EuroVelo 14 - Waters of Central Europe

From the Zeller See, overlooked by the Schmittenhöhe, the route follows the Salzach downstream through the Pinzgau. At Bruck the Grossglockner High Alpine Road branches off toward the Hohe Tauern National Park; at Taxenbach the Rauriser Ache crashes through the narrow Kitzlochklamm gorge. Past Lend and the rail junction of Schwarzach im Pongau, where the Tauern railway turns south, the mostly paved Tauern Cycle Path reaches the Pongau hub of Bischofshofen.

Ascent

311 m

Descent

630 m

Duration

approx. 3-4 h

Surface

Asphalt & fine gravel

Beyond Bischofshofen the path leaves the Salzach valley and climbs gently to the watershed at Eben im Pongau, where the young Enns begins its eastward course. Past Altenmarkt and medieval Radstadt, whose town wall survives intact, it continues up-valley. At Mandling the route crosses the Mandling pass (815 m) and the state border from Salzburg into Styria, reaching the ski- and World-Championship town of Schladming in the upper Ennstal beneath the Dachstein massif. This is the route's biggest climbing stage - gentle but steady uphill.

Ascent

684 m

Descent

226 m

Duration

approx. 4-5 h

Surface

Asphalt & gravel

On the flat, well-built Enns Cycle Path the route rolls through the broad mid-Ennstal, framed by the Dachstein to the north and the Lower Tauern to the south. Past Pruggern and Gröbming, then the Stainach-Irdning rail junction, it reaches Wörschach, behind which the wild Wörschachklamm gorge climbs to the Wolkenstein ruins. A relaxed, almost level stage for savouring the valley.

Ascent

107 m

Descent

238 m

Duration

approx. 3-4 h

Surface

Asphalt

At Selzthal, one of Styria's largest railway junctions, the path leaves the Ennstal and turns into the Paltental. Past Rottenmann, one of the oldest towns in Styria, and the industrial town of Trieben, the route climbs steadily to the Schoberpass (849 m) - the only true watershed on the route, dividing the Enns basin from the Mur. Beyond the summit the Liesingtal leads down to Kalwang, a former copper-mining community on the Styrian Iron Road. The longest and most demanding stage.

Ascent

538 m

Descent

265 m

Duration

approx. 5-6 h

Surface

Asphalt & gravel

The Liesingtal accompanies the route downhill to St. Michael in Obersteiermark, where the Liesing joins the Mur. From here the path follows the Mur Cycle Path downstream to Leoben, Styria's second city - famous for the Gösser brewery and the Peace of Leoben that Napoleon concluded here in 1797. Via Niklasdorf the stage reaches Bruck an der Mur at the confluence of the Mur and Mürz, with its late-Gothic Kornmesserhaus and the wrought-iron Eiserner Brunnen of 1626. Mostly downhill.

Ascent

69 m

Descent

525 m

Duration

approx. 4-5 h

Surface

Asphalt

The Mur Cycle Path R2 follows the river south through its narrow, wooded valley. Past the flower town of Frohnleiten, whose car-free, flower-decked main square sits above the river, and Peggau with the Lurgrotte - Austria's largest active-water show cave - the route reaches the provincial capital Graz. Its UNESCO World Heritage spans the red-roofed old town with the Schlossberg and clock tower and Schloss Eggenberg; on the Mur stand the glassy Kunsthaus and the Murinsel.

Ascent

148 m

Descent

363 m

Duration

approx. 4-5 h

Surface

Asphalt

Beyond Graz the route leaves the Mur valley and crosses the gentle East Styrian hills into the Raab valley. In Gleisdorf, the 'solar town', the Solar Tree stands on the main square; further downstream the path reaches Feldbach with its Tabor, a late-medieval fortified-church complex ringed by a double moat. Here begins the Styrian spa-and-volcano country, whose thermal baths - Loipersdorf, Bad Blumau, Bad Waltersdorf - echo the 'waters' theme of EuroVelo 14.

Ascent

391 m

Descent

466 m

Duration

approx. 4-5 h

Surface

Asphalt

The Raab valley path accompanies the river through the south-east Styrian borderland via Fehring and - now in Burgenland - Jennersdorf, capital of the southernmost district, near the tripoint with Hungary and Slovenia. The goal is Mogersdorf, Austria's easternmost municipality: on the Schlösslberg a memorial with a tall concrete cross recalls the 1664 Battle of Mogersdorf, where a Christian army turned back the Ottomans at the Raab. The view reaches across the Raab valley into Hungary. Almost level.

Ascent

35 m

Descent

94 m

Duration

approx. 2-3 h

Surface

Asphalt