HAT1701: High Alpine Tour

Day 6: Au to Erding It's our last day on the road and the weather gods are smiling. Barely out of the hotel we start climbing the Hochtannbergpass and enter the province of Tirol for a few short miles, before crossing the last border back into Germany. Just in front of the border we ride along the beautiful Plansee, where we spot our Tour Guide Tony, who has prepared a traditional Edelweiss picnic for us. A short shower interrupts the sunshine and we escape into the fabulous Schloss Linderhof, favoured home of Ling Ludwig II. From here we north back to Erding where it is time to say goodbye to our bikes as we pack our bags for the trip home. It's been a blast! Day 5: Pontresina to Au It's another beautiful day in the Alps as we set out to conquer some of the best passes Switzerland has to offer. Julier,  Albula and Flüela offer some of the best riding so far before we pass the border into Lichtenstein, one of the smallest countries in Europe. Barely one hour after entering we have ridden the entire length of the country and cross the border back into Austria. Here we tackle our last pass of the day, the fantastic Faschinajoch. We arrive at our hotel in Au where Tour Guide Gottfried has prepared the traditional Edelweiss boot beer to celebrate yet another fantastic day on the road.  Day 4: Klobenstein to Pontresina  Passo di Stelvio, Stilfserjoch, the Queen of all Mountain Roads! This is why we ride! After a coffee stop in Italys smallest town we tackle the famous 48 switchbacks to the top where we celebrate our arrival in style with a generous helping of Brunos famous sausages. Our afternoon ride takes us across the border to Switzerland, where we tackle the last few miles to Pontresina, our stop for the night.  Day 3: Rest day in Klobenstein  It's another beautiful day as we take a well earned break from riding by, you guessed it, going for a ride. Our route takes us along single track roads through the hills and wine fields north of Bozen and up the Penserjoch. This fantastically flowing piece of tarmac is a biker's dream and takes us into the Sarn valley back to Klobenstein. We spend the afternoon exploring the centre of Bozen, where we marvel at the medieval architecture, visit the ice man Ötzi and taste some excellent gelato.  Day 2: Lienz to Klobenstein Another day, another country. We say goodbye to Austria and hello to Italy as we enter the Dolomites, one of the best motorcycle terrains on the planet. Fantastically twisty roads in some of the most beautiful mountains in Europe. And great food as well. After seemingly endless twisting we reachieve Bolzano and from there begin our climb to the small mountain town of Klobenstein and our hotel for the next two nights. Day 1: Erding to Lienz  We set off in glorious sunshine on the very first day of our High Alpine Tour. The rolling foothills of the Bavarian Alps are full of fantastic sweepers and offer us a great opportunity to get used to our new motorcycles.  After a quick stop for coffee at Lake Chiemsee we cross the border into Austria, enjoy a proper alpine lunch and thenjoy tackle Austria's highest mountain pass: the famous Grossglockner High Alpine Road! We end the day with another fantastic set of sweepers and switchbacks before finally arriving in Lienz, our stop for the night.