In 2012, the summer holidays were planned to be spent in Marocco; traveling with a group for two weeks: walking the High Atlas for about a week, staying in hostels and private homes in villages, and the remainder a stay in Marakech. It required at least 10 travellers, but that number wasn’t reached so the trip was cancelled by the organization. They are not to blame, it was a know risk, though unlikely.
But it happened, so we had to look for an alternative.
One thing we already thought about before, was a cycle tour along the Danube river, from Passau to Vienna. This is a flat route, down river so no climbing (at least, not much) that could easily be done in a week. We already had bought a booklet on the route and found enough places to stay overnight. So we decided to take make that ride, and would decide afterwards what to do next: it would be in the mountains anyway, but we hadn’t decided yet where to go: Vorarlberg, Tirol or Kärnten. We could decide later, based on location and weather.
So first: our cycletrip. It turned out easier than thought. Originally planned to last a week, we made it in four days, 60 kilometers a day being too little. Cycling along the river was so easy, fair weather and the wind in our backs, 80 kilometers a day was an easy target. Most trips tracked on GPS, and pictures taken at interesting points along the way, including the power stations. At end a day visit of Vienna – which is way too short. The trip back to Passau by train, after which we had time to pay that city a visit. Here you’ll find the images and tracks of this ride.
Next we put the bikes back on the car and headed South, to Zell am See, where we would decide wich mountain area we would got to next, Vorarlberg was considered too far away, so the choice was between Tirol (West) or Kärnten (East). That night we stayed in a hotel and decided to go East, the Maltatal, based on descriptions. The next day, we crossed the GrossGlocker pass and headed East. The remainder of the holidays we walked “valley of the thousand waterfalls” and visited the neighbourhood, including the highest barrage in Austria. The results of this decision – both images and tracks, are available here.