Sunday, August 4, 2013 | Marko Bauer | Europe
We have made it: everybody has arrived back in Seefeld, healthy and with a big smile on every face! The final day wasn't just a boring ride home - actually it held a special highlight: the Grossglockner, Austria's highest mountain!
The Grossglockner
After the highest mountain, we also stopped for the highest waterfalls near Krimml:
Charles IV and Tarek
And then we slowly made our way towards Seefeld. One more picture stop at the Achensee:
Achensee
Of course we had to drink a final coffee before we returned to Seefeld.
And after another multi-course dinner it was finally time to say goodbye! It was a wonderful week, with lots of new friends, new experiences and great memories!
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Day 6:
The Dolomites - that is the answer if you ask a European motorcycle rider for the best riding area! And this is exactly were the Ducati Alps motorcycle tour was headed today. We had to leave the Laurin, not before we had an excellent breakfast - and a group foto:
The Ducatisti in Bozen
And then the fun started again: twists, turns, curves, hairpins - this is Multistrada territory!
Pass roads!
Ducati Multistrada GT
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Day 5: Today is the day: Stelvio, here we come! After a bit of rain in the morning, the weather cleared up just in time. We had a coffee stop at the foot of the pass - just long enough for the sun to come out and the roads to dry off!
Coffee in Glurns
And then the fun started: 48 switchbacks waited for us and took us up on Europe's third-highest pass, 2757m, about 9000ft.
Just a few of the 48...
It was a bit cold on top, but the Stelvio is something, that every motorcycle (and especially Ducati Multistrada) rider should do once in his life!
We made it!
But this was not the end of the adventure - next was the Gavia Pass. In some countries, this road would not even be considered a real street - goat path would be more appropriate... So we had to gather some strength by trying the real Italian pizza!
Pizza!
The rest of the day was spent on some more great road, before the Ducatisti checked into our appropriate hotel: the Park Hotel Laurin in Bozen! A wonderful dinner with a wonderful group was a perfect finish for the day.
Magali and Anna in Bozen
Starting out well!
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Day 4: Just a quick update, as today was our rest day! As usual, nobody wanted to rest, so we added a few more passes to our "been there, done that"-list.
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Day 3 was the "Pass Day" - we did nothing less than 6 mountain passes! The first one was also one of the most impressive ones: the original Gotthard Pass. Cobblestones all the way, this pass will stay in memory for ever!
Charlie III and IV on the Gotthard Pass
Afterwards we did the San Bernardino, which was quite easy in comparison to the Splügen Pass - have you ever done a hairpin turn in a tunnel?
The group on San Bernardino
Now we have arrived in Livigno, Italy - Dinner is about to be served!
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What a day! Not only did we have perfect weather, but the route today was a motorcyclists dream. We left Warth and headed for Andermatt, this time split up into two small groups.
The group, ready to go!
Our first pass today was the Furkajoch, not much wider than 10 ft! Then we descended to Liechtenstein, but the summer temperatures didn't justify a long stop. Instead we headed for lunch at the Walensee, where the fresh lake water acted as a natural air condition. Fortunately the rest of the day consisted of mountain riding:
The Klausenpass
As we were moving along at a very nice pace, we had the chance in the afternoon to do a little side trip over a few more mountain roads - the scenery in the Andermatt area is worth every extra mile! It can easily be described with one word: breathtaking!
Evan, his Multistrada and a few switchbacks in the background!
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10 Ducatis and their international riders from Australia, USA, Lebanon and Germany are on their way to explore the World's best riding region: the Alps! After a good breakfast, we left our base hotel in Seefeld, this morning under a bright blue sky and with comfortable temperatures!
Breakfast with a view
Twisty mountain roads took us across the German border to King Ludwig's favorite palace, Linderhof.
After lunch the real fun started, great roads took us away from the weekend traffic and up into the Austrian mountains.
Ben and Ken
Finally we arrived at our hotel for this night, high up in the mountains, right next to large and famous ski area. The only sound there is: passing motorcycles and cow bells!
Our hotel near Warth, Austria