Voralberg - Austria
Located in Austria's west, Voralberg is a hidden gem in Alpine road cycling. There are the gentle pre Alpine hills in the Bregenzerwald at the northern borders with Germany and high alpine mountains and passes towards the southern border with Switzerland, notably the Silvretta Hochalpenstrasse. The Bregenzerwald allows for circular routes due to its lower altitude, nearly all pass roads and climbs have serious gradients though. For those that don’t want to climb passes, the valleys between Bregenz and Bludenz offer ample cycling possibilities in the flat. So does Lake Constance which constitutes the western border with Germany and Switzerland.
Voralberg is the best kept cycling secret within the best kept cycling secret that is Austria. The Silvretta Hochalpenstrasse in the Montafon reaches 2037m and is the highest pass in the region.
Silvretta Hochalpenstrasse
The Silvreatta Hochalpenstrasse is the highest road in Voralberg and rising to just over 2000 meters navigating 30 hairpin bends to Bieler Höhe. Starting from Partenen, this is a truly lovely road with wonderfully flowing hairpin turns till you come to the Silvretta Stausee topping the climb.
After climbing the Bieler Höhe, continue down to Galtür and up a short climb to the Koppsee. Lovely views all round and back the same way.
Montafon
Riding a day in the Monafon is good fun. Starting from Bludenz, there is a cycle path into the Montafon valley. There are climbs up to St Bartolomä, Silbertal, Gargellen/Vergalden and Latschau where you can enjoy the views at Gasthof Sulzfluh.
You can combine these in various orders depending on how much climbing you want to do and how many km you would want to ride. Our route suggestion combines all of these.
Brandnertal / Lünersee
You can start the ride to Lünersee in the Brandnertal either in Rankweil for a longer ride or Bludenz for a shorter one. The gradients to Brand are steep and steeper even up to the Lünersee which is a hydro lake. The gradients and the single track road on the last part, make this a very technical ride.
The ride ends at a cable car station with views over the lake and overlooked by the mighty Schesaplana mountain. The Brandnertal will not disappoint.
Silvretta Hochapenstrasse
33 wonderful switchbacks
The Bregenzerwald is full of riding options. These inlcude riding in more rolling hills or serious climbing up lower lying passes. The Lechtaler Alpen around the Lech ski area offers the highest pass, the historic Flexenpass at 1773m.
Furkajoch from Rankweil
Starting from Rankweil you climb the Furkajoch which is tough climb in its own right and despite it being of modest hight, it has some really tough sections. It starts right out the gate into the lovely Laternser Tal, a sleepy backwater, and then up a steep climb to the Furkajoch. Continue on a high speed descent to Damühls and a short climb up the Faschinajoch before another great descent to Thüringerberg and the last climb back to Rankweil via Dünserberg. This is a lovely loop ride.
Across the Bregenzerwald
This can be ridden as a longer or shorter loop. Start from Dornbirn and ride up the Bödele Pass which is hard out of the blocks. Continue on the ride through the Bregenzer Wald to Au and climb from there to the Hochtannbergpass and loop back via Warth and Lech. Climb up to the Flexenpass from Lech and descent through the historic tunnels of the Flexenpass down the valley to Stuben and ultimately onwards to Bludenz. I took the train back to Dornbirn but you can also continue by bike.
Pfänder and Bregenzerwald
Starting from lake Constance at Lochau, the climb to the Pfänder takes you high above the lake with great views. Descending down the back of the mountain to Scheidegg in Germany opens up gently angulating roads and steep climbs that criss cross between Austria and Germany.
The length of your ride and elevation gain depends on how far you want to go. There are further suggestions on great routes here: Cycle routes in the Bregenzerwald .
Bieler Höhe from Partenen
Length: 15.2km
Altitude gain: 10156m
Max altitude: 2037 m
Average gradient: 6.7%
Max gradient: 13.7%
Route Tip: The Bieler Höhe can also be ridden in a long loop ride around the Verwall mountain range taking in three passes. Starting in Bludenz, the route rises up to the Montafon mostly on cycle paths before hitting the 30 switchbacks up to the Bieler Höhe. This is followed by a long decent to the Inn Tal valley to Pians where the road returns along the Inn Tal valley rising to St Anton. At St. Anton, the Arlbergpass awaits which is unfortunately a busier road. The pass then rides through a longish valley before coming to the turnoff to the FLexenpass. This is optional as the Flexenpass climb from here goes through a number of tunnels and covered roads. This is a historic road but can be a bit daunting. Decensding back from the Flexenpass is over 30km down to Bludenz. After the tunnel section, there are wonderful switchbacks and then cyclists are directed away from the main road to side roads all the way back to Bludenz. This is a long ride at 159km and 2960m climbing.
