Week in Austria

Rasher, who knows a thing or two about the Alps, makes a very good point.

Most of the so called ‘Great motorbiking roads’ are centred on the Tirol area of Austria:

https://www.tyrol.com/regions/1

Just mapping out the key place names tells you where they are:

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Then to the east north east, there is the ‘must do’ of Salzburg and the Eagle’s Nest.

So plonking yourself ‘in the middle of Austria’ (whatever that means) whether in a rented house or a hotel might not be the smartest of moves. But if you want to do something other than ride your motorcycles each day, it might well suit you to the ground to be well away from the area.

In short, decide on where to base yourself for the week and then you decide what suits you and your travelling companions best on the accommodation front. Talk to them, in other words.

Lots of bods hire ski chalets as mixed families, with no problems. Three of us borrowed an apartment, very kindly, from ChasMill, with no problems and went motorbiking. Can you and your chums do the same? Only you know. There are plenty of stories on UKGSer of falling out with other families in hotels and even before they have got off the ferry. Though sometimes some bods can start a fight in an empty ballroom.

You and your friends hold the answer in your own hands; trust me.
 
No

I can defiantly say no neither I or any of my friends has ever or would ever do that. However it does sound hilarious. In a bad way !

Regards Steve
 
Sharing a house limits your routes no more and no less than stying in a hotel for a week. Pick your spot well and it can work very well and be quite a bit cheaper. Pick your travelling companions no more or less carefully than you would do on any jaunt of a week or more. Weigh much of the advice as to its suitability against the number of posts where bods say that they would only ever travel solo..... you can lob their opinions on shared hotels and / or other accommodation straight into the bin.
 
Sharing a house limits your routes no more and no less than stying in a hotel for a week.
Quite so, my bad. What I meant, but obviously failed to state properly, was to keep moving so you could reach places you can’t in a single day out-and-back
 
Quite so, my bad. What I meant, but obviously failed to state properly, was to keep moving so you could reach places you can’t in a single day out-and-back

That reminds me of the apocryphal Irish story of the bloke saying to a tourist: “Kildare, you say? Well, I wouldn’t be starting from here”.

:aidan

:beer:
 
Just a quick note;
The road up to the restaurant at the top of the Kitzbuhel Horn is often closed on a Saturday afternoon as the local Hill Climb club do runs up the road
 
That reminds me of the apocryphal Irish story of the bloke saying to a tourist: “Kildare, you say? Well, I wouldn’t be starting from here”.

:aidan

:beer:

"What's the best way to get to Kildare?"

"Are you walking or driving?"

"Driving."

"Yes, that's best."
 
The others in the trip are Germans and they are recommending the " National Park Lodge " anyone tried it ? It is few miles from the pass so handy but interested any experience by any one else. They seem to have moved away from renting a ski chalet.

Regards Steve
 
The others in the trip are Germans and they are recommending the " National Park Lodge " anyone tried it ? It is few miles from the pass so handy but interested any experience by any one else. They seem to have moved away from renting a ski chalet.

Regards Steve

there are several national parks and many more passes but I guess you mean this place https://www.nationalparklodge.at/en/ in Heiligenblut on the southern side of the Grossglockner pass. I don't know that hotel but I stayed in Hotel Post the other side of the "place", buying a pair of sunglasses in the Intersport shop that seems to be on the ground floor of the Lodge.
Spin the view to see the Lodge & Intersport https://goo.gl/maps/sqdQJ41LntnXcHu97

Heiligenblut is okay for a couple of days but I would not want to stay there a week, as you have to ride up & down the same pass to get anywhere. It wouldn't be so bad but the Grossglockner has a steep toll, although you can get to Heiligenblut from the south without a toll. There is a cable car up the mountain but not a very interesting day out and little else to do in the village unless you like hiking.

For a stay of a week I would prefer something where you can go in all directions quite easily, such as Zell am See.
 
