Austria and Italy - an Alpe-Adria cycle tour from the Alps to the Adriatic

Alpe-Adria bike ride - the remake!

We often see bike tourists laden with panniers pedaling through the the Gastein Valley when we are in Bad Hofgastein. I always imagine they are heading for Italy and the Adriatic sea and invariably I am pea green with envy.
Having ridden North from Grado to Bad Hofgastein in the rain a few years ago I really wanted to do the trip in reverse. A Southerly trip must be easier surely?
Anyway, an opportunity arose in September 2018. I still have the legs and a very nice tourer so off I toddled.
Leaving our Apartment in Bad Hofgastein is never easy. Apart from it being a bit of a sad departure after a lovely trip, we have to leave it 'Austria clean' with all our private stuff safely stowed away. I had to be up at 6 am to get my chores done in time.

Day One Bad Hofgastein to Paternion via Spittal - 85km

Stage 1 - Bad Hofgastein to Paternion

I eventually headed off in light drizzle at around 10:30 am. A left turn onto the cycle path heading South, Italy here I come! A nice, easy, flat stretch to Bad Bruck before the rot sets in with the climb up the big lump of a hill to Bad Gastein. It's a lung-buster ride at the best of times but with heavy panniers it certainly had me gasping for mountain air.

From Gastein there are two options available to get through the Tauern tunnel, OBB passenger train from BH/BG or via the car transporter from Bockstein. The car transporter is my favourite because there is no need to book and there is plenty of space. It's  very easy to buy passenger rail tickets on-line but does not seem to be possible to buy bike tickets? Without a reservation it can be difficult to take the bike on a passenger train.

I needed to stop at the Bad Gastein Railway station anyway and make use of their ticket office. I had to buy my ticket home from Udine in a weeks time. The BG ticket office staff seem to be permanently grumpy so I had carefully written down what I wanted from them. Happily, they came up with the goods. The guy seemed a bit surprised that I had selected the right trains and I duly paid my 45 Euros. Not too bad a price for a 4 hour train journey with a bike. A quick stop at Cafe Unterkoffler for a take-away ham salad roll and I was ready for the Sisi promenade. Onwards to Bockstein Station and my 5 Euro ride via the car transporter train  to Carinthia. I made the 12:20 just in time!  With my bike strapped up I in the baggage area I had enough time to demolish my roll before we pulled into Malnitz. As I emerged from the dark tunnel the weather on the other side looked a little brighter than Salzburgerland. Sadly the sunshine did not last! Rain soon bade me welcome to Carinthia. The long descent down to Obervelach was on a wet greasy road. Somehow I managed to take a wrong turn at the bottom of the hill and started heading for Heilingenblut and the Grossglockner. My lame excuse is that I followed the bike images painted on the road. Bit daft as I have been this way before and missed the same turning. Next time turn Left!
Once on the correct path it's a fine ride down to Spittal, Initially, a bike path follows  the main road but it soon takes a turn for the better through woods and farmland and small villages. It undulates a bit but not too painfully. The last stretch from Mollbrucke to Spittal is very flat. I am not sure I took the correct route through Spittal but I came out the other side and followed the Drau River heading for Villach. Villach was for another day however! The rain became monstrously heavy and was accompanied by ferocious thunderclaps and lightening. Two in particular made my hair stand on end. For the first I was cowering in a bus shelter. For the second I was out in the wet on the cycle path. You are supposed to be able to tell the distance the storm is away by counting the seconds between the lightening and the thunder. I swear that the thunder came first so it was worryingly adjacent. I made for the nearest shelter! I had not seen many other cyclist up to that point but about 10 sodden souls were huddled together in a purpose built bike shed just across the river.
I chatted with one or two and decided to head for the nearest village as soon as the storm had passed.

View to the Church - the bells are ringing

It was only a couple of kms to Paternion and I was soon checked in to a lovely old Hotel, the Landgastof Tell. It is a decent strategy to go for the Hotel nearest to the Church. It is likely to be traditional and an alarm call is never required.

