Austria Staff Picks Bike Tours

“This was a fantastic trip for two families - one had prior bike trip experience and one was new to the bike tour world. We flew into Munich and spent a day exploring prior to training to Innsbruck. We were super fortunate with the weather as it had snowed in Innsbruck the week prior but we had a full week of sun with only a few showers on the rest day in Zell am See. Picking up the bikes in Innsbruck was easy - Chris at Crazybikez made sure that everyone had a good fit and provided us with the repair kit. The bikes are touring bikes - comfortable, but nothing speedy. I wouldn't want to try and climb hills for extended periods with them. Aside from a single flat on the last day, they performed admirably. When you check in at the hotel, the group was usually listed as BestSeller Reiser instead of the family name. All the hotels were enjoyable with easy bike storage, yummy breakfast, and the luggage transfer went off without incident. At each hotel, expect to pay a per person tourism tax - usually about 4 euro per person. I strongly encourage using the provided GPS routes as opposed to the guidebook for active routing, but the book does provide some information for interesting side trips. Chris told us to visit the town of Hall the first day and the Swarovski Crystal Museum. Take the time to ride up to Mayrhofen on day 2 prior to the transfer from Zell am Ziller to Krimml. The gorges and cave between Zell am See and Lofer were fun to explore. Make sure to take advantage of the various SummerCards that the hotels will provide. In Krimml it gets you into the waterfalls, in Zell am See - the boat tour, gondola to the top of the ski area, and the beach park, in Lofer - the gondola. The extra day in Zell am See is well worth it. We also spent an extra day at the end to explore Salzburg before taking the train back to Munich. We never had to reach out to the local support but the guidebook packets were received at the hotel in Innsbruck provided us with contact information if needed. I would definitely use biketours.com again” Less

“We traveled in late-August to early-September of 2025. The scenery was more stunning than I imagined it would be and the weather was perfect nearly every day; sunny skies, mild temperatures, and cool nights. (Most European hotels do not have AC so cool nights were a real blessing.)

Our e-bikes were in excellent condition and all of them worked flawlessly during the entire trip.

The breakfast's were hearty meals including meats, cheeses, eggs, yogurt, fruit, juice, coffee, and some pastries.

Some thoughts about the cycling. Using a GPS app to map your day's ride is critically important if you do not want to get lost. Austria is full of biking and hiking trails so it is very easy to take the wrong trail at trail intersections. We used Garmin's Explore app to navigate the biking trails and it worked really well. (A link with the GPS coordinates will be provided by the touring company.) On a related note, Google Maps worked much better in Europe than Apple's Maps app when walking around towns and villages.

The paper maps provided by the touring company are nearly impossible to follow while riding but they do have a benefit. The night before each day's ride--after studying the map--we would make notes indicating the distance to select villages, bridges, lakes, and intersections, etc. (The maps provide these distances.) Our notes then served as our sign posts ensuring that were were on the correct road or trail during the next day's ride, and also plan our lunch stops.

Though this was not explained in any of the literature I read, at every hotel we stayed we were given a two day "summer card" ("Sommerkarte") free of charge. (We did have to ask for it at one hotel.) These cards are incredible deals. They allow for FREE transportation on local and regional buses and trains, and also provide free admission to select museums, free rides on the Schmittenhohe Cable Cars in Zell am See, and free access to the water falls in Krimml. Not sure why an explanation of this tremendous benefit was not provided.

Just for clarification, the "taxi" that you catch at the train station in Zell am Ziller is a large passenger van pulling a trailer. Your bikes are loaded into the trailer and then everyone piles into the van for a breathtaking 45-minute ride to Krimml. (Your luggage will be in the van as well.) By the way, the bike ride to Zell am Ziller is less than 15 miles and the village is beautiful so I would recommend getting there before noon and then having lunch at one of the restaurants along the river before catching your "taxi" to Krimml that afternoon.

Our favorite activities:
Schmittenhohe Cable Cars in Zell am See- Use your summer card to catch the bus to the cable car facility and then ride to the top of the mountains where you can hike trails and have lunch. The views from the mountain tops are stunning.
Water Fall at Krimml- Again, use your summer card to access that water fall. You can walk up to the base of the waterfall and/or walk up the trail that leads to the top of the falls. There are lookouts about every 200 feet of elevation gain.
The Schloss Tratzberg Castle in Jenbach- It's probably a 10-mile detour on your first day, and somewhat expensive (summer cards do not work there), but well worth it. I believe this is one of the best preserved castles in the world. The current owner of the castle accompanied our tour (we were the last tour of the day) and he embellished much of the narrative provided by our guide.
The Family Gundolf Dinner Show in Innsbruck- A quirky Austrian variety show that includes dinner and a beer. It's kind of a Lawrence Welk meets Hee-Haw fusion for those old enough to remember those programs.
Salzburg- I only mention it because the reviews I read of Salzburg before our trip suggested it was kind of a one-dimensional city. ("Sound of Music.") It was much nicer than I anticipated with many shops, delicious restaurants, and one fascinating "speak easy" bar called Burdoch's Punch and Cocktails. At Burdoch's, you tell the bartender the name of a drink you like and then she creates a similar alternative using all sorts of random ingredients. I like "French 75's"; she made me something that was even better. The bartender and waiters were also excellent conversationalists.” Less