Published on: 3 January 2017  | Last updated: 1 March 2018

Introduction

The Via Claudia is an inter­na­tional cycle route that runs through southern Germany, Austria and Italy (with a brief section in Switzerland).

The route takes its name from the road build by the Roman emperor Claudius Augustus. The road became, and remained, one of the major routes for trade and travel across the Alps. The road linked the Donau (Danube) with the river Po and with the Adriatic coast near Venezia passing via Augusta Vindelicorum (modern-day Augsburg), Feltria (modern-day Feltre), Tridentum (Trento), Verona, and the river port of Hostiliae (Ostiglia) on the Po.

There are surpris­ingly few visible remains of the old Roman road - there are a couple of short stretches of the old road that you can see in southern Germany. A couple of milestones have been discovered: one near Tezze near Bassano del Grappa and the other at Cesiomaggiore near Feltre. You can see the remains of the old roman bridge at Algund.

The route is about much more than the Roman remains - the route remains an important artery of commerce and cultural exchange for almost two millennia after it was built. In Austria you can visit the Ehrenberger Klause near Reutte and the Altfinstermünz near Pfunds which were both forti­fic­a­tions built to control, and tax, trade along the route.

The route through Germany and Austria follows the course of two major rivers:

• the Lech takes you south from the Donau (Danube) through Augsburg and southern Bavaria and on into Austria via Füssen
• in Austria the route follows the Inntal (valley of the Inn river) from Imst to Martina in Switzerland

From Martina you climb to the source of the third major river on the route: the Etsch/​Adige which heads south through the Südtirol towards Verona.

Highlights

In Germany probably the main must-sees are the cities of Augsburg (the former Roman city of Augusta) and Landsberg am Lech. As you get further south, there are the beautiful lakes of the Lechsee and Forggensee. Füssen at the end of the German section is an inter­esting city in its own right, but close to the iconic Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau castles which are some of the region's major tourist attrac­tions.

In Austria the natural scenery of the Alps is the star of the show, but along the route there are the attractive towns of Imst and Reutte and the villages of the Inntal.

Options and connections

There are a huge number of connec­tions with other cycleways along the route. At Donauwörth (pronounced "Donau-vurt' by the way) it connects with the Donau Radweg (Danube cycleway) which from Donaueschingen in Germany to Budapest (and beyond).

The other major connection in Germany is with the D9 Romantische Straße (Romantic Road) cycle route which runs from Würtzburg to Füssen. In its southern part the Romantic Road goes through Donauwörth, Augsburg etc and at points the two routes coincide, but at others it offers an altern­ative option. The D9 takes you through both Augsburg and Landsberg am Lech while the VCA skirts round them - although it's easy to make a side trip to visit them. You could of course use the Romantische Straße to reach Donauwörth - or to head north from there.

In Austria the major connection is with the Inn Radweg follows the Inn river from its source in the Engadine valley in Switzerland near Sankt Moritz to Passau on the Danube passing through Innsbruck and Rosenheim on the way. The Inn Radweg connects in turn with the München-Venezia cycle route, and so offers an altern­ative route into Italy or an altern­ative route to München.

Map and altitude profile

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Distances
Donauwörth - Augsburg	48 kms
Augsburg - Landsberg am Lech	49 kms
Landsberg am Lech - Füssen	74 kms
Füssen - Imst	72 kms
Imst - Pfunds	54 kms
Pfunds - Nauders	21 kms

Signs and signposting.

In Germany the routes are indicates by small panels with the VCA symbol. The only problem is that the same method is used for other cycling and walking routes, and the wealth of connec­tions means that at points there's a bit of a risk of inform­ation overload. This is partic­u­larly true around Donauwörth and Füssen.

Things are more straight­forward in Austria, but there are a couple of points where you need to watch out: coming out of Füssen the Via Claudia initially coincides with another route which then crosses the river while the Via Claudia continues on towards Reutte; at Imst the route joins with the Innradweg. If you are following the Via Claudia you need to follow the Innradweg towards Landeck.

Click the photo below for a small slideshow of examples of signs from the German, Austrian and Italian sections of the route.

Getting there and getting back

The official start of the route is a short ride from Donauwörth station. There seem to be frequent trains from München Hauptbahnnhof station, and trains from there to/​from the airport.