. When we weren’t on dedicated bike paths the roads were quiet with little traffic. Overall it was an amazing trip that we would recommend to anyone who loves being in the mountains.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 13 - 19 2021
- How many tours have you completed?
- 7
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, First-time bike tourists, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
