Bicycle Touring the River Inn and Bavaria
In 1999, we cycled 650km from the source of the River
Inn near St. Moritz in Switzerland to where it joins the Danube at Passau in
Germany. After Passau we spent a few days cycling from Nürnberg to Bamberg
and Würzburg.
(Maps of our route can be viewed by clicking on
the links throughout the article.)
Part 1 - Switzerland - St Moritz to Martina
Dawn was just breaking as we left our hotel in Paris and started
to ride across the city to the Gare de l'Est. The city was starting to wake.
Birds were singing in the trees, a few late night revellers were making their
way home. A pair of lovers stood intertwined in a long passionate embrace on the
Pont St. Michel as we rode over the Seine. Early morning light was just starting to gild the towers
of the great Cathédrale de la Nôtre Dame. Few cars moved
along the boulevards and street cleaners were busy washing the city for the
start of the new day. The smell of freshly baked bread wafted on the light
breeze. It was a magical time and one of our treasured cycling memories.
It was almost worth making the long train journey from Paris
just to experience the train trip from Chur to St. Moritz. The small mountain
train climbed steeply into the mountains where it twisted and corkscrewed around inside
tunnels, crossed narrow gorges to disappear into more tortuous tunnels before
dropping down into the valley of the River Inn. The views over the high
mountains with their glaciers and the steep, narrow gorges were quite
spectacular.
It was 6.15pm when we arrived at St. Moritz. It had been a long
day. As we rode out to the campground, a cold wind was blowing. We dined at a
nearby restaurant and were in bed by half past eight. It was very cold and we
were very tired.
At 1,780 metres above sea level,
St. Moritz is in the heart of the Swiss Engadine and is a winter playground for
the rich and famous. In summer it is much quieter and many of the hotels and
trendy boutiques were closed for the season. More importantly for us, most of the book
shops were closed. We couldn't find any maps or guides for the cycle route along
the Inn and ended up buying some small black and white mountain bike maps from
the information
office at the railway station. This was a surprise as we knew that excellent
maps and guides existed for the Austrian and German sections of the River Inn. At least we knew
that there were sign posts indicating the route as we had seen them on our ride
around the St. Moritz lake.
The River Inn starts its journey to the Danube a few kilometres southwest of
St. Moritz where a stream a few metres wide leaves the Silser See near an old
castle. We rode out
there the afternoon before we left St. Moritz. At least we would be able to say that we had cycled
from the source of the river.
We left St. Moritz and dropped down the gorge to Celerina. From
there we rode through lush green
meadows and on smooth paths by the river. It was Saturday and there were lots of
people out on their bikes enjoying the warm, sunny weather. Everywhere, there
were 'Chocolate Box' views of snow covered mountains, picturesque villages with
cows grazing in the wildflower strewn meadows.
Noelene
riding through the meadows near Celerina
With the source of the river at
approximately 1,800 above sea level and its mouth at Passau only 313 metres, it
was reasonable to assume that this ride was going to be down hill. Well, more
downhill than uphill.
When we reached the village of Zuoz, the track climbed steeply into the forests
and became considerably rougher. It climbed steeply up and down as we bypassed
narrow rugged gorges. There were
numerous patches of loose stones and soft sand where winter damage hadn't been
repaired. In sheltered corners there were patches of ice and snow. At the
highest point of the climb, a path had been cut through a two metre high snow drift
which covered the track for about twenty metres. The cycling was hard work on our
heavily laden Bike Fridays with their small wheels. We saw lots of other
cyclists but they were all just out for a day ride on their suspended mountain
bikes. At every gap in the forest, we had fabulous views of the mountains and
villages and the river as it tumbled through the gorges. The air was clean and
cool. It was good to be alive.
Two
rivers meet - a milky white glacial fed stream joins the clear waters of the Inn
There were signposts every couple of kilometres along the path but at
intersections with other paths, there were so many signposts that it was
confusing. Eventually the track
started dropping steeply down to the town of Zernaz. As we raced through the
forest, David got the first puncture of the trip. We had planned on going
further but the day had been harder than we had anticipated and we decided to camp
at the pleasant and picturesque campground at Zernaz on the banks of the River
Inn.
After the hard riding the day before we decided to follow the
road rather than the steep, rough forest tracks of the signposted route. The road climbed
steeply up and down as we made our way through narrow gorges where the river
tumbled in a torrent of white water. We turned off the road to visit the town of Guarda. Several hundred metres above the main road, Guarda sits on the edge of
the high alpine meadows. It wasn't until after the Second World War that a road
was built to reach the village. In common with hundreds of other mountain
villages in Switzerland, the villagers were isolated from the rest of the world for much of the winter.
It was this winter isolation which lead to the development of some of
Switzerland's national dishes. Cheese fondue and raclette were means of using up
end of winter scraps of cheese. As there was not enough fodder available to keep
all the animals alive through the winter months, animals would be slaughtered as
the cold weather approached and the meat processed as air-dried beef and
air-dried sausages. Practical solutions created in answer to a difficult living
environment.
Guarda's isolation has meant that most of its traditional old buildings have been
preserved. Many of the buildings feature sgraffito decorations on their walls.
These are done by cutting a design through a fine render to expose a contrasting
coloured render underneath. It is a time consuming process but most of the
cutting is now done using electrically powered tools. Obviously, the word 'sgraffito' has the same Latin root as the English word
'graffiti'.
It had become quite hot and humid so we decided to leave our loaded bikes
at the railway station and walk up to the village. As we rode into the station
car park, David jokingly said that there would probably be a Swiss Postal bus
waiting at the station to give us a lift to the village. Post buses serve most
of the isolated villages in Switzerland, carrying passengers and goods as well
as the mail. Both of us were surprised when we saw that the bus was indeed
waiting. We rushed to lock our bikes and board the bus. After a couple of
minutes, the train arrived, the mail was transferred to the bus and we started
our short ride up the very steep road.
After a couple of hours wandering around Guarda, we walked back
to the station and continued our journey to Ardez where we stopped at the
village fountain for lunch. It was Sunday and the town was very quiet with
hardly a soul about. There was a lot of climbing as the road worked its way up
and down the mountain sides to avoid the narrow gorges. All the time the river
was nearby and was slowly becoming larger but it was still a wild river with
lots of white water. We rode on to Sur En where we could see the campground
pleasantly situated several hundred metres below us on the banks of the Inn. It
was a fast ride down to the covered bridge over the river and to the campground,
but all the time we were thinking of the hard climb we were going to face the
first thing the next morning. The campground was in a very beautiful setting by
the river with a ruined castle on a high ridge nearby.
The covered bridge over the River Inn at the
campground at Sur En
The next morning we avoided the steep climb back to the main
road by following a smooth and
relatively flat track through forests and meadows. After fording a wide but
shallow stream, we crossed the Inn on another covered bridge and rejoined the road. At the Swiss border post at Martina, we spent our Swiss coins
buying luscious liqueur filled chocolate. After a friendly wave from the Swiss
border guards we crossed into a "no man's land" for several kilometres as we
climbed through avalanche ravaged countryside to reach the
Finstermünz Pass and Austria.
Map 1 - St. Moritz
to Martinsbruck (Martina)
