Bernau to Salzburg - 7 June

7 June

When we left Australia one section of our route we had not worked out at all was the Innsbruck to Salzburg section. A Kiwi couple we met in Innsbruck were also travelling to Salzburg, and the route chosen by the male (who of course loves hills) was a southern one over a pass somewhere.

We were all quite happy not to seek out more big hills at this stage, and agreed to follow the Inn River over the German border (just past Kufstein) and then follow the eastern section of the Bodensee Konigssee Cycle Route (BKR) towards Salzburg.The BKR turned out to be a very well signed route on mostly sealed cycle paths and quiet roads. We had followed it in the rain from Neubeuern to Bernau. Bernau is only a few kilometres from Chiemsee, a very large lake, so we decided this morning to make a short diversion from the BKR to have a look at it.

We found the Chiemsee

Of course we should have just ridden up to it and back to Bernau to continue, but we rode along the lake then navigated our way back to the BKR further east. True to form this involved some pretty poor tracks and a bit of backtracking, and by the time we stopped for coffee at Egerndach we had not made much progress. The mood of the group is very much affected by our progress, or especially the lack therof.

Over coffee and cake we had a look at the map to make sure we would get to Salzburg at a reasonable hour. The BKR takes a pretty indirect route in places, so we decided to follow it until Siegsdorf then let TomTom guide us the rest of the way.

This plan worked well, and our route included an exhilirating and scenic long downhill section on a good quiet road between Neukirchen and Oberteisendorf. We rode through forest and a little village with a georgeous little white church right next to the road. We were all enjoying letting the bikes run nobody stopped, so no photos, sorry.

At about Obermoos we stopped for a snack and to phone ahead to book some accommodation in Salzburg. We booked a double (€56) and a dorm room (€19) at the Yoho Hostel, put the address into TomTom and continued on our way.Even the last 20k was surprisingly scenic, passing through Teisendorf and Weildorf, largely along quiet narrow rural roads.

Beautiful riding approaching Salzburg.

Entering Salzburg.

Our double room with tent-drying balcony.

The Yoho hostel is central and very good. Our double room had an ensuite and a balcony (handy for drying our tent - still wet from Kufstein), and Rod apparently had good room mates, including Susannah and her young daughter Peggy from Germany. Peggy took a photo of us with our bikes for a school project.

Tomorrow a day of sightseeing in Salzburg then we head for Passau.