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Self Guided Motorcycle Tour to Austria

Join our self guided motorcycle tour to Austria. Journey to the land of breathtaking scenery, lederhosen, rich alpine folklore, welcoming hospitality and exhilarating mountain passes.

The self guided motorcycle tour to Austria is a popular choice with all new hotels and modified routes. It offers the very best of Alpine hospitality.

Furthermore, the high mountain passes, as well as the alpine views and the peaceful valleys, make this a great journey. The Tyrol region might not be the biggest place in the World. But it certainly has the scenery on a grand scale.

This fantastic self guided motorcycle tour to Austria will start with a short channel crossing and a leisurely ride to your first overnight stop in Luxembourg. The second stopover will be in the Black Forest.

Your base in Tyrol is a traditional alpine-style hotel. It has modern and spacious rooms as well as a fantastic restaurant. It also overlooks an alpine valley, pine forests and mountain peaks. This idyllic spot will provide you with an ideal location to enjoy the panoramic views. It is also an excellent way to relax and reflect on the day’s events.

From here, your Austrian Tyrol self guided motorcycle tour truly shows its famous Alpine charm and character. You’ll have the opportunity to ride into Switzerland, Italy as well as Germany. Day trips will also include rides over the local mountain passes. These include Arlberg, Silvretta and of course, Stelvio. Piller and Reschen are less challenging but also enjoyable. While in Tyrol, pay a visit to Glorenza, a medieval town in Italy. It is a little town with cobbled streets and a square protected by renaissance walls with ramparts and corner bastions.

If you decide to ride another iconic pass, your route will take you over the Timmelsjoch pass and the Shady World of ancient smugglers and outlaws. The High Alpine Road offers a fantastic ride and magnificent views of the surrounding mountain landscapes. Two different museums mark a unique Timmelsjoch history. Timmelsbach Bridge – a walk-in cube is created at the spot where the Timmelsjoch road crosses the ancient trail that leads from Tyrol to Italy. Also, a worthwhile stop along this scenic ride is Europe’s highest motorcycle museum. It boasts over 230 exhibits from 100 different manufacturers.

The city of Innsbruck is only an hour’s ride away and definitely worth a visit. The main tourist attractions are the Golden Roof, the Royal Palace as well as the Bergisel ski jump hill.

Around these parts of the Austrian Tyrol, local cuisine is coupled with Italian culinary flair. The result is a unique assortment of gastronomic delights. These include grostl (bacon, onion and potato fry-up), speckknoedel (bacon dumplings) and spätzle (macaroni & cheese).

However, if you fancy something more biker authentic, you might opt to have a cheeseburger and chips. You can find this at the Oilers 69 café. This is a 1950s style dinner just outside Imst (road 171). One can say this is the Austrian answer to the British Ace Café, Ponderosa Café or Super Sausage Café. Here you will meet many other motorcyclists. Some are local riders out on a day ride. But also many are travelling from all over Europe. And some from the rest of the World in search of Tyrol’s famous passes.

From here, on your way back to the hotel, you can continue your ride over the Piller Pass and stop at the Kaunergrat Nature Park as well. The café balcony offers fantastic views of the high alpine landscape and the river Inn below.

PLEASE NOTE: On rare occasions, the itinerary might slightly change depending on hotel availability.

For more day-to-day information regarding the Austrian Tyrol self-guided motorcycle-tour, please spend some time studying the itinerary below.

For an alternative to the self guided motorcycle tour to Austria, please use this link: Lake Achensee self guided motorcycle holiday

If you require a motorcycle rental for the self guided motorcycle tour to Austria, please get in touch with our partner, RoadTrip.

Please visit our Facebook page for up-to-date information about the Austrian Tyrol self guided motorcycle holiday.

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Tour highlights:

3*** and 4**** biker friendly hotels
Medieval town of Glorenza
Stelvio pass
Day trip to Innsbruck
Timmelsjoch pass
Weissseespitze Glacier
Ressia Pass
Piller Pass
Silveretta Pass
Arlberg Pass
Biker café Oilers 69

When to go:

Late May to September - during August, a high-season supplement is applicable

Countries:

Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, France

Motorcycle rental:

Available

Self Guided Motorcycle Tour to Austria Itinerary

Day 1 – Folkestone to Luxembourg (Approx. 250 miles)

Today is the start of your Austrian Tyrol self-guided motorcycle-tour / self guided motorcycle holiday. A morning channel-tunnel crossing will take you under the water to Calais. From there, you’ll be heading towards Belgium. The first half of the route will be on the motorways.

This will give you more time to ride the beautiful country roads in the afternoon. A great thing about riding through the Belgian Ardennes is you’ll never be short of breathtaking views. As an added bonus, there are also uncongested motorways and scenic N roads as well as perfectly maintained country lanes.

If your interests lay in military history, then Bastogne is an excellent place to visit. There is the War Museum, Mardasson Memorial, Bastogne Barracks and a little tank parked in the town centre.

