Part 2: Bad Aibling to Salzburg (see Part 1)

Originally, we had hoped to continue our Via Julia route to Salzburg the weekend following the first half. But it was again cold and rainy, and so we postponed. It turned out that most of the summer was cold and rainy. Finally, toward August, we got a pleasant weekend. Ben reckoned that this second part from Bad Aibling to Salzburg would be shorter and that we could do it in a day. That meant a little less planning and the ability to travel light without tent and sleeping bags and extra food. So we did it in a day.

MK

Out into the country once more, past chapels...

BH

... along rivers...

MK

... through fields.

MK

We ate lunch in the woods by a little secluded pond.

MK

And then skirted the northern bank of Chiemsee, our local (and popular) lake.

MK

Then it was back to the countryside.

MK

And past the Ettendorf church.

MK

We stopped for a break and an ice cream cone in Traunstein, thinking we had just a little way left to go.

  BH

We had little problem finding our way as the Via Julia is incredibly well signed. A couple times we had to turn back and find an alternate route because a bridge was under construction or a road was being paved, but all-in-all the navigation was straightforward. This sign, however, had me concerned. I wondered if the cows and the frogs had an equally easy time bicycling along their respective bike paths.

The route wasn't as short as we had imagined. Towards Salzburg we had to take a long alternate route to avoid the major roads and once we'd crossed the Salzach River into the city we lost the route completely. But we'd done it; we biked from Augsburg to Salzburg! The main train station was easy enough to find and we hopped aboard, tired after our 83-mile day.