Munich to Venice

[Antbrewer]

I am sure there are some out there that have ridden the Munich to Venice route through the Alps.
I am wondering if it is something I could do next year. Perhaps train to Munich and then a leisurely ride south. Any thoughts and comments would be much appreciated
Anthony.

[nirakaro]

I haven't ridden Munich to Venice, but I've done several bits of your possible routes, so can offer some suggestions.
The first thing is to choose which crossing of the Alps you want to do; the rest follows from that. What looks like the shortest route isn't available to you, since the Tauern road tunnel is I believe closed to cyclists, so your choices seem to be:

Veer westwards and take the Brenner pass

Veer eastwards and either the Grossglockner pass or the Tauern rail tunnel.
The pro's and cons (I shan't mention scenery, because they'll all be pretty scenic) –

Brenner: relatively easy climb (to ~1300m). The cycling infrastructure is superb, but very busy. Personally I found the South Tirol culture unpleasantly Germanic (not something I'd say about Germany), and wouldn't rush back. The tourism is very prosperous-bourgeois-wellness-centre, and you'll pay €40+ to put up a tent for the night.

Tauern rail tunnel: it's a very pleasant ride from Salzburg up to Badgastein (climbs about 600m) where there's a rail shuttle through the tunnel (no road alternative). I went eastwards from there, but I guess you'd head westward to Dobbiaco and Cortina d'Ampezzo - I nearly rode around there last year, but life got in the way. If I was going that way I'd stop off at Longarone to see the Vajont dam, scene of perhaps Italy's worst eco-disaster. Conegliano and Treviso are nice towns.

Grossglockner: I've not been there, but it looks fabulous. Helluva climb to 2400m if you're up for the challenge. After that, much the same route as the rail tunnel. That's the way I'd go.

[ChrisF]

The easiest crossing (without tunnels) is via Imst and Landeck (Austria), then an excellent cycle path down the other side in Italy - but this is quite a diversion to the west. I have done the Tauern rail tunnel as well, which is easy to use. I haven't done the Grossglockner but cycles are allowed only at certain times of the day (early or late), and closed until June most years, so makes planning difficult.

[whoof]

I've ridden from Vienna to Venice. From Toblach we joined the Munich-Venice cycle route.

http://www.muenchen-venezia.info/en/

From memory the Austrian sections were better surfaced and better sign posted than the Italian side. Unless it's changed i would advise that on the section into Cortina you take the road, which looked quiet in June rather than the off road path. We saw no one else on this, it included carrying bikes across a dry river bed of boulders and Mrs Whoof struggled a bit with 35 mm tyres on the final descent into Cortina as it was wet with quite a bit of gravel. I

The temperature ranged from 3 degrees in Cortina and 35 degrees in Treviso.

I have ridden the Grossglockner and it's an amazing climb with great views.

Car drivers have to pay 37 Euros to go up, free for cyclists.

We ignored the advice regards riding hours. I didn't see how it was possible without getting to the base at 5 am.

https://www.grossglockner.at/gg/en/moto ... s/cyclists

Edit: if you want somewhere cheap to stay in Venice we stayed at Camping Rialto in Mestre. It was about 35 Euros a night in a 'chalet'. These are sheds with two single beds in, the sheds are packed quite tightly together. There was enough room for us and two bikes,just. This gave somewhere semi secure to leave the bikes whilst visiting Venice. There's a regular bus that stops right outside and takes around 15 minutes to Venice and costs a couple of Euros. There's also a Lidl across the road. Very easy ride to Venice airport.

[Antbrewer]

Thank you for the comments.
I am particularly interested in the specific Munich Venice route. I have been in touring in Austria over the last two summers and have done the Glockner before albeit many years ago. I don't want to look at the alternatives further east.

[mikeonabike]

If you want to go west then I recommend the Fernpass/Reschenpass route. Much quieter than Brenner pass

Once you are in Italy you could stop around Glurns and do a side trip up Stelvio.

From Trento you are in Italian Italy on the via Claudia Augusta. The route via Pieve Tesino is nice, and then you could take the Praderadego pass where you will see a sign welcoming you to proseccoland, and it is downhill all the way. We chose to cycle round the lagoon to stay at Venice Lido, from there you can get a ferry to Venice itself and the station (or to the airport I guess).

[Antbrewer]

Thanks for the comments.
As nothing is going to happen this year I have a fair time to wait and plan for any trip I intend doing. I also have some time to try to improve my fitness levels. It is quite depressing as my asthma seems to affecting the lungs more and more and any incline is a bugger.
I have never cycled in Italy so that is an attraction for me. Plenty to think about.
Thanks to all and any more thoughts are always welcome.

Anthony

[whoof]

Thanks for the comments.
As nothing is going to happen this year I have a fair time to wait and plan for any trip I intend doing. I also have some time to try to improve my fitness levels. It is quite depressing as my asthma seems to affecting the lungs more and more and any incline is a bugger.
I have never cycled in Italy so that is an attraction for me. Plenty to think about.
Thanks to all and any more thoughts are always welcome.

Anthony

One thing about Italy it's much of it is closed on a Sunday. We once cycled Milan to Lyon. Stayed with in-laws the night before flying, who cooked pizza for dinner. Landed late on Saturday night and found a hotel. Next morning after breakfast set off all shops were shut but found a small bar where the only food was a slice of pizza. Arrived at a campsite which was some distance out of Aosta and the campsite had a restaurant, which only served pizza. We were glad to cross into France to be able to find some food.

