The Alpe Adria cycle route starts in the wonderful city of Salzburg and more precisely in the square dedicated to the composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Mozartplatz). The cycle route heads south along the Salzach river following the route of the Tauern cycle path (Tauernradweg).
After a few tens of kilometers we arrive in front of the imposing alpine massifs that seem to prevent us from continuing. Instead, the Salzach river has carved out a suggestive one that after a few kilometers opens into a gentle valley dominated by the Hohenwerfen fortress. Beyond the medieval village of Werfen you will almost always cycle flat on cycle paths that run close to the river.
Arrived in the village of Schwarzach im Pongau the cycle path along the river bank to climb on a panoramic plateau which after a few ups and downs bends sharply to the left leaving the valley of the Salzach river and entering that of the Gasteiner stream.
Now we pedal in the wonderful Gastein valley: the cycle path runs through green meadows surrounded by high mountains with peaks covered by glaciers and characteristic alpine villages. Going up the valley, you will find the village of Bad Hofgastein and the town of Bad Gastein, preceded by a short but steep climb. The two locations are famous spas with important palaces and luxurious hotels, frequented in the past by the nobility and the emperor of Austria.
The last stretch of the cycle path continues uphill to the end of the valley, barred by the imposing mountains that make up the main chain of the High Tauern. The road ends at the Böckstein railway terminal where cyclists and bicycles can get on the train that will take them in a few minutes to Mallnitz, Carinthia, on the other side of the mountain, thanks to the Tauern Railway Tunnel (Tauerntunnel).