Benedict Bike Path
Rolling hills, historic towns, undulating farmland, and impressive rivers, this circular tour has a lot packed into it.
Six reasons I enjoyed this tour:
- Close to home, only a 1-hour drive.
- Open countryside, no pesky mountains in the way
- Lots of farmland with crops growing and animals in the fields
- Interesting villages and towns along the route
- There is a religious aspect to this route; however, for those who aren’t, we enjoyed the scenery and beauty of the monasteries and churches we passed.
- The route is on quiet side roads, bike paths and gravel paths.
Benedict Bike path is circular.
The beauty of this tour is that it’s circular, which means you can start at any point along the way. We drove from home to Traunstein, which is only an hour which meant it was perfect for getting some miles in on the 1st day. We did this route over three days, starting in Traunstein, overnight in Wasserburg and then Burghausen on the 2nd night.
Wasserburg and Burghausen
Both towns are what you would picture as medieval walled towns with impressive buildings and cobbled streets. Wasserburg has a lovely track along the river, which is also the bike path, so a wander around the cobbled streets and an ice cream made for a lovely evening in the town. Burghausen has the world’s longest castle; we went for a leg stretch after dinner, through this castle gives you excellent views from both sides of the city below. On a clear evening, you will be treated to a beautiful sunset.
This route and type of cycling is a treat for us as we live in the mountains and usually need to cycle around or over a steep mountain. You can crisscross excellent undulating farmland in this area and weave in and out of the beautiful walled towns along the river Inn and Salzach.
The path is easy to follow. It is signposted all the way. We used the Bikeline book, and my husband had the GPX file downloaded onto his Garmin, so we were completely covered for directions.
My favourite part of the day is over breakfast with a map or a route book in front of me, pouring over the day’s route and where we might stop or picking out the points where we might do some sightseeing. That is why I don’t like to rely on technology for a tour.
A photo for me is worth 1000 words, so I generally choose where I want to cycle based on eye-catching images, and there are a lot of beautiful pictures of this route.
My favourite spot on this tour was St. Coloman church, just above Taching am See. It is a lovely quiet spot with a grassy area at the front and some trees to get shade in. We had an extended lunch stop and snooze here, enjoying the view and the peaceful surroundings.
In Wasserburg, we stayed overnight at the Hotel Fletzinger, where the staff were very kind and helpful. The breakfast was a work of art and perfect to set us up for a day on the bike. Highly recommended as a stop-over point.
