The Ciclovia Alpe-Adria Radweg as it descends from Mallnitz to Obervellach

Overview

The route can be divided into five main parts:

• from Salzburg it follows the Salzach river as it heads south. From Schwarzbach it climbs to the Klammtunnel (a road tunnel with a protected cycleway) that leads to the Gasteinertal (Gastein valley)
• it heads through the Gasteinertal towards Bad Gastein and Böckstein where you pick up the Tauerntunnel motorrail shuttle that takes you to Mallnitz
• from Mallnitz there’s a big descent to connect with the Drauradweg as it follows the Drau river heads for Spittal an der Drau and Villach. From Villach, the route heads for the border with Italy
• in Italy you pick up the FVG1, a traffic-free, surfaced, cycleway that follows the course of an old rail line for most of the way to Venzone
• from Venzone, south to Udine and Grado the route follows a mixture of cycleways and quiet country roads
• from Cervignano del Friuli to Grado it takes a tarmac-surfaced, traffic-free cycleway on the old railway line that ran between Cervignano, Aquileia and Belvedere on the shores of the Grado lagoon. There is a dedicated cycleway on the causeway that links Grado with the mainland.

Map and altitude profile

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The Tauernradweg near Hallein

Options and variations

Most people riding the route head north to south, but there is no reason why you couldn’t go the other way. Bear in mind that there’s a fairly tough climb from Obervellach to Mallnitz. 

You don’t need to start at Salzburg. There are several cycleways that meet at the city: you could, for example, follow the Tauernradweg from Braunau am Inn where it connects with the Innradweg.

The Tauernradweg runs from the source of the Salzach at Krimml to Passau on the Donau (Danube). So you could start or finish at Passau (or indeed continue following the Donauradweg.

At Salzburg, the route connects with the Mozart Radweg, a 390-kilometre route in Salzburgerland and Bavaria that you can start and finish in Salzburg. Alternatively, you could use it to continue towards Rosenheim (for example).

Slovenija

At the southern end of the Austrian section, you could follow the Drauradweg as it leads from Spittal An der Drau towards Lienz and the river’s source near Toblach (Dobbiaco). Or you could continue from Villach following the river as it flows into Slovenija.

A little further on, just outside Tarvisio, you have the option of following the FVG1A cycleway as it heads for the border with Slovenija, following another old railway. At the border, it continues (as the D2 cycleway) to Kranjska Gora and Jeseniče.

It’s a beautiful cycleway and a very attractive option, but it would be a shame to miss the next section of the route as it heads into Italy. For me, it is one of the highlights of the whole route. 

The FVG1A, (and its continu­ation in Slovenija, the D2), is well worth a detour: you could, for example, make a side-trip and spend the night in Kranjska Gora.

If you want to continue to Slovenija but don’t want to miss the FVG1 then the options would be:

• continue to Carnia and then catch the train back to Tarvisio Bosco Verde;
• take the FVG1 cycleway down to Chiusaforte and then climb from there on the road to Sella Nevea, and from there into Slovenija. This is a fairly challenging climb;
• from Venzone head to Gemona del Friuli and from there to Cividale del Friuli. From Cividale del Friuli there is a cycle route which takes you over the border and to Kobarid and the beautiful Soča valley.

For more inform­ation see: The Julian Alps and Crossing borders: cycle routes between Italy, Slovenija and Austria

Connecting routes

There are several connecting routes, which mean you can use the FVG1 as part of a longer tour:

• at the northern end it connects with the Drauradweg (Ciclabile della Drava) which runs between Toblach (Dobbiaco) in Italy via Lienz to Maribor in Slovenija. You could take the Drauradweg from Toblach and then the Ciclovia Alpe-Adria-Radweg from Spittal;
• at Cervignano the FVG1 connects with the FVG2 (eurovelo 8) you can then head for Venezia or continue on to Grado from where you can continue on to Trieste and into Slovenija

View from the Festung Hohensalzburg (Salzburg Castle)

What to see along the way

Austria

Salzburg at the start of the route is a major tourist draw, and defin­itely worth a day of anyone’s time, but it would be a mistake to ignore the sights along the way. Hallein, Golling, Dorfgastein, and Obervellach have charming and attractive historic centres.

The Schloss Hellbrunn (Hellbrunn Palace) is a short detour off the route south of Salzburg. It’s star attraction is the wasser­spiele which trans­lates, very roughly, as trick fountains.

The Burg Hohenwerfen at Werfen was built to control the narrow river valley as it carves its way through the mountains. It would be hard to find a more dramatic location.

Possibly the star sights are the natural wonders. The Lichtensteinklamm near Sankt Johann in Pongau was closed in 2017 so I wasn’t able to get to see it, but I would defin­itely put it on the list of must-sees.

There are also the Eisriesenwelt caves near Werfen. These are one of the region’s most popular tourist attrac­tions, and they are popular for a reason. This is a memorable exper­ience even if you would normally go out of your way to avoid tourist attractions.