It was all a bit dated but rather charming. I was down early for my dinner in the Stube. The great thing about cycling is it promotes a good appetite and a ham roll does not constitute a proper lunch. I dined very well! I was really relieved I stopped in Paternion because the storms continued for several hours.
They had singing in the Hotel that evening but I was too tired to stay and listen and hit the sack early. I had only pedalled about 85km  but I was tired even before I started!

Out of the rain in the Gastof Tell

Day 2: Paternion to Carnia via Villach and Tarvisio - 140km

After a good breakfast I hit the road early and returned to my Drau riverside path heading for Villach and beyond. It was a very pleasant morning, nice and fresh after the previous day of rain. River on one side and fields on the other.

Drau River after the rain

River Gail path

There were a few puddles but it was a very enjoyable ride. I should have been able to roll into Villach alongside the River but, unluckily, they had organised a running race on my path so I had a long detour on the roads. Eventually I reached Villach centre and wandered through this very pleasant town. It was Saturday morning and the streets were full of people. I could quite happily have found a nice coffee stop and done a bit of people watching but I still had places to go. I rejoined my cycle path, this time along the River Gail, heading for Italy. It's a very pleasant ride along a less managed river than the Drau. Once out of Villach it was rugged country with plenty of pine trees. I had a cafe in mind to eat lunch. It was at the point where my path crossed the river but unfortunately it was closed, what a time for their annual holiday. The route left the river and continued through villages and joined a fairly major road with a cycle path. I turned off into Pockau and found a basic Gastof. It was cooler now so I sat inside and plumped for a Wiener Schnitzel and Pommes, I demolished my last meal in Austria in pretty quick time. Lots of local workers were at the bar, presumably they were finished for the day, but I still had work to do.

Last Schnitzel in Austria

 It was still a bit of a climb out of Austria to the border at Unterthorl. The redundant border infrastructure looks rather un-loved and scruffy today and I was rapidly through it and onto the Italian cycle path. I was really looking forward to the descent after Tarvisio. It is easy to get up a good head of steam and it's an exhilarating ride. The busy Motorway, the A2 Autostrada, can be seen, and heard, some of the time but there was very little bike traffic on my path. Much of the path is a re-purposed train route and I took advantage of the disused Ugovizza Station, converted to a cafe, to partake of an obligatory coffee and cake. It was surprisingly tricky to order my Americano as this was my first interaction with the Italian language. In Italy they always want to foist a tiny Expresso on unsuspecting visitors. A Lungo is marginally bigger and that's what I ended up with.

I was now entering a part of Italy that appears quite sad and depressed. It's been bypassed by the fast roads and new rail lines.

Poole Express heading South on the bike path

As a result, it's difficult to find a nice place to stay. Pontebba or Chuisaforte would be likely candidates but they look so unloved. Before the World War One, Pontebba sat on the border between Italy and Austria. I think with hindsight I should have researched this area a bit more as there must be somewhere to stay. I opted to press on to Resiutta where I stayed on my last trip through here. Unfortunately the Hotel I stayed at previously was either closed or operating as a Hostel for new arrivals. There may have been another Hotel but I did not fancy it, it looked rather miserable as well.
So, I chose to carry on hoping to reach Venzone, where I knew there were Hotels or, if not, to a Hotel at Carnia just to the North. This was recommended to me by someone at the Mining Museum in Resiutta. There was a snag though, the cycle route was closed and I had to go on a long diversion. Actually, it was not too far but I had mentally finished for the day and, instead of a dust-buster, I had to motivate myself for another hour of cycling. At any other time it would have been a fun cycle along a quiet winding road that turned to dirt. The last hitch of the day occurred when I arrived at a busy road junction and did not know whether to turn left or right. There was a cycle path, that I later found crossed the river, but it was also closed. I had pre-loaded GPS tracks on my Garmin for the normal route but not this one!  I took the easy option and stopped an Austrian tourist in a camper van and asked him the way. He looked up our location on Google Maps for me and sent me left which took me back in a Northerly direction. Happily his directions were spot on and as I crossed the River on the road bridge I spotted a sign-post for the Hotel Carnia. There was room at the Inn and it was a very relieved cyclist who headed for the shower that evening.

