Road cycling routes in Salzburg

There are few better places than Salzburg to combine city and road cycling. Salzburg lies exactly on the border between the Alpine foothills and the northern Alps, which leads to a great variety of possible tours. While there is flat terrain to the north, i.e. to the Salzburg Lake District and to Upper Austria, there are also fantastic mountain stages in the immediate vicinity of the city, such as the Gaisberg and Rossfeldstrasse.

Our tip for the foothills of the Alps: From Eugendorf, very close to the city of Salzburg, there are many beautiful road bike tours. The circuit around Mondsee and Irrsee, which takes in the Salzkammergut region and also gives you an impression of the Salzburg lakeland, is one of the great classics in the Salzburg region.

Our tip for many metres of altitude: The Rossfeld-Runde is a dream for all hike collectors in the border region of Bavaria and Salzburg. The magnificent panoramic route offers great views and first-class climbs.

In the south of the city of Salzburg, where the Tennen and Hagen mountains rise up, the Tennengau welcomes its visitors. The town of Hallein is the district capital and perfectly suited as a base for racing bike rides. From here you can also quickly reach the beautiful routes in the neighbouring Berchtesgadener Land.

The standard racing bike routes are the Tennengebirgsrunde and the route over the Postalm directly on the border of the Salzkammergut and Tennengau. The Trattberg is a beautiful mountain climb, on whose toll road there is usually little traffic. A particularly beautiful section is the stretch from St. Koloman through the Weitenau to Pichl, where the Postalmstrasse starts. Back in Hallein, you can drink to a successful tour in one of the nice bars in town.

In the Pongau, the roads are getting wider again and there are more opportunities to take small side roads. Flachau in particular offers itself as a base for rallies. The central location in the Pongau makes it possible to ride in all directions and also offers the best infrastructure for a varied summer holiday.

The road bike tour around the Rossbrand is not very difficult and leads along country roads with little traffic. A small detour into Styria is also included. Also not too difficult but all the more enjoyable is the tour to the Jägersee lake at the head of the Kleinarltal valley.

But the Pongau has a lot more to offer, convince yourself of that and take a look at the region's travel guide.

The Pinzgau is also a really good place for two-wheelers. In addition to the many offers for mountain bikers and gravel bike enthusiasts, there are of course one or two delicacies for racing bikes. One of these is without a doubt the Steinberg circuit, which takes you through the Leoganger Steinberge, one of the most beautiful mountain ranges in Salzburger Land.

But the real classic in the Pinzgau is of course the most famous mountain classification in Austria, the climb on the Großglockner Hochalpenstrasse. Even the Giro d'Italia has included this prestigious climb in its programme. The climb of all climbs in Salzburger Land begins in Fusch and ends after 1800 metres of altitude and 36 hairpin bends on the Kaiser Franz Josef Hütte, where you can feel like an emperor. The gluttons now race down to Heiligenblut in Kärnten, in order to take in the ascent as well.

Multi-day road bike tours are not yet very fashionable, but with the trend towards bikepacking, fewer and fewer road cyclists have any inhibitions about setting out with light luggage and going on multi-day tours. The "Große Runde durchs Salzburger Land" is definitely a tour where you don't need much luggage, as it is logistically quite manageable. This round tour through Salzburger Land has four stages with suggested overnight stays in Ebenau, Flachau and Saalfelden.