Fuschlsee is the first lake you meet when you ride east out of Salzburg toward the Salzkammergut, and it makes a good first impression. It is small, about four kilometres long, and its water is so clean and clear that it has a reputation as nearly drinkable. The shore is lined with forest and a few elegant buildings, with hills rising behind, and on a calm morning the whole scene sits in the water like a second world turned upside down.
The village of Fuschl am See has about fifteen hundred residents and a lakeside promenade, and it is also the home of the Red Bull company, whose headquarters are a modern building a short distance from the water. That is a curious contrast with the old castle, Schloss Fuschl, a former hunting lodge that is now a hotel and stands on a small peninsula, looking as if it has been waiting for a film crew since the 1950s.
The road here, the B158, is a mix of fast, flowing sections and slower village stretches. It rolls along the lake with gentle curves and small climbs, and on a weekday morning it is a delight, with the water flashing through the trees. At weekends and in July and August it can be slow, with caravans, cyclists and day-trippers from Salzburg. If you can, go early or go late, or time your visit for the weeks in May and September when the weather is still good and the crowds have not arrived.
You can swim from public access points on the lakeshore in summer, and the water is cold enough to wake you up even in August. There are cafes by the water, mostly informal, which do coffee and cake and a decent fish sandwich. Local trout and char are the specialties, caught in the lakes of the region.
For fuel, the village is small, but Salzburg is only about nineteen kilometres away, with every service you could want. Hallein is another option to the south. Fill the tank before you go too deep into the lake district, because the roads past St Gilgen and on to Bad Ischl are scenic but not densely served.