Route advice for my FIRST ever riding tour

[arjun101]

Hi everyone. Two of my friends and I will be flying into Vienna mid July and renting some bikes from there or Bratislava for 6 days (Saturday to Friday). As this will be our first ever motorcycle touring trip and as Americans, I thought it would be helpful to ask those of you who are from or have ridden in the area.

We have no plans as of right now except that we need to end back in the same place as we started. Would it be possible to do something like ride west to the Alps, then turn back around while going south through the northern party of Italy then Slovenia and then go back to Vienna/Bratislava? We are open to any other route suggestions as well.

We plan to just stay at hostels along the way. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[Il Bandito Lontano]

What do you like? Why did you choose Vienna? Have you been to Vienna or Austria before? Google places that interest you and connect the dots.

Are you trying to cover as much ground as possible? If your goal is to not have one and just wander, do that. See what you discover.

I lived in Vienna for 3 years and I think you could easily spend 6 days just around Vienna, the neighboring villages and vineyards if you wanted to.

[Rognv]

Hi,

Welcome to the Hubb.
Your plan is great but the timing isn´t the best i think, but it is doable. Expect not to be alone on the road, or in other words, expect heavy traffic mid summer in Europe. Maybe less as a problem for motor riders then for car drivers.
Just a couple of thoughts:
Be sure the rental company allows driving to foreign countries, but as long as you stay in the EU (European Union) it shouldn´t be a problem, but maybe best to ask to be sure.
Also ask if the rental bikes come with a road toll vignet for the country of rental or not. Be aware for some countries you need to buy a toll vignet before entering the motorways, like in Austria, Slovenia, Switzerland, Czech Republic, in other countries you pay at booths on the road like in France, Italy, Croatia. Besides those road tolls there are some nice touristic roads and tunnels which you have to pay seperate toll. The Alps are beautifull but expensive.
I don´t know how easy or difficult it will be to find accommodation in mid summer without having booked in advance. Maybe others can comment on this.

Have a nice trip.

[Erik_G]

For 6 days I would stay in the same hotel all nights.
And do day trips.
With no packing/unpacking, no luggage to carry on the bike, no need to search for next accommodation...
Ride the whole day....

How fixed Vienna is ?
Can you select another place ?

[arjun101]

We chose Vienna because it was the cheapest airport by far for us to fly into. Our main goal for this trip is to have a fun motorcycle adventure with the boys. We want to be able to ride through some beautiful scenery, take some photos and of course meet some locals at the the pubs/bars. We are 28-30 years old so we plan to just stay at dorm style hostels which we will find online beforehand. We mostly plan to just wander but was curious if there are specific roads and/or points of interest that we should try and get to (keeping in mind my general route plan of riding west to the Alps then south then back east). I think maybe 3-4 hours per day of actual riding would be good. But of course, we are flexible.

I will definitely look into the details of crossing borders with our bikes, thanks!

[Rognv]

Originally Posted by arjun101

We mostly plan to just wander but was curious if there are specific roads and/or points of interest that we should try and get to

I would say The Grossglockner High Alpine road, expensive but maybe a once in a lifetime?
https://www.grossglockner.at/gg/en/index

If you guys really want to go to Switzerland (I wouldn´t; way too expensive) then here is a website about the swiss mountain roads.
https://alpen-paesse.ch/en/

Look on google or youtube for Dolomites (mountains) and there you should find some nice mountain passes.

In Slovenia I would say Vrsic Pass in Triglav national park, Mangart saddle and Vintgar gorge. In that area are two mountain roads into Austria: Würzenpass and Loible pass.
If you want to see a cave then Postojna cave is a nice one. There is a open underground train which drives through the cave.
https://www.postojnska-jama.eu/en/

[AnTyx]

Agreed with Rognv (other than the Vintgar gorge, which is definitely worth visiting, but is a footpath rather than a motorcycle road). The Grimsel-Furka-Sustenpass triangle in Switzerland is a well-deserved attraction (and you can attempt to stay off the highways in Switzerland, sticking to local roads and thus avoiding the expensive vignette). Grossglockner is a highlight of Austria and well worth the toll. From there you can head south into Italy, via Tolmezzo and into Slovenia for the Vrsic Pass and Lake Bled.

Make sure you can do all of this in six days. It is definitely doable as a lone rider, but with coordination in a large group, not wanting to ride too much per day, may be difficult. The upside is that you will never really be more than a day’s ride away from Vienna.

[RidingTheUnknown]

I am currently in Vienna and will be for the next few months or at least I base my touring from there, the Vignette for Austria isn't bad 5Eur for 10 days get at most gas stations, but I will say this the interstates are not "fun" touring roads, they are a means to end at a destination, I took E45, E60, and S6 at different times to shorten distance to where I wanted to be but not once did I enjoy riding on it, high walls, lots of traffic, and overall it doesn't go near beautiful places. That being said when you exit the interstates, the roads are very windy and your time to destination jumps, 150mi is a 4-6 hour day ride in the Austria at best. speeds on country roads are max 100km so 50mph ish, most are 80km, and in the small towns 50km. So planning more that 150 a day or you will start to get behind and then forced to the ugly interstates.

I haven't witnessed enough around Vienna that would make me stay close to there, Beautiful city and surrounding countryside but not worth staying nearby IMO expect the city itself great pubs all over, anywho there are some great places a little over a day ride from there that are way better.

Berchtesgaden, Bavaria the little German tip that drops south of Salzburg is very beautiful and good alpine roads there, lots of Bavarian B&B's with small pubs but it's a sold 3hr hard ride to there from Vienna on interstate but a stop in Steyr Flusswandern is worth it.
Form there I'd head south, you can catch Grossglockner, the Zell am See to Zell am Ziller is a stunning road to ride, the Malta high alpine road, or Nockalmstrafbe is another road that gets down you into the beautiful Triglav national park where 2 weeks is barely enough to scratch the surface, any further west and you will be wasting all your time on ugly interstates. dop south to the area around Trieste for that Med beach life before returning via Ljubiana and Maribor. That would though require you to be able to cross into Germany, Italy, Slovenia, and depending on which country you got the bike Hungary and Austria too.

Another idea if getting the bike in Bratislava heading east towards Tatra Mountains, you will get the same Alpine feeling without leaving the country, stop for castles Bojnice Castle something out of a movie!, Orava Castle, and Spis all stunning, Hiking Súľov Rocks, Dobšinská Ice Cave, and around Tatra. all same country and definitely plenty to do on a 1-week schedule, great people, great pubs, and you could get a very good price compared to Austria.

So much in every direction from Vienna its why I base there, but just remember Highways suck and have 0 enjoyment, but off of them it takes forever to get somewhere so know that going into it.

Don't forget! Your riding in a different country so even a crap road is more than some will ever get to see, so have fun!

[frameworkSpecialist]

Set google maps on "avoid highways" and enjoy! Very beautiful corner of the world.