Austria: Mühlviertel

"Ma, this is going to be beautiful!" Franz Rockenschraub leans back with a satisfied smile and looks at his work. "I'm glad I don't have to ride this!" he says with a mischievous wink the next moment. The route he has just drawn on a map covers a whopping 2,000 metres in altitude. As a bright pink line, it runs through the entire Lower Mühlviertel, from Liebenau in the far north-east to Bad Zell on the southern edge of the Mühlviertler Alm; after much hesitation, Franz aka "Rocky" has decided not to take the detour down to Grein on the Danube.

When the boss of the Hotel Dorfwirt plans personalised tours for his guests, it is truly entertaining: accompanied by an almost sadistic grin and regular exclamations of enthusiasm, his illuminated pen always takes new turns. Here another hill, there another side road - from the magnificent panorama to the delicious cappuccino to the interesting castle ruins, there is always a good reason for a few more (altitude) metres in Rocky's realm.

The fact that the enterprising hotelier knows every road and every climb in his home region is not only due to his past as a triathlete and Austria4Cup rider. He also regularly glides through the north of Upper Austria on his motorbike.

Last year, the racing bike became the new niche tourist product of his smart four-star hotel by joining the "Roadbike Holidays" group. Since then, ten ready-made tours including GPS data have been available for cycling guests, as well as a lockable storage room, some tools, a fine wellness area and various services from bike hire to a return service. Rocky also organises guided tours once a week.

Starting from Liebenau, the highest municipality in Upper Austria, the trained waiter and master baker sends his guests either to the neighbouring southern Bohemia and Waldviertel or to the lower, i.e. eastern, Mühlviertel. This part of the granite and gneiss highlands in particular is extremely hilly. That's why Franz usually advises shorter tours at the beginning, so that nobody overdoes it with an average of 1,000 metres in altitude over 50 kilometres. He only imposes the full programme on TOUR Austria editors right from the start - but also fortifies them with restful sleep in wildwood beds and a breakfast buffet full of regional energy ...

You can find the entire article from the TOUR-Special ÖSTERREICH as a PDF download below.

The tour download is available here www.hotel-dorfwirt.at

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Austria: Mühlviertel