Extra time - Resiutta to Carnia

The Hotel also had a good Restaurant so it was a perfect stop. I had cycled over 140km so I had earned a little bit of comfort.

Day 3: Carnia to Palmanova via Venzone, Gimona and Udine - 100km

This was the cycle day I was most looking forward to. Good cycling through farmland and some interesting towns in nice warm weather.  I had a bit of a problem picking up the bike route going South but I eventually found the right route. Venzone is a pleasant town, there was some sort of Vespa rally going on so lots of waspish noises echoing round the narrow streets.

I got lost in Gimona when my GPS track let me down so not sure I like Gimona too much.

Leaving the mountains behind

Out of the midday sun

Sunday lunch in Italy

One of the highlights of the day was a lovely Pasta and Salad lunch at a Family Restaurant in the small village of Are Grande (no relation to Aria Grande).
The Trattoria Al Cavallino Bianco at Are Grande. I sat outside under a canopy.
The sun was beating down but in my nice shady spot I sat and listened to the Italians chuntering and chattering while I enjoyed a fine relaxed meal. It was Sunday Lunchtime which is a great time to be in Italy. It was a very satisfied customer who saddled up to continue South to Udine,

Udine

Udinese Football

Serie A team Udinese were due to play and the cycle path runs right past the stadium. It was absolute chaos as I arrived just prior to kick off and the hordes were trying to park. My picture does not show that.  Once in Udine, I had to walk through the old town as there was a Festival underway.It was all very good-natured, the beer was flowing and the music playing. The last stretch to Palmanova was quite tough. My GPS track took me down bumpy gravel farm tracks and my rear end was suffering. The roads were empty because of the football and fiesta so I took to the asphalt and bombed down to Palmanova. 
Palmanova, my target for the day is well worth an overnight. It is a nine sided town! There are only a couple of Hotels and I checked into the Hotel Ai Dogi on the main square. I did look around for the cheaper hotel but could not find it, that's my story anyway.

Nice Hotel in Palmanova

The Hotel recommended the Al Gambero Restaurant behind the Hotel and it was just perfect. Very casual, very Italian and not expensive. I felt very lucky to be there.

Palmanova

Day 4: Palmanova to Grado via Cervignano - 30km

End of the road in Grado

After a good breakfast I set out on the fairly short run in the sunshine down to Grado and the Adriatic. In a couple of hours I was by the seaside.

Beach time

Apart from confusion around Cervignano it is quite an easy route to follow and it was was exceedingly pleasant. I had a walk around Grado and then visited the tourist office who booked me into a cheap B&B for 2 nights. My Hostess worked at the Il Panino Restaurant up the road so I headed there for both lunch and dinner that day. I even went back the following evening and watched the football there. Nice atmosphere particularly when Inter Milan snatched a late win. Catastrophe! The waiters thought it was hilarious. The Manager gave me a free schnapps as a consolation. Anyway, it was perfect for me - good food, friendly service and keen prices.
Grado is a fine town. Quite posh in the centre but still has a working fishing port. The beach is a bit muddy and it takes ages to walk out to deep water but who cares. I had made it to Italy, the sun was shining and the beer was cold.
Heading Home

Heading North to Treviso

The first leg of my journey home was to Udine. After a morning swim in the sea I headed North stopping for lunch in my favourite restaurant in Palmanova. Then it was on to Udine and a Hotel I had stayed at previously, just by the railway station. Next morning I took the train to Villach. It was delayed so the bad news was that I missed my connection. However the good news was that it meant an opportunity to have lunch at the Villach Brewery. After an excellent Tyroler Grostl in the Brewery I boarded the Bad Gastein train. Next a downhill cruise to Bad Hofgastein, Our Apartment was rented out so I had to stay in the excellent Pension Maria, just up the road. With my bike safely stowed in our cellar I took the morning train to Salzburg for the flight home. Mission accomplished!

Back to Austria - Grostl in Villach