randallr

Hi;
My wife and I are pondering this route from Salzburg over the Alps and down to the Adriatic, wondering if anyone has done it? Looking for information on road surfaces/time of year/weather:

https://www.alpe-adria-radweg.com/en/

HobbesOnTour

Hi Randall, I did that route last year in September time. I followed the route to Grado, then Venice & Verona & back over the Alps at the Brenner Pass, down to Innsbruck & back to Salzburg.

Fantastic route! Easy to follow. I camp, so there were issues in Italy because the campsites are really only in the resort areas. I wild camped a couple of times.

Weather was fine at that time of the year, although there were a couple of serious mountain thunderstorms.I'd imagine summer time would be a lot hotter.

Road surfaces were pretty much all hard surfaces and mainly dedicated cycling tracks. There was certainly no off roading (unless I went looking for it &#128512

One thing I loved was that pretty much every village had a public drinking fountain, meaning fresh, cold water was just down the road.

Can't recommend the route highly enough.

Frank

randallr

Thanks so much, Frank! I would be on 32mm x 700c tires, my wife on 28mm x 700C in front, 25mm x 700c in back (but she would be traveling with no baggage - that's on me) I think we'd be doing September 2018, Lord willing.

MarcusT

The route is constantly being improved, so what was a tough piece 2 yrs ago, could be new and easy, today.
It's a great route, and passes through some incredible areas. I have 3 warnings though:
There are some parts that take gravel roads, so be sure your tires can handle it.
The route winds around quite a bit and many times you're doing up to 50% more km than what the road would be. But that's just me.
Many people also walk on the path, so have a bell.

Going through Udine can be a little hairy, but once you've passed that, it's quite bicycle friendly.
September is a good time, it is still warm enough and tourist traffic has decreased.
The route also takes you near the Collio wine region, if you enjoy wine, definitely worth a detour and an overnight.
The website is very informative, but the maps are sometimes slow to update.
Enjoy!!

randallr

Thank you, Marcus!

Philly Tandem

We almost did this route last year (2016). The logistics seemed challenging, though, as we were touring on our triplet (three-seater) bike and I wasn't sure about getting it on trains, etc. Still high on my list. Following this with interest!

randallr

My wife and I have been looking at YouTube videos put out by folks who recorded the ride, get some good sense for road surfaces and such. Also bought the Bikeline book for the Alpe Adria Radweg at:
https://www.bookdepository.com/searc...e=1#pagination

MarcusT

Sounds like you're getting fully prepared, just don't overload. The Route was designed to be slow and easy. Their guides consider 50-60 km day adequate. They suppose that you will stop at all points of interest and bar/cafe along the way. Which is fine, but putting some road behind you always feels good.

randallr

This is the video that makes us think that we can do the trip without problems (even tho we are getting up in years) - A family with some pretty young kids who rode it all:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmdq...=384.996788058

jefnvk

Ugh, been trying to ignore this thread, but after watching that video I kinda want to do it! Looks like a place I can easily convince the fiancee to do.

MarcusT

There is only one major climb on the entire route and that is between Bischofen and Bad Gastein. Other wise the route is quite mild. It is an easy route, and it was designed to take it easy.. Now if you want more a challenge, take the route north instead of south and you will need a little more stamina.

Philly Tandem

We looked at doing this last year, as we have toured in the area before (Tauern Valley) and really like it. The route itself looks fairly easy, but the logistics of getting to the start and then back to an airport at the end seemed a bit daunting at the time (we were touring on a 10-foot-long triplet bike).

ScruffyChimp

I rode the Alpe Adria route in late April 2015. I got through with some cold rain, but if I'd been a week earlier I would've faced quite a bit of snow. I thought that I might knock it off in about 4 days, but it took me a full week (including a rest day). I highly recommend it. I thought the first day after I entered Italy where the route passes through a lot of disused train tunnels was possible the most fun single day of touring I've done. Take headlights - not all of the tunnels had lighting.

If you want to tack on another nice ride, start at Ulm and follow the Via Julia south of Munich to Salzburg.

Cheers,
James

randallr

Thanks to all for the helpful feedback! I'm finally doing the climate analysis I usually do before planning a trip and am finding from weatherspark.com that Salzburg, Spittal and Tarvisio have in the neighborhood of 85 - 110 mm/month of rain in Sept. This is a lot more than the areas we've ridden successfully in the past, so I'm shying away from Ciclovia Alpe Adria Radweg (mainly due to our age and my guide responsibilities in trip planning).

HobbesOnTour

There's lies, damned lies and then there's statistics!
I did that route last September and the only rain I had was in the form of thunderstorms - fabulous thunderstorms! But well signposted in advance and easy to shelter from.

Your posts suggest a strong sense of nervousness. This is a well put together route, lots of places to shelter, fix bikes, eat, drink.

You'll be hard pressed to find a route that is better for cycle touring.

Overthinking looks like you're going to miss out on a great tour.

Frank

MarcusT

It has been raining for the last week now, but they are predicting it will clear up for the rest of the month. No worries. If you don't feel comfortable. No point in doing a stressful trip where you're watching the sky all day

randallr

Interesting pair of responses! What I get from them is that I shouldn't be afraid of weather on the route if I carry a means to get weather forecasts (probably a small laptop) and a means to make and cancel reservations (a mobile phone). That leads me to ask another question: How does one get a cheap cell phone to use for a month in Europe, then throw away? I know how to do that in the US, but not in Europe.

HobbesOnTour

What you probably should take from the responses is to pack some raingear 😀.

As for the phone, roaming charges are no more in Europe, so if your phone is not locked to a US carrier you can buy a simple card with credit and put that in your own phone.

Making reservations is not my style of touring. I camped, but there's lots of accommodation options along the way.

There's lots of free WiFi sources and if you're staying in hotels, you could just ask them for a weather forecast for that day.

Frank