Golling – St. Johann

Today we start the climb up the Alps right after leaving Golling we had a climb up to Lueg Pass. The climb was not actually that bad since we were aided by e-bikes. Still we were huffing and puffing at the top. As soon as we reached the top we went right back down into a gorge where the cycle path vanished and we had to share the road with speeding cars and no shoulder. Yet, we survived. Needless to say there is no video or pics of that section since there was no safe options to film etc.

After working our way through the gorge, we entered the town of Werfen and noticed an imposing castle on the hill and made the decision to visit it. The entry fees were a bit steep, but it’s pricey to maintain a castle and we had time to kill so we went for it. The admission price included a guided tour and a birds of prey show. We hung around for the Birds of Prey show, but opted to skip the tour as the place was getting real busy and the tour would likely have been in German.

After our castle visit, we got back on the bikes and headed towards St. Johann. The 2nd part of the ride was much more pleasant with dedicated cycle paths the majority of the way. After some enjoyable kilometers through some small towns and scenic river paths we arrived at St. Johann. Our hotel tonight is a 4 star place and is a welcome change from the cramped place we had last night in Golling.

After stowing the bikes we walked up the hill into town to locate some food and perhaps find the church we saw from the valley. St. Johann is a ski resort town so it’s a bit more upscale, with beautiful Barvarian homes overlooking the valley below.

We passed a supermarket and restocked our protein bar snacks for the next few days, and located the church. We took a few minutes to enjoy the impressive church before our hunger pangs prompted us to get moving.

Again being mid-afternoon there were few restaurants open, but we found a place and had a delightful meal.

And so ends another wonderful day on the Alpe-Adria cycle path.