A European “Flashpacking” Adventure is About to Start for Doug and Di!

We’re off on a new adventure ...

Our cycling loop starts and finishes in Salzburg
travelling in a clockwise direction

... and yes, we ARE excited! 😁

We’ve even been practising with our new bikepacking gear:

On the last day of a three day loop in northeastern Tasmania

Di riding with the new Tailfin rack and bag

We probably won't see anything quite like this crossing the road in central Europe …

Bikes parked at the Purple Possum Cafe in St Marys

"Sooo ... what is this 'flashpacking' caper?", I hear some of you ask. Well, it's the lightweight version of bike packing or bike touring, where you carry the least amount of stuff you can get away with. No camping or cooking gear. As few changes of clothing as you feel comfortable with. A credit card to pay for stuff with. That's about it.

For much of our journey we’ll be travelling with our friends Tony, Jane, Michael and Louise. Jane (with whom I share a birthday! 😁) is Michael’s younger sister. We met both couples on a previous cycling tour, which Michael, Louise and I rode over two years … but that is a different story.

Tony & Jane; Michael & Louise

Tony, Jane, Michael and Louise will start their cycling journey on the border of Switzerland and Austria before meeting up with us five days later in Salzburg. We’ll then ride south and slightly east from Salzburg along the border between Austria and Slovenia for a few days before we are fully into Slovenia for a week or so. We’ll have rest and recreation days (not that it should be very hard work each day) in Lake Bled and then the car-free old coastal town of Piran. 

Lake Bled

Piran, Slovenia

From there it’s across the Veneto to Lake Garda via the two beautiful cities of Cittadella and Verona. We will part ways with the others there as we have different objectives for the rest of our respective journeys.

While the other four head west-northwest with a visit to the famed Stelvio, Dianne and I will head north to Bolzano, which is where Otzi the Iceman can be found. It's a favourite stop of ours after a number of previous visits on hiking and cycling trips. 

We then ride northwest along the Adige River …

One of many bridges on the Adige River

… towards perhaps the easiest way through the mountains out of Italy and back into Austria. We will continue for a few days to Innsbruck, have another day off the bikes and then ride back to Salzburg.

The loop will keep us engaged for four weeks before we pack up and start the return journey home to Tasmania. Fingers crossed that nothing goes wrong this time around! 😁