South Tyrol total: 8 days on the bike from the Dolomites to the gardens of Italy

Individual journey to the starting hotel in Bressanone/Brixen.

Plan a little time for the baroque old town with its magnificent arcades and the cathedral of the prince bishops

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Bike tour Dobbiaco – Alta Pusteria – Bressanone, 70 km, 450 m ↑, 1,100 m ↓, ~ 5 h
or 95 km, 750 m ↑, 1,400 m ↓, ~ 5 h

In the morning the train takes you to the land of the Dolomites. Coming from Bressanone, after one stop on the regional train, change trains at the Franzfeste fortress station. Continue towards Lienz up into the lovely Alta Pusteria valley, lined with many castles and fortresses. Please get off at the train station in Dobbiaco.

Have you booked rental bikes? Then get the bikes here in Dobbiaco within walking distance of the train station.

Now you have the choice:

You follow directly the bike route along the railroad back to Bressanone – or you decide for our exclusive extra tip:

A stitch tour of about 20 km and about 250 meters of altitude difference leads you directly into the heart of the world-famous Three Peaks Dolomites.

Ride past Dobbiaco Lake, follow the long-distance bike path Munich – Venice or the valley road along the Rienz River through the wild and romantic Höhlensteintal Valley in the middle of the Three Peaks Nature Park. After about 10 km you can stop for a mountain coffee at Lake Dürrensee or before that at the Hotel Drei-Zinnen-Blick. Please plan a good 3 hours for this detour into the high mountains. I promise you: you will be thrilled!

Please note: We recommend this side trip exclusively. You can find the route described on komoot.de under Rundtour Toblach – Dolomiten. Use the komoot app for navigation if you like.

Saturated with fresh alpine air, you make your way back to Dobbiaco and enjoy the rapid descent.

Whether with or without a detour. The way back to Bressanone leads you down the Hochputestal always along the Rienz.
The bike tour

leads you past the famous Braies Valley, which stretches towards the south.

Past the Olang reservoir and the Following the river Rienz, you will reach the Michael Pacher town of Bruneck. The old bishop’s castle is now home to Reinhold Messner’s Museum of the Mountain People.

Continue leisurely through the lower Pustertal cycling, you will pass through the ruins of the Mühlbacher Klause fortress into the Eisack Valley. In the evening you will climb by bike the
Franzfeste
. If you like, just before Bressanone you can take a look at the monastery complex of Neustift.

Is the way too far or the time already advanced? No problem: on the way you can always get on the same train that brought you to Dobbiaco in the morning – just in the opposite direction, of course.

Brixen – Bozen bike tour, 40 km, 200 m ↑, 500 m ↓, ~ 4 h

The Eisacktal cycle path from Bressanone to Bolzano along the river Eisack gives you the direction today.

The starting point is the bishop’s town of Bressanone, which you leave towards the south. Soon the picturesque The small town of Chiusa with its narrow streets and houses invites you for a first visit.

They follow the torrent of the Eisack. Again and again you will dive into mighty tunnels of the former railroad line Bolzano – Bressanone. As the tracks now connect the towns deep inside the mountain, they have created an impressive and excellently developed bike path space – far from the valley road.

The Brenner freeway is your constant companion on this section. Since it runs mainly on high stilts far above the valley floor, it hardly ‘disturbs’ the cyclist’s experience.

Finally

South Tyrol’s capital Bolzano awaits you, the city where two cultures meet.

Round trip Bolzano – Lake Caldaro, 50 km, 300 m ↑↓, ~ 4 h
or: Hike to the earth pyramids

Today’s program includes a bike tour in South Tyrol’s most famous wine-growing region and around Lake Kaltern.

Passing Sigmundskron Castle, you first cycle to Eppan, the largest wine-growing community in South Tyrol. You continue on their way to Kaltern. Those who wish can make a short detour beforehand at St. Michael’s to the idyllic Montiggler See lake and take a refreshing swim. The municipality of Kaltern is at any definitely worth a visit, as is the South Tyrolean Wine Museum. Shortly after Kaltern awaits you the Kalterer See before you cycle along the Etsch cycle path back to Bolzano.

Exclusively for you as Tours & Travel – travelers we would like to recommend an alternative program for this day:

If you enjoy leaving the bike at the hotel for a day and instead climb into the mountains hiking, consider the following idea:

A about 5 hours round trip hike takes you around 20 km and ~ 1,100 vertical meters ↑↓ from the valley station of the Ritten mountain railroad to Oberbozen from the city center of Bolzano to the Lake Mittelstiel at the Ortelkopf (1,270 m) and to the Lake Wolfsgrubernto the mountain village of Oberbozen and – along an old Roman mountain road – directly to the natural wonderland of the Rittner earth pyramids. I promise you – you will be amazed!

This excursion to the heights of the Bolzano Alps above the valleys of the Isarco and Adige rivers will delight you.

If you like, you can shorten the outward or or return journey with the Rittner Bergbahn and also travel a bit through the Alps at altitude with the historic Rittner Bahn. The fare for the mountain railroad is included in the Bolzano Tourist Card, which you can get at the hotel (as of 2023).

Bolzano – Merano bike tour, 40 km, 200 m ↑↓, ~ 4 h

Along the “Wine Road” you will cross the largest fruit-growing area in South Tyrol. One orchard follows another the next. The famous South Tyrolean apple comes from here. Also the oldest winery in South Tyrol in Andrian is located on your way.

The route continues via Terlan and Nals to the municipality of Lana, which is definitely is worth a visit before you reach the spa town of Merano. Also worth seeing are the gardens of Castle Trauttmansdorff, located just above Merano.

Alternatively, you can also cycle along the Etschradweg along the the dam directly to Merano.

Our Tip:

If you are already there, the first ice cream at the Uferpromande in Merano already eaten and the day is still young – experience Merano and the wide Etsch Valley from above in an impressively beautiful short hike along the Merano Panorama Trail.

The path leads you directly from the old town, from the town church St. Nikolaus through the herb garden of the town high up to the – touristically a bit overrun – village Tirol and the very worth seeing castle Castle Tirol.

Admission to the Tyrolean Regional Museum inside THE Castle of Tyrol is included in your spa card (as of 2023). Take a few hours to visit the castle and the exhibition on the history and identity of Tyrol. Highly recommended!

The way is very easy to find. We attach a variant as a hike in the Collection to this tour on komoot. Download the komoot app free of charge to your mobile device and select the tour https://www.komoot.de/tour/1157110064.

Download the tour to your device (“make available offline”) and use your cell phone as a navigator. All tours of this trip can be found as komoot collection under the link https://www.komoot.de/collection/1990578.

Bike tour Mals – Vinschgau – Merano, 60 km, 200 m ↑ 850 m ↓, ~ 5 h

The Vinschgerbahn takes you from Merano to Malles.

By bike you explore always slightly downhill, along


of the Adige cycle path cycling the entire valley. The first stopover is Glurns, the smallest town in South Tyrol. Next


it goes through the fruit-growing area to Prad, Laas, Schlanders and Naturns back to the spa town of Merano.

Bike tour from Jaufenpass to Brixen, 45 km, 200 m ↑ 1,700 m ↓, ~ 4 h

Transfer from Merano to the Jaufen Pass (2,094 m) and on to Sterzing.

If you want, you can already

Jaufenpass and enjoy the unique panorama during a brisk descent to Sterzing.
enjoy Wonderful bike paths lead from the upper Eisack Valley to the former customs station in Franzensfeste and on to the bishop’s town of Bressanone.

Embark on your individual journey home or stay for one more night.