[MarcusT]

Anthony[/quote]
One thing about Italy it's much of it is closed on a Sunday. We once cycled Milan to Lyon. Stayed with in-laws the night before flying, who cooked pizza for dinner. Landed late on Saturday night and found a hotel. Next morning after breakfast set off all shops were shut but found a small bar where the only food was a slice of pizza. Arrived at a campsite which was some distance out of Aosta and the campsite had a restaurant, which only served pizza. We were glad to cross into France to be able to find some food.[/quote]


Not sure how long ago this was, but Italy in the last 10 yrs has opened quite a bit on Sunday. Most malls and supermarkets are open. Albeit, small towns have no reason to open on Sunday, but most restaurants are open. Sunday is their bread and butter.

[nirakaro]

One thing about Italy it's much of it is closed on a Sunday.

OTOH, much of France can be closed any day of the week . I recollect riding, late morning, parched, into a village near Carcassonne, which google assured me had four bars where we might get a drink. One was shut down and for sale, one closed for holidays; the other two were simply closed.

[pal]

I rode this route last summer (early September), and v. much enjoyed it. From Munich, I took the eastern branch (via the Tegernsee), which was very pleasant (though I imagine the other option might be just as nice!). The Austrian section was good: not super-scenic, but still pleasant riding; I know that some people find the road up to the Brenner Pass a bit traffic-heavy, but I thought it was ok (perhaps helped, though, by doing it outside the peak season, and on a weekday?). That is probably the steepest climb (esp the initial section out of Innsbruck), but you can easily skip it by taking the train; the cycle path down the Italian side of the pass is absolutely fantastic.

I agree with a previous poster about considering sticking on the road rather than using the cycle path from ca. Dobbiaco up to Cortina (they run parallel, so you can chop and change fairly easily), esp. if it's been raining: it was a very sticky, gloopy mess when I rode it. From Cortina, the cycle path is tarmacked (and brilliant), and from there, it's pretty much downhill all the way to Venice. (I took the longer route round to Jesolo, and then the ferry to Lido.) I took 7 days for the whole ride (plus an extra day in Cortina -- in theory to ride some extra passes; in practice, sitting in a cafe watching the rain pour down!), though it would easily be possible to do it in fewer. Then train back to Munich (plenty of bike spaces, though you need to pre-book); an alternative might be the Thello to Paris, and Eurostar back from there?

I had the Esterbauer map/guide (which comes with gps tracks), but didn't really need them, except for some of the navigation through bigger towns: the signposting is pretty good.

[jacobean]

Edit: if you want somewhere cheap to stay in Venice we stayed at Camping Rialto in Mestre. It was about 35 Euros a night in a 'chalet'. These are sheds with two single beds in, the sheds are packed quite tightly together. There was enough room for us and two bikes,just. This gave somewhere semi secure to leave the bikes whilst visiting Venice. There's a regular bus that stops right outside and takes around 15 minutes to Venice and costs a couple of Euros. There's also a Lidl across the road. Very easy ride to Venice airport.

I have heard great things about this campsite.

A colleague from work liked it some much, he went back with his family next year. He could not stop talking about either!

Then a couple of years later, a friend did an Inter-railing-type trip across Europe. I asked him his favourite place of all "oh, there was this campsite outside Venice..."

[jacobean]

One thing about Italy it's much of it is closed on a Sunday.

OTOH, much of France can be closed any day of the week . I recollect riding, late morning, parched, into a village near Carcassonne, which google assured me had four bars where we might get a drink. One was shut down and for sale, one closed for holidays; the other two were simply closed.

Sometimes being in France is like being in a computer game called "Fermé".

In the game, you have to rush to the bakery, supermarket or restaurant before a "Fermé" sign is sternly put up on the door. This sign could go up at any time from 12pm to 3pm or from 3pm to 7pm or from 7pm to 8pm. After 8pm, forget about it. Just assume everything is "fermé" and with that low expectation level - you can enjoy the rest of your holiday.

[whoof]

Edit: if you want somewhere cheap to stay in Venice we stayed at Camping Rialto in Mestre. It was about 35 Euros a night in a 'chalet'. These are sheds with two single beds in, the sheds are packed quite tightly together. There was enough room for us and two bikes,just. This gave somewhere semi secure to leave the bikes whilst visiting Venice. There's a regular bus that stops right outside and takes around 15 minutes to Venice and costs a couple of Euros. There's also a Lidl across the road. Very easy ride to Venice airport.

I have heard great things about this campsite.

A colleague from work liked it some much, he went back with his family next year. He could not stop talking about either!

Then a couple of years later, a friend did an Inter-railing-type trip across Europe. I asked him his favourite place of all "oh, there was this campsite outside Venice..."

One negative thing I would say about is if you sit outside in the morning or evening wear long trousers and sleeves and buy some Deet. There were a fair few mosquitos. In Venice itself it was OK as surrounded by salt water.Also when we were there it was 35 degrees plus which I like and have no concerns riding in but I do have trouble sleeping of its too hot. I got up at midnight to have a cold shower and there was a queue!

[aquilo]

Hi, thinking of doing this next year.
There are two versions of the initial leg from Munich, an east and a west version. Does anyone know the pros and cons of either? Both seem pretty similar in profile, just wondering if one was more scenic or different to the other?

Cheers