Germany + Austria Bike Tour

Meet your guides at the Oberstaufen train station and take a look around: you’re now in the storybook setting of rural Bavaria, where cobbled streets are lined with wooden chalets and the Bavarian Alps beyond. At a historic inn in town, we’ll get fitted to our bikes before heading out on a little country lane that’s part of an amazing network of designated bike paths. After passing through swaying meadows, we reach a small family-run farm awaiting our arrival with a spread of fresh-baked bread and local cheeses. From here, keep riding to rack up more distance and elevation or head back to the hotel for a swim. Tonight’s stylish dinner serves as an introduction to Bavaria’s many farms and their hyper-local agriculture.

Meals: Lunch / Dinner
Destinations: Oberstaufen, Stiefenhofen
Accomplished: 20 miles / 32 km, elevation gain: 2,004 feet / 611 meters
Longer Option: 31 miles / 50 km, elevation gain: 3,083 feet / 940 meters
Accommodations: Haubers Naturresort

Picture Bavaria, and its crystal-clear mountain seen (lakes) come to mind—the places where locals gather to relax, swim, and soak up the Alpine scenery. Our route today weaves through pastures and pine forests, passing countless lakes as we work our way east towards the Allgäu Alps. We’ll stop for our own mid-ride swim followed by a pop-up lunch with our friend, chef Florian. After plenty of spätzle, you’ll be well-fueled for the optional longer ride that approaches our next boutique hotel. Either way, we’ll settle into this mountain-top property and have dinner at the hotel’s Michelin-starred restaurant this evening.

Meals: Breakfast/ Lunch / Dinner
Destinations: Alpsee, Moosbach, Mittleberg
Accomplished: 25 miles / 40 km, elevation gain: 1,919 feet / 585 meters
Longer Option: 42 miles / 68 km, elevation gain: 4,133 feet / 1,260 meters
Accommodations: Blaue Burg Falkenstein

Today we take a loop through Ostallgäu, the region on the Germany-Austria border where Bavarian King Ludwig II—sometimes called the Fairytale King—built his collection of castles. Our route is something of a fairytale itself: we’ll be introduced to local characters at each stop, beginning with a small bakery where the scent of fresh-baked bread and cream-filled pastry draws us in. Keep pedaling to meet a family of cheesemakers whose hay-fed cows produce traditional raw-milk cheese. To round out the ride, we’ll end at a brewery and sit side-by-side with Bavarians sipping steins at communal wooden tables. Tonight we find our own happily ever after in nearby Füssen, where the Fairytale King built his Neuschwanstein castle. Choose to visit this hilltop palace (which inspired the iconic Disney castle) or explore the pretty pastel town before dinner on your own.

Meals: Breakfast/ Lunch
Destinations: Eisenberg, Seeg, Füssen
Accomplished: 29 miles / 46 km, elevation gain: 1,686 feet / 514 meters
Longer Option: 33 miles / 52 km, elevation gain: 2,512 feet / 766 meters
Accommodations: Blaue Burg Falkenstein

Auf wiedersehen, Germany! We’re riding into Austria for the day, so we’ll kick things off at a café serving apple strudel and Viennese coffee. Then, set out for a climb to the Plansee, an impossibly blue Alpine lake at the base of the Wetterstein Mountains. After lunch (and back in Germany), hop off the bike to visit King Ludwig’s most complete masterpiece: the Linderhof Palace. Take a turn around the manicured grounds and opulent interiors, then ride the rest of the way to Ettal Abbey—a 14th-century Benedictine monastery where the monks are master brewers and we’re treated to a well-earned beer. Transfer to our final hotel of the week, Schloss Elmau. Thanks to its location in a private valley, this property has hosted high-profile guests including presidents, kings, artists, and musicians. Spend the afternoon at the pool, spa, or sauna; this evening we regroup for a laid-back dinner in the crisp mountain air.

Meals: Breakfast/ Lunch / Dinner
Destinations: Reutte, Plansee, Ettal
Accomplished: 33 miles / 53 km, elevation gain: 2,007 feet / 612 meters
Longer Option: 40 miles / 64 km, elevation gain: 2,257 feet / 688 meters
Accommodations: Schloss Elmau

Our final day of riding takes us deep into the Bavarian countryside. We’ll cross a section of Roman road that runs ruler-straight through the forest before turning onto the Risstal—a traffic-free ribbon of tarmac surrounded by a sea of wildflowers. Here, there’s precious little sound except your shifting gears and the occasional clang of cowbells. Cross back into Austria once more as we gradually climb into Grosser Ahornboden, or “Great Maple Floor,” an Alpine pasture peppered with ancient sycamore trees. Opt for a transfer to the hotel after lunch, or ride back for one final push. Tonight, the dinner table is set in a remote alm (mountain hut), affording us one last spectacular sunset over the Alps.

Meals: Breakfast/ Lunch / Dinner
Destinations: Wallgau, Risstal, Eng
Accomplished: 30 miles / 49 km, elevation gain: 2,388 feet / 728 meters
Longer Option: 61 miles / 99 km, elevation gain: 4,166 feet / 1,270 meters
Accommodations: Schloss Elmau

Sleep in and enjoy a leisurely breakfast, then spend your last morning in Bavaria hiking, swimming, or taking one final ride to the bustling town of Mittenwald—nothing could be more Germanic than its gingerbread cottages with flower boxes and painted facades. After, we’ll say auf wiedersehen at the train station in Garmisch-Partenkirchen as you head back to Munich (or to your next destination).

Meals: Breakfast
Destinations: Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Mittenwald
Optional Ride: 16 miles / 27 km, elevation gain: 1,535 feet / 468 meters