Upper Austria, bordering Bavaria and Salzburg to the east, is the fourth-largest and, with 1.5 million inhabitants, third-largest federal state in Austria; the state capital is Linz. The highest point in the state is the Hohe Dachstein (2,995 metres) on the border with Styria. Our base in Wels is located pretty much in the centre of Upper Austria and, with a population of around 61,000, is the second largest city in the state and an important trade fair and industrial location. From there, our tours lead south into the Upper Austrian Alpine foothills, a partly flat, partly hilly, intensively farmed forest and meadow landscape, as well as to the Hausruck in the west, a low mountain range up to 801 metres high. There is also a tour to the south-west of the country, to the lakes of the Salzkammergut.
The altitude profiles of our tours could be taken from a low mountain range: Starting just over 300 metres above sea level, the highest passages reach 700 to just over 800 metres. This is also reflected in the fact that the 90 to 120 kilometre-long laps cover between 1,000 and almost 1,800 metres in altitude. Climbs several kilometres long, such as those from Attersee towards Mondsee and from Attersee to the Krahbergtaferl saddle (around 300 and 420 metres in altitude respectively, Tour 1), or the one from Nußbach to Weiß am Sattel (310 metres in altitude, Tour 3) are the exception rather than the rule. Visually, however, the character of the tours is completely different, as you almost always have the Alps in front of your eyes without having to climb too much. The climbs are more the salt in the soup. And on most roads (with a few exceptions), they are not spoilt by heavy traffic or poor surfaces.
