The Bicycle Adventure Club - Come Ride With Us!

2026 Salzburg to Innsbruck Bike & Hike

August 26th to September 9th

Ride Director: Roy Brubaker
Ride Co-Director: Kristi Brubaker
Ride Driver: Warner Griswold
Report by: John Mazur

Two points to put up front: I recommend this trip for those that want to experience Austria, and this is a bike and hike…you will do both those activities. We started in Salzburg with an opportunity to put our bikes together with optional rides to give them a shake-out ride…easy to get out of town on bike paths then experience some local townships and pasturelands.  Many of us opted for the recommended Rick Steves free/self-guided audio tour of Salzburg – just the ticket.  Note – some folks were surprised by their rental e-bikes – they were heavy (I’d guess more than 60 lbs) and not too nimble compared to what they had at home – I’d recommend fully understanding what you’re about to rent if that’s what you plan to do.

Getting out of Salzburg was easy with well-maintained bike paths – some steep sections, but they were handled by all.  Another couple general comments – you will spend a fair amount of time on Austrian bike paths.  They are mostly paved with some sections of well groomed hard packed “gravel”.  Road bikes did fine…wider tires were better, but not required.  Rides were not long – 40 miles or so.  Hotels had almost universally high standards (ok, they need to put some screens on their windows!) with super breakfasts to fuel for the day of hiking or biking.  Many of the hotels had spas with saunas and hot tubs and gyms.  They were appreciated and used.  Grocery stores were also readily available for any supplies for hikes or bike rides.  Finally – I think we all remarked on what a clean country it was…no trash along the roads or paths or hiking trails.  Wonderful!!

Our ride leaders always pointed us to optional rides for each location (we were staying in valleys so that mostly involved some climbing to venture out on the bike) as well as hiking opportunities or alternative distractions – no one struggled to find suitable activities.  The hiking days were equally well described with options (I recommend loading up the AllTrails app on your phones and getting comfortable using it….it was well used on our trip) – plenty of gondola rides with mountainside restaurants provisioned with Apfel strudel.   If you want to see a very impressive waterfall this is your trip – the hike to see the Krimmler Wasserfalle was done by all of us and the 1000 pictures resulting proved its impressiveness.  Highly recommended.  One intrepid tandem team tackled the extremely tough Grossglockner climb...first tandem ascent known to our experienced group (see photo)!  Some folks ventured off to do an ice-cave tour and fully enjoyed that as well (warm clothes required!)

The final ride into Innsbruck was just under 50 miles along flat/easy bike paths.  These are well used bike paths (bikes, runners, moms with strollers) so they invite easy pedaling and sightseeing – very enjoyable.  The directions took us past the Swarovski crystal factory and historic currency mint.  Several folks headed back on another day to take the Swarovski tour.  We found a phone tour of old town Innsbruck (no Rick Steves) and wandered around taking in the history and architecture.   We did this in mid-September and there were still plenty of tourists enjoying the sights and restaurants.

Final thoughts – we had nearly perfect weather for the entire trip so we spent lots of time outside enjoying biking, hiking, and wandering towns and cities.  What an opportunity!  Austria is a very welcoming place with impressive universal English language skills…it was always easy to order anything or ask a question.  Our accommodations were generally first rate. Highly recommended.