If you want more, there are also the Gollinger wasserfall and Salzachöfen gorge near Golling

Italy highlights

The section of the route on the old railway line via Tarvisio to Resiutta is one of Italy’s most scenic traffic-free cycleways, especially on the sections south of Pontebba where the cycleway follows the river Fella over a series of spectacular rail bridges. There are also a couple of lovely woodland sections as the route follows country roads beside the Tagliamento river. As you get further south the major interest is in the towns and villages you pass through, and in particular:

• Venzone a medieval walled city that was painstak­ingly rebuilt after being almost entirely destroyed in an earth­quake in the 1970s;
• Udine and its Piazza della Libertà - one of Italy’s most elegant city piazzas
• the medieval borgo of Strassoldo — a hidden gem that’s easy to miss
• the star-shaped town of Palmanova with its Gran Piazza
• the world-heritage listed site of Aquileia. The mosaics of its duomo are another must-see.

Grado at the end of the route was once a rival to Venezia but was long ago eclipsed by its neighbour. Today it’s a modern, attractive, seaside resort - although there is a very small centro storico.

CAAR/FVG1 signs in Udine’s Piazza della Libertà

Getting there … and getting back 

By plane

There are direct flights to Salzburg airport from Berlin, Brussels, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Istanbul, Cologne, London, Paris and Vienna. List of airlines offering flights to Salzburg airport. The airport is to the west of the city, four kilometres from the city centre; there’s no train service, but it looks like it is connected to the city’s network of bike paths. The major airports at München and Wien are between two and three hours away by train. For more inform­ation see: salzburg.info: Arrival by Air

The nearest airport to the end of the route is the Trieste-FVG airport at Ronchi dei Legionari near Monfalcone. Treviso and Venezia airports are also within reasonably easy reach by train.

ÖBB train in Salzburg station. The livery (design: Gudrun Geiblinger) celeb­rates the 150th anniversary of the opening of the Brenner railway.

By train

Salzburg has train connec­tions with a wide range of cities including (as you’d expect) the main rail hubs at München (Munich) and Wien (Vienna). For inform­ation on all of the rail options see salzburg.info: Arrival by Train.

Getting back by train is a bit more complicated. Here is my, probably doomed, attempt to explain.

If you are heading back to or through Austria then there are two main options: go back via Tarvisio and from there to Villach and on from there, or head via the Brenner pass to Innsbruck and then continue towards Rosenheim etc.

The most bike-friendly option for returning to Villach is probably the MiCoTra train from Udine which goes to Villach, and from there you can get an ÖBB Railjet train back to Salzburg and Wien. This service has a dedicated wagon that can take a huge number of bikes.

The only problem is that there are only two trains a day: one in the early morning and the other in the late afternoon. If you want to make the early morning train, you’ll probably need to stay overnight in Udine the night before.

There is the option of an ÖBB Railjet train that leaves Udine at 11:46 and arrives in Wien in the late afternoon. You can take bikes on Railjet services, but you need to book, and they can only carry a limited number of bikes. There’s another Railjet service for Wien that leaves Venezia at 15:55. It also stops in Udine.

If you prefer the Brenner option then probably your best bet is to stay overnight in Verona and then catch one of the Deutsche Bahn-ÖBB Eurocity services from there. There are a couple of Eurocity trains that leave from Venezia in the afternoon, but these trains don’t arrive into Innsbruck or München until the evening.

If I haven’t put you off already, I’ve one more piece of bad news: the nearest station to the end of the route is Cervignano-Aquileia-Grado, which, as you’ve probably guessed, is at Cervignano del Friuli (17 kilometres from Grado). There are direct services from there to Udine, Trieste and Venezia.

Carriage for trans­porting bikes on the MiCoTra train between Udine and Lienz

The BiciBus

The regional government has intro­duced a bicibus service between Grado and Udine (and one between Grado and Trieste). The service is designed to connect with the MiCoTra trains and offers up to 45 bike places. There are inter­me­diate stops at Aquileia and Palmanova. It runs every day from mid-June to the end of August (see the timetable for more information).

Reservations are recom­mended—you can reserve places by email up until the day before departure. For more inform­ation and a timetable you can download the pdf leaflet (it/de) from the bus company’s website: saf.ud.it: bicibus (direct download link: saf.ud.it: Bicibus Udine-Grado 2019 leaflet ). .

Kärtner Linien have made a neat little 45-second promo video for the service.

https://youtu.be/ADpLUDrWqFM

  play video in overlay.

Private road transfers

Oberkofler Touristik operates a bus between Grado and Salzburg, on Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays between April and October. Prices from 85€/person for Grado to Villach. “Rad-taxi” services are available on other days. 

Cyclists riding the Ciclovia Alpe-Adria Radweg (FVG1) though fields of maize south of Udine (Italy)

Articles in this series

• Ciclovia Alpe-Adria Radweg Overview
• Ciclovia Alpe-Adria Radweg: 1: Salzburg to Werfen
• Ciclovia Alpe-Adria Radweg:2: Werfen to Böckstein
• Ciclovia Alpe-Adria Radweg: 3 Mallnitz to Villach and Tarvisio
• Ciclovia Alpe-Adria Radweg: 4: Tarvisio to Venzone
• Ciclovia Alpe-Adria Radweg: 5: Venzone to Udine
• Ciclovia Alpe-Adria Radweg: 6: Udine to Grado