The San Candido–Lienz Cycle Path

If a few weeks ago someone had told me I would manage to cycle 42 km, me who hasn't been on a bike for years, I would have laughed; and yet, encouraged by all the material found on the internet praising not only the beauty of the Tyrolean landscapes you pass through but above all the ease of the route, largely downhill, making it suitable for children, well-trained elderly people and anyone like me who is not a professional cyclist — in short, a bit for everyone! We're talking about the famous San Candido–Lienz cycle path, which actually continues as far as Maribor in Slovenia! And here we are in San Candido at Papin, a well-known bike hire shop in the area, to hire 2 bicycles. Together with the bikes we were given a map with the phone numbers and the various assistance points along the route.

Reading the various travel forums, I was persuaded to pay an extra supplement of 4 euros to leave the bikes in Lienz, again at Papin, so as to be able to travel light, take a wander around Lienz and above all not have to queue to load the bikes onto the train carriage. All in all we spent 43 euros: 16 for the bikes, 8 to be able to leave the bikes in Lienz, 3 for little Matteo's child seat; the prices are indicative anyway and vary according to the season, I invite you to look at Papin's offers on their website.

As they had said, the cycle path is really very beautiful, especially for children; in fact along the route there is no shortage of opportunities for fun and games, and so a route of about 3 hours can take up a whole day. There are many stops you can make; we stopped at the Loacker factory, where we bought sweets and biscuits which, however, never made it home, and at the Galitzenklamm gorge, where we could admire some beautiful waterfalls, but there are really many things to do and see, for example at Thal there's a beautiful swimming pool and playground where we stopped for lunch, and the gnome park at Sillian.

Lienz is a really charming little town; after returning the bikes at Papin right opposite the station, we ventured into the small centre and treated ourselves to a very good slice of cake!!! We ended our tour of Lienz with a visit to Bruck Castle, really very nice, so, tired, we set off towards the station, tired but truly happy with our little achievement!!!!