Our family of five, parents, me and my two siblings were planning a trip to Austria for a long time solely to see the land through cycling expedition. The route that we chalked out passed through the city of lakes and mountains Salzkammergut music rich Vienna and Salzburg; Melk and region of wines Wachau Valley. We took a flight to Munich and then a train to Salzburg. The train was available every two hours so we were not inconvenienced. The journey concluded in two hours and we found ourselves alighting at more than a century old railway station Hauptbahnhof. We kept our luggage in the storage locker at the railway station and headed for the information office to find out about cycle renting shops.
Salzburg has well developed bicycle path we were told. On the way, there are a lot of self service stations providing free tools oil air and catering to emergencies. Some paths are graveled while others are forested. We were soon on our way and wished to be at Attersee through the ancient railroad 45 km away by sunset. We rode along the river Salzach. The Salzkammergut path took us to Thalgau and little away through old railroad track is Mondsee Lake. Lake Attersee is in the proximity. The rolling hills give an excellent view. The breeze is cold and refreshing. We checked in the local hotel and went for a boating session at Lake Attersee.
We were up early the next day and were looking forward to seeing with pleasure the mesmerizing romantic Salzkammergut with greenish water lakes surrounded by mountains and authentic villages. Nature was at its best in autumn. Our destination was Gmunden. The Distance between Lake Traunsee and Gmunden is carried out by boat and in off season by train. The night was spent at Gmunden.
It was third day of our journey and on Ager River Lambach via Laakirchen Steyrermuhl was 32 km away in upper Austria. The ride to Linz near Traun Rivers was smooth and through train. We decided to enjoy the local sightseeing of Museum, the concert hall and the local market. The night was spent at Linz.
On fourth day, goal was to cover 56 km to Danube passing through monastery of St Florian and Enns an ancient town. Overnight we stayed at Ardagger Grein village. Here later we went to see the oldest theatre of the town.
The fifth day, we aimed to taste the local wines at Heurigen 55 km away. On the way at Melk, we enjoyed the view of abbeys, ancient architectural superior castles and ruins of some prominent structures. There were a couple of villages where the locals made us feel very welcome.
The sixth day the 62 km ride through the landscape of WeiBenkirchen and Durstein was a memorable one. We even visited Benedictine monastery of Gottweig. At Tulln we boarded the train for Vienna and caught early morning flight back home. We opted for self guided departure and with help of navigator and maps explored the beautiful country with almost nil pollution and different terrain which kept the lungs intact in original shape and no breathlessness.