Visiting Two Gems Along the Lower Inn River

 Innsbruck to Kufstein

Departing Innsbruck and riding through to Schwaz

Our excellent stay at the Hotel Tautermann in Innsbruck was topped off nicely with an early departure: we were underway at 7:34. This was possible because a) the breakfast room was set up well before the “official” start time of 7:30 and b) both Dianne and I didn’t want a big feed and were keen to get underway ASAP. A quick aside about the hotel: it’s run by the Tautermann family and they clearly pride themselves on the friendly, helpful and efficient service they provide. It’s an old fashioned hotel with a manned desk and has a very nice vibe about it. We’d stay there again if we ever find ourselves traveling to Innsbruck in the future.

Today’s ride was quite straightforward, 82 kilometres slightly downhill overall with only 300 metres of elevation. The only thing that made it a little more complicated was the rain, but more on that later. Here is the map of today’s ride and you can see that we were generally heading northeast along the Inn River for the whole way:

… and the elevation profile clearly shows the gradually downhill trajectory of the ride …

The first several kilometres leaving Innsbruck really didn’t work well for taking photos but, because of the nature of the riding,  it worked really well for a video. a nice long corridor of greenery, including a bit of gravel served as a nice prelude for when we emerged out int farmland. This little video I’ve put together I think shows nicely how we settled into a rhythm for day ahead …

After that green corridor the bike route deposited us out into open country with more expansive views …

There had been bits of moisture coming out of the sky since we left our hotel in Innsbruck but it was coming and going and was only very just there without really making us feel like we needed to put on our raincoats. You cans see by the picture above that the GoPro on the handlebars was catching the odd drop of rain but in fact only two can be seen on the lens cover at this time. 

But then the rain DID come and we knew it was definitely time to put on the wet weather gear. We were only around 5-7 kms out of Innsbruck. I didn’t use my handheld camera for about the next 20 kilometres because it’s very difficult to extract the camera from a jersey pocket when I’m wearing a tight-fitting rain jacket. I did shoot a bit of video footage with the camera on the handlebars which shows quite well how much it is raining, but I’ll save that for the closing video I’m going to insert at the end of the post.

A little further along the way, I think as we were nearing Schwaz, we came to a neat little covered bridge that spanned a small tributary that flowed into the Inn River …

Arriving in Schwaz was a very nice little surprise. We didn’t know we were going to be traversing an attractive medieval town so it was a delight to have our route take us past some beautiful buildings and quite an impressive cathedral. Wikipedia says that Schwaz was at its height in the 15th and 16th centuries when it was an important silver mining centre. Just after we entered the town Di spotted a cafe. It was about 10 kilometres earlier that we’d planned to stop but it seemed like a good opportunity to get out of the rain for a while. Here’s a picture of our bikes parked across from the café …

As we were nearing the cafe I took a picture of this building …

Sorry if you were looking for a food/coffee photo. We’d sat ourselves outside under a large umbrella protecting us from what at that stage was quite light rain and we were just focused on eating the apricot slice we were sharing and drinking a restorative hot chocolate. I did take a moment to take a photo of this window display, photo bombing it with my water bottle …

… and then when we rode a little further up past the cafe I paused where the best view of the catherdral presented itself …

It seems like rich merchants in small Austrian country towns just as bad as rich developers in Australia at acquiring real estate and blocking up views of historically important building by erecting something that is just going to make them a pile of money. Shame on the city councillors who let that happen in this instance.