Wessie is right. Try to stay in a town on a crossroads or even just a T-junction. If you chose one on a single road, you are stuck with going left or right. This often results in to going miles out of your way, just to get to somewhere else.

The example given above shows this quite well:

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Staying in Heiligenblut, leaves you with only one choice, the single north / south axis road of the pass. Everything else is blocked by mountains. Zell am Zee, gives you a choice of four directions, around the cardinal points of the compass. Somewhere like, Villach will give you a very good choice, see this post: https://www.ukgser.com/forums/showt...sglockner-Carinthia-Friuli-Slovenia-10-routes If you went to the western Tyrol, have a look at: https://tirolwest.at/en/tour Or you coujd drop further south, as suggested by Rasher, into the excellent Dolomites, heading for somewhere like, The T-junction at Arraba or Canazei.

If nothing else, the maps do show the value in choosing a crossroads town. It is why armies spend the lives of hundreds if not thousands of soldiers capturing and defending them in wars. Exactly the same logic applies in peacetime, for bods on motorbikes.

My most practical suggestion would be to take a one month subscription to Readly and download a copy of Motorrad Freizeit magazine, 1/2021. It has everything you need to know, including pretty good maps, along with tour codes for each jaunt. The tour codes you type into Kurviger, which will give you a GPX file to download. Put this into your navigation device, Bingo! One instant holiday.

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Here is a sample:

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Here is an example using tour code 2101MF20. It is Tour 1 in the Tirol section, based on Landeck. It is the dark blue route in the first screen shot above. All done using nothing more complicated than an iPad, the Readly app (to get the magazine) and Kurviger, to display the GPX route.

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I am though now a bit confused. Are you choosing the holiday location and accommodation, or is it being selected by the Germans?



PS When downloading any GPX file, check it at home BEFORE you ride off on your adventure. Not least, check the distance, as some can be quite a long way for a day out, starting at 11:00 and expecting to finish at 14:30.
 
Then to the east north east, there is the ‘must do’ of Salzburg and the Eagle’s Nest.

A "must do" before I did it, now recomended as "If you must" to people having done it ;-)

Well, really it is the same as the Stelvio, you have to go and make up your own mind, but the difference is it costs a few quid and in my view is a bit dissapointing as they have truned Htlers mountain top retreat into a theme park attraction complete with restuarant and gift stalls. I was hoping to see it as it was when Adolf hung out there, and it was dissapointing to see how they had trashed the place to max out the tourist dollars.

There is also a huge complex half way up the mountain where lots of other interesting stuff was and other top Nazi's had homes and you don't even get to drive past that in the coach, I felt they could of done a much better job, at least you still get to go in Hitlers gold plated lift.
 
The ‘Must do’ was just a gentle dig at the bods who always suggest the Eagle’s Nest and then, in the same sentence, the Millau bridge, often when a fellow has asked for things to see and do in Belgium.

The Eagle’s Nest camp (it was a huge area) was demolished first in an air raid at the end of the war (it had remained near enough untouched before then, as it was if no strategic importance), then by the SS in retreat and lastly by the Americans. The large hotel, golf course and whatever are quite new; I’d guess within the last 15 years or so.

The Stevio, quite rightly, is simply iconic. Some like it, some don’t and some hate it.


Me? If I were going to Austria, I’d either go to Lienz (simply as it gives the greatest choice of directions to take for days out and things to do off the bike) or do the ‘Towns’ circular route and see the whole country. I just pumped Lienz into Air B&B, asking for a rental for a week in the middle of June for up to six people and came up with some pretty good choices. I also asked Booking.com to list the same for hotels and up popped a shed load. They can’t all be shite and unfriendly to bikers. Many of the hotels have free cancellation, too.
 
Nice people and *****

Thanks everyone who placed helpful suggestions. Just what you want on a Forum. Fuck you ignorant ***** who can only take the piss. I doubt if you even have bikes. Last time I will ever use this site. Bye
 
I wonder if the OP will fall out with the Germans or them with him first, in their shared accommodation?
 


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