Herrenchiemsee New Palace and Historic Centre of the City of Salzburg
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
387 km
Riding-time estimate
5 h 38
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
387 km from Prien am Chiemsee to Prien am Chiemsee, about 5 h 38 of riding. On the way it passes Historic Centre of the City of Salzburg, See, Litzlberg Süd and back through Litzlberg Süd. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,050 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It crosses from Germany into Austria - carry ID and check vignette or toll rules. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
Scenic road chapters
Salkammergut Lakes Road
Water arrives beside the road and stays for 41 km. The line follows the shore because there is nowhere else for it to go — slow enough to look. The surface follows the shoreline, so the corners arrive where the water decided, not where an engineer did.
Chapter facts
Length
42 km
Named road
Salkammergut Lakes Road
Salkammergut Lakes Road
55 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it. Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through.
Chapter facts
Length
58 km
Named road
Salkammergut Lakes Road
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Herrenchiemsee New Palace
King Ludwig II wanted to build Versailles on an island, and for the most part he did. The New Palace on Herrenchiemsee, the largest island in the Chiemsee, is his answer to Louis XIV, a Bavarian homage to the French sun king that took years to build and was never finished. Ludwig spent barely ten days there in total. The money ran out, the king's reputation among his ministers fell, and in 1886 he was dead in Lake Starnberg under circumstances people still argue about.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Herrenchiemsee New Palace is where the day begins. Next is Historic Centre of the City of Salzburg.
2. Historic Centre of the City of Salzburg
Salzburg's old town is a stage set that happens to be real. Squeezed between the river Salzach and the steep rock of the Mönchsberg, it packs baroque domes, church towers and tall merchants' houses into a few dense streets, while the white walls of Hohensalzburg fortress sit high above everything like a lid on a jewellery box. The city has around a hundred and fifty thousand people, yet the centre still feels small enough to cross on foot in twenty minutes.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Historic Centre of the City of Salzburg comes up about 72 km into the recorded legs. Next is See.
3. See
At the southeastern tip of the Mondsee, where the lake narrows toward the Attersee and the cliffs of the Drachenwand and the Schafberg crowd in on both sides, lies a hamlet with the shortest name you will find on any map: See. Just offshore, in the shallow water where the lake drains, divers found the remains of a prehistoric pile-dwelling settlement, and the finds were so characteristic that archaeologists named a whole Neolithic culture after the lake: the Mondsee culture, known for its decorated pottery and early copper working. The site is part of the UNESCO listing of Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps, and as with most of them, there is nothing to see except the water, which is part of the point.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 114 km into the recorded legs you reach See. Next is Litzlberg Süd.
4. Litzlberg Süd
Attersee is the largest lake lying entirely within Austria, and the water is so clear and clean that boats seem to hang over their own shadows. It lies in the Salzkammergut, the lake district east of Salzburg, ringed by forested hills and with the limestone wall of the Hollengebirge at its southern end. Litzlberg sits on the western shore, a short way from Seewalchen, where the lake narrows and the shoreline is a mix of meadows, reed beds and villas with boathouses. It is a place that people have lived since the Stone Age, and the lake bed here holds the remains of prehistoric pile dwellings that are part of the UNESCO listing for such sites around the Alps.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 387 km.
Leg by leg
Herrenchiemsee New Palace to Historic Centre of the City of Salzburg
Herrenchiemsee New Palace → Historic Centre of the City of Salzburg is 72 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Historic Centre of the City of Salzburg to See
Historic Centre of the City of Salzburg → See is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
See to Litzlberg Süd
See → Litzlberg Süd is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Litzlberg Süd to Historic Centre of the City of Salzburg
Litzlberg Süd → Historic Centre of the City of Salzburg is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Historic Centre of the City of Salzburg to back through Litzlberg Süd
Historic Centre of the City of Salzburg → back through Litzlberg Süd is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Litzlberg Süd to back through See
back through Litzlberg Süd → back through See is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through See to back through Historic Centre of the City of Salzburg
back through See → back through Historic Centre of the City of Salzburg is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Historic Centre of the City of Salzburg to Herrenchiemsee New Palace
back through Historic Centre of the City of Salzburg → Herrenchiemsee New Palace is 72 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.