Multi-day tour with a detour to the Czech Republic

Before you set off, you should first make a detour to the ACL, where you can purchase the Austrian motorway tax sticker for your bike. Ask specifically for a motorbike vignette: this will cost you less than the equivalent for your car. How the vignette is affixed to the machine is precisely regulated. You will find explanations on the back.

On land, the route continues towards Freiburg im Breisgau and immediately afterwards into the Black Forest and through the beautiful region around Lake Titisee. The route continues via Friedrichshafen along the vineyards and orchards on the shores of Lake Constance. The impressive landscapes are well worth a photo stop! The last fifty kilometres of the first stage take you across the Austrian border and to the Hotel Sheraton Panoramahaus in Dornbirn (www.panoramahaus.at). Your bike is safely parked in the hotel’s underground car park while you enjoy a sumptuous meal and an impressive panoramic view in the restaurant on the top floor. Dornbirn is close to the Swiss border and only 35 kilometres from Liechtenstein.

Second stage in Austria

On the second day, you cycle over 364 kilometres between Dornbirn and Bad Hofgastein through valleys and mountains. The route takes you through the St. Anton am Arlberg ski resort and Innsbruck. You then pass the Ötztal valley on your right, where the 5,000-year-old mummy of the famous Tyrolean Stone Age man Ötzi was found at an altitude of 3,200 metres in 1991. The Ötztal valley is home to famous ski destinations such as Sölden, Gurgl and Obergurgl. But you now continue via Kaprun and Zell am See with its beautiful mountain lake to the Gastein Valley, around forty kilometres away.

A day to relax …

In Bad Hofgastein, you will stay at the Hotel Bismarck (www.hotel-bismarck.com), which impresses with its above-average quality. In a cosy wooden ambience, staff dressed in traditional costume will serve you gourmet cuisine that meets the highest culinary standards. You can relax wonderfully in the wellness and spa area or with a massage. There are therefore two alternatives for your rest day: You can make full use of the hotel’s infrastructure or take a trip to Salzburg. The charming city, where the composer Mozart was born in 1756, is only ninety kilometres away from Bad Hofgastein. If you would like to visit the old town, the Basteigasse car park near the cathedral is a good place to park your motorbike free of charge. In the ‘Café Mozart’ in Getreidegasse, you can immerse yourself in the history of the town in a cosy coffee house atmosphere. If you decide to take a city trip to Salzburg, you have the choice between the motorway and a small country road. With the second option, you should exercise caution and keep an eye on your speed, as the route has many speed traps and a high police presence. (The tip to drive carefully applies to the entire motorbike tour, of course).

Fourth stage with a detour to the Czech Republic

For the fourth day of your journey, I suggest you cycle via Salzburg and along the German border towards Passau. On this section you leave Austrian territory and cross the second longest river in Europe: the Danube. Continue on the B 85 towards the Czech Republic. 80 kilometres north of Passau, you cross the border to Železná Ruda (Markt Eisenstein). A surprise awaits you here: a road surface as smooth as a billiard table! You are on state road 27 (E 53), which takes you via Cachrov and Klatovy to Plzen. The route is so wonderfully winding that you hardly need to watch your speed at all. When travelling through Pilsen, a city of 170,000 inhabitants and the cradle of Pilsner beer, you need to be particularly careful: at certain times of the day, you should expect heavy traffic. After travelling through Pilsen, set course for Weiden in der Oberpfalz in Germany, where you will spend the night. The Altstadt Hotel Bräuwirt has an underground car park (book a parking space together with your room), which is accessible by lift and guarantees maximum safety for your motorbike. The hotel’s own restaurant and brewery serves home-brewed beer. Address: 10-14 Türlgasse, Weiden in der Oberpfalz (www.altstadthotel-braeuwirt.de).

Back home

On the last day of your motorbike tour, it’s time to make your way home. To do this, you first head towards Nuremberg. You return to Luxembourg via Ansbach, Heilbronn, Mannheim, Kaiserslautern and Saarbrücken. This 5th stage of 575 kilometres concludes your five-day journey full of discoveries.

Jean-Luc VANQUIN

Country: Luxembourg – France – Germany – Austria – Czech Republic
Duration of the tour: 5 days
Distance: 1986 km (without the trip to Salzburg)
Stage 1: Bertrange – Dornbirn: 496 km
Stage 2: Dornbirn – Bad Hofgastein: 409 km
Stage 3: Optional excursion to Salzburg: 190 km (there and back)
Stage 4: Bad Hofgastein – Weiden: 513 km
Stage 5: Weiden – Bertrange: 568 km
Recommended departure (ACL car park): 07:30

 How to download your route (gpx file)

• Please visit https://www.garmin.com/en-US/shop/downloads/basecamp and download Basecamp (for Windows or Mac) free of charge.
• In Basecamp, open a ‘new list’ and give it a name.
• You can ‘copy and paste’ the gpx file provided by the ACL into your Basecamp list and consequently view your route. (Note: we recommend that you connect your GPS to your computer in order to take full advantage of all of the features of your map)

How to upload the file to your GPS

Once you have opened your route in Basecamp you should click on the ‘Send to device’ icon, which you will find in the toolbar.