The town also has a lovely square with several cafes and restaurants offering a great selection of traditional specialities. The cakes from the bakery appear to be particularly popular amongst our clients. There is also a large car park with allocated motorcycle bays.

From here, it is only a short but pleasant ride to your hotel in Vianden – Luxembourg.

"Luxembourg is one of the smallest wine-growing regions in Europe. However, apparently, it produces some of the best Riesling and Pinot Gris in the world"

Day 2 – Luxembourg to Black Forest (Germany) (Approx. 240 miles)

The next morning, the Austrian Tyrol self-guided motorcycle-tour / self guided motorcycle holiday continues. After a hearty breakfast, you’ll take a nice relaxed ride through the heart of Luxembourg before crossing into Germany.

The border crossing involves riding over the dam on the river Rhine. This was the first hydroelectric power station built on the Franco-German post-war coalition. It is a masterful fit of engineering. Therefore if you are fortunate enough to be able to park your bike, it is definitely worth seeing.

The rest of the day, you’ll spend riding beautiful country routes that include a section of the legendary Schwarzwaldhochstraße – B500. This scenic route runs all the way from the charming spa town of Baden-Baden to the Swiss border. It is also indisputably one of the best biking roads in Europe, if not in the world.

Lake Mummelsee on top of the road is the most scenic coffee stop anyone can wish for. According to the legend, mermaids can be seen emerging from the water on moonlit nights.

"According to the German Brewers Federation, you could drink a different German beer every day for 15 years"

Day 3 – Black Forest to Tyrol (Austria) (Approx. 200 miles)

After departing from the Black Forest, you might split your day into three different stages. The first place worth seeing is the river Rhine waterfalls in Schaffhausen. The Rheinfall is on the Swiss-German border and is also Europe’s largest waterfall.

Time permitting, you might go on a short boat ride that will take you to the touching distance of tumbling water. From the viewing platform at Laufen Castle, you’ll have stunning views of the waterfalls.

From here, your ride will continue along the banks of the beautiful Lake Konstanz. The second stage is a ride along the L200 that will give your first flavour of riding in the mountains.

The Bregenzerwaldstraße is one of the most popular and scenic biking routes in this part of the Austrian Alps. It will take you through the famous ski resorts of Warth, Lech and Zürs. And before you arrive at your hotel, you’ll have the opportunity to ride your first mountain pass of the tour. Arlberg pass is a popular biking destination, and you are likely to come across many other bikers there.

Often on this day, you might get tangled with the locals moving the cows to the higher or lower pastures. It can be annoying and occasionally mucky, but it is something we don’t see every day, and it’s definitely worth a bit of patience.

"In Austria, after a meal, you are likely to be offered a shot of schnapps, Austria's favourite digestive. This is not a drink for the faint-hearted. It usually contains around 40% alcohol"

Day 4 – Free day (Approx. 150 miles)

There are two riding options that you might consider today. You can point your bike in the direction you came from and have a go at Silvretta Alpine road. It is a famous mountain pass with many well-cumbered hairpins and an excellent restaurant by the lake. However, you can also include this pass into the return leg of your journey and use this day for the second option.

The second option is what most people do – point their bikes towards Italy and Switzerland. This round trip will take you over the Reschen, Ofen, Umbrail, and of course, the one and only… Stelvio pass. After all, this is the main reason why most people come on this tour. Stelvio is an acquired taste, you either like it, or you hate it.

For many years we have only been riding it on a motorcycle. And then we heard about the Stelvio marathon and thought, hmmm, why not? So, now we can claim that we have done it on foot, bicycle and motorcycle and still we are not sure if we like it or hate it!

During our guided tours, we usually stop at the Reschen pass in Italy to take photos of the submerged village. Only the church tower is visible above the water. Just down the road, it is worth stopping at the medieval walled town of Glorenza.

And then it’s all the way up the Stelvio pass. It’s quite a challenging ride, but the stunning views and great sense of achievement definitely outweigh the effort.

The cream on the cake is the roller coaster descent to Switzerland via the narrow and twisty Umbrail pass. The Ofen pass is an exhilarating ride and suitable for a coffee and to take photos before returning to your hotel.

"The 18th-century English tailor Thomas Saint designed the first sewing machine. However, the first patent on a design for a sewing machine was granted to the Austrian tailor Josef Madersperger of Vienna"

Day 5 – Free day (Approx. 120 - 200 miles)

One of the popular day trips from our guided tours is a ride over the Hahntennjoch pass. It is one of the smaller passes in the area but quite narrow, twisty, often cold and occasionally demanding. It is a high mountain pass that connects the river Inn’s upper valley with Lechtal Valley during the summer months.

The high Alpine road leads across remote Bschlabertal descending to the beautiful Lechtal Valley. When you reach the bottom of the pass, you can turn right and follow the river Lech to Reutte.

From there, it is a smooth ride back to your hotel. However, if you decide to turn left at the junction, you will end up at the Arlberg pass once again. But this time you’ll arrive there from the opposite direction. In doing so, on this tour, you will ride the entire length of the Lechtalstraße as well as Bregenzerwaldstraße.

This scenic ride is particularly popular with local motorcyclists from Austria and Germany, as well as Italy. It takes about a few hours to do, and usually, that’s just enough. Combined with a lovely traditional lunch, it always turns out to be a good day.

"According to the book "Fun facts about Austria," one of the fun facts is associated with their tendency to win the Nobel Prizes. So far, they have won seven times"

Day 6 – Free day (Approx. 100 miles)

Today is usually an easy day on this fantastic Austrian Tyrol self-guided motorcycle-tour / self guided motorcycle holiday. You can ride to Innsbruck and take a stroll around the old town. Tucked away in the Alps’ dramatic landscapes, Innsbruck is a true alpine gem and renowned for its many tourist attractions. The semi-circular quarter of the Old Town (Altstadt) is where it all happens. It is enclosed by a ring of cobbled streets and narrow alleys known as the Graben (Moat). It is a pedestrian area where you can stroll through 800 years of history and have a nice slice of strudel and a cup of freshly brewed coffee. With its narrow house-fronts, handsome doorways and tall windows, it is a perfect place to experience the famous Tyrolean cafe culture.

Highlights of your little walking tour will include the beautiful Baroque Helblinghaus and nearby 16th-century Golden Eagle (Goldener Adler).

Finally, also worth visiting is the 57-meter-high Stadtturm, a watchtower built in the 14th century along with the adjoining Old Rathaus. On your way back, the Oilers 69 biker café is an interesting place to have lunch and relax for a couple of hours. Or… on the other hand, if you don’t fancy riding, you can just have a long lazy breakfast and do nothing for the rest of the day.

"Austrians love their coffee drinking, and they are very proud of this tradition. But what they are less proud of and not so keen to mention is that it was brought to Vienna by the Turks. But nevertheless, they are still very proud of it."

Day 7 – Tyrol to Black Forest (Approx. 200 miles)

As mentioned earlier today, you can include Silvretta pass into your route. This would be your last mountain pass in the Alps as well. Silvretta-Hochalpenstraße is one of the most beautiful and famous mountain roads in the Alps. It is no coincidence that it is also often referred to as “the dream ride for biking connoisseurs”.

Every time we go that way, we love the 34 pothole-free hairpin bends. As an added bonus, Silvretta Lake’s restaurant serves the best apple and custard cream strudel ever. It is worth mentioning that it is a private road, so you’ll need to pay a toll charge. However, it is not that expensive, but it is worth every penny.

The rest of the journey will take you through some picturesque scenery of the German countryside. The mileage is not that great, so you will have plenty of time to enjoy the ride and stop as often as you like. If you wish, extra days can be arranged to extend your stay in the Black Forest.

"Germany has a festival for nearly every occasion and every time of year with Christmas Festival being the biggest. However, according to some travel experts, one of the most popular Christmas markets in Europe is in… Birmingham"

Day 8 – Black Forest to Champagne Region (France) (Approx. 240 miles)

You wouldn’t be blamed if you assumed that there are no more mountains at this stage of your journey. But this is not exactly true. There is still one more mountain to cross.

The Schlucht pass in the Vosges Mountains is another popular biking route. It is slightly different from the Alpine passes, but it is a beautiful ride. The region is equally frequented by bikers from both Germany and France. Out of all of the mountain passes on this tour, this one is most likely to be almost car-free. It twists and turns through a diverse landscape of thick forests and green meadows as well as sleepy French villages. And once you reach the top, you can stop and admire the breathtaking vistas.

Alternatively, you might choose to stop at the lakeside town of Gérardmer. It is a local ski resort situated at the foothills of the Vosges Mountains. It has quite a few boulangeries and cafés as well as restaurants. And also the parking is not a problem.

The rest of the journey towards the Champagne region is usually the most peaceful ride of the entire tour.

"Sabrage is the act of opening a champagne bottle with a sword. It is only performed during special and ceremonial occasions… and preferably in the presence of trained medics"

Day 9 – Champagne Region to Folkestone (Approx. 250 miles)

Sadly it is time to leave, catch your afternoon euro-tunnel crossing and go home. You all must have kids, cats and dogs and must be keen to see them again. We hope that you enjoyed this tour as much as we enjoyed organising it.

Thank you for RidingWithUs this fantastic Austrian Tyrol self-guided motorcycle-tour / self guided motorcycle holiday. And we hope to hear from you again soon.

"No journey is too long if you are in good company"

What's included?

Price

Includes

8 nights b&b accommodation
7 evening meals
Return Eurotunnel crossing
GPX routes
Trip check list
Daily itinerary
Suggested tourist attractions
Emergency services numbers

Excludes

What our customers say

“Thank you for a brilliant holiday. The Stelvio Pass is something to remember. This was our first bike tour to Europe and it was fantastic. See you next year.”

Tracy & Shawn

Dublin, Ireland, 2019