Schwaz to Küstein

After we exited Schwaz we climbed up a hillside for a short distance and passed by this church …

… and then came back down to the river and past a couple of interesting sculptures that seemed almost as if they’d been placed specifically for the appreciation of cyclists riding by …

We rode along a less populated area for a few kilometres and I was wonder when we were going to see a castle when this rather imposing and very well-maintained specimen came into view. It was well worth stopping and pulling out the phone to take a picture …

A few kilometres further along an attractive riverside town - which I subsequently discovered was called Rattenburg - appeared ahead through the trees …

As we were coming closer to the town we saw evidence in the form of a little skills park that the locals encouraged cycling amongst the younger generation …

By this time and after riding in the rain off and on for about 40 kilometres we were able to undo our jackets and let them dry out while we were riding, and as we were just about out the other side of town we came to a cafe I’d earmarked for a stop. the café itself was a bit of a disappointment but just opposite was an imposing church …

… and stood in front of was an attractive water point (of which I’ve cut off the actual water coming out so that the proportions of the photo would work better 🙄)…

For quite while we either skirted or sometimes passed through small towns with churches sometimes in he town or on a prominent hill like the one below. Note the imposing fortress-like tower next to it …

Here’s another church that I liked so much I took a picture from across a couple of fields …

… and then another that makes it look like the steeple emerges from the trees in front of it …

After this we rode for quite a distance right alongside the river but good views open views of the water passing by didn’t present themselves because there were lots of shrubs and trees growing between the bike path and the river itself.

There were views of a couple of imposing looking hills as we closed in on Küfstein …

… and we got a good laugh just on the outskirts of Küfstein from seeing this small group of ver well-fed and very lazy-looking dairy cows juxtaposed against a couple of apartment blocks …

A closer view is somehow even funnier …

Passing through the modern suburbs of Küfstein did not prepare us at all for the beautiful experience that awaited us. Küfstein is yet another medieval village, but this time with an exclamation mark. I’ll end this part of the post with a short video showing the delight I encountered as a rode past Di at the southern gate to the fortified city and rode up into the original town square …

Küfstein and its Castle

 After the unexpected pleasure of riding into the city the way we did, the next thing that delighted us was the wonderful reception we received at the Hotel Küfsteinerhof. We were keen to find the hotel and get something quick to eat, as we’d delayed lunch until we arrived, which was about an hour and a half before check-in time. 

We were welcomed in a very warm and friendly manner and when Di enquired whether we might be able to check in early the receptionist said that would not be a problem. She only asked to see one of our passports (it seems a bit haphazard about whether they want to see one or both), checked us in and then slipped up to our room to see if it was ready for us. It was, and we were welcome to leave our bikes in a little room just off the foyer, which will be very convenient when it comes time to leave tomorrow morning. We were also presented with a couple of free passes for the Küfstein Castle, which is an imposing and extensive fortress that looms over the town below. There is a funicular that zips you up to the castle from the upper part of town in about 45 seconds, making it a lot easier than it would be otherwise to enjoy the intricacies of the castle complex.

Here is another view looking up at the castle …

Neither of these photos really give justice to the size of the complex. Here are a few photos from up in the castle …

… and a video I took while walking around a small section …

Following are images of a range of artifacts …

Di discovered this painting of what the castle would have looked like way back in what must have been not long after it was built …

… just before we left the castle Di shot this nice little video while a saxophonist played a tune …

After the Castle

For dinner we both had the grilled salmon, grilled vegetables and mashed potatoes flavored with truffle. Very wholesome and so filling that neither of us could finish our meals and consequently we forewent having dessert! 😬

Di was feeling quite fatigued when we arrived at the hotel. But after we’d been showered, done our laundry and had a a quick lunch she had a really good afternoon nap when we returned to the hotel while I was blogging  so she felt quite rejuvenated.  It was a joy to see her gorgeous smile return …

We didn’t wander far from the hotel but thought it would be good to share a few snippets of the historic architecture of Küfstein …

… and a bit of the iconography that is on display…

… and one last view of the castle that is such a presence overlooking the city …

Finally, for those who DO like looking at video footage, here are the clips I shot from after Di and I crossed the covered bridge about 20 kilometres out of Innsbruck and before riding into Küfstein. I’ve called it “Wet and Dry Riding Along the Lower Inn River”: