Around the Wilder Kaiser Mountains on a gravel bike

At just under 86 kilometres, the „ Kaiserrunde’ is a major undertaking! Thanks to our gravel bikes, we can avoid the main roads with a few off-road sections and small winding paths and enjoy the mountains in peace and quiet and explore the landscape.
The Kaiser Mountains are by no means the only highlight on the route! Lake Walchsee is a true idyll, the cycle path along the Großache river will enchant you and Kufstein with its striking fortress will inspire you.
We are starting from St. Johann in Tyrol. It is an excellent starting point for a gravelbike tour with great connection to public transport and other infrastructure. And if the 86 kilometres and 1100 metres in altitude are too much for one day, you can choose to ride the tour over two days as a beginner-friendly bikepacking tour.

Start in St. Johann

St. Johann in Tyrol is the perfect starting point for us. There are plenty of restaurants and cafés in this beautiful town. Ice cream? Yes, of course there is!

If you want to split the tour into 2 days, St. Johann is a great place to stay overnight and continue the tour the next day!
It's time to take off and take a look at the southern side of the impressive Wilder Kaiser mountains!
Majestic views on the south side of the Wilder Kaiser mountains
It gets hilly! There are quite a few climbs on our tour around the Wilder Kaiser. From St. Johann in Tirol we cycle via Going am Wilden Kaiser to Ellmau am Wilden Kaiser.
An exciting mix of small climbs and gravel sections leads us there. But you should also take a look at the landscape from time to time. The Kaiser massif is particularly impressive here.
There is a little treat on our route here. A small shop in Going sells handmade ice cream. The kEISer ice cream manufactory was more of a chance discovery on our tour, but the ice cream completely won us over. And the view too!

Over the Egerberg to Kufstein

After the town of Ellmau we cycle downhill again to Kufstein. Well, not quite.
The Egerberg is another small climb that we have to overcome. It's not long, but it's an impressive ascent on a cycle path secured with guardrails, before we can enjoy a brisk combination of bends at the top and really ride down with a wide view.
The cycle path leads us alongside the main road all the way down into the Inn Valley! Only at the bottom we have to take the road for a short stretch before returning to the railway station via side roads.

From Kufstein to the mountains on a gravel bike

Kufstein is located not far from the border with Germany in the Inn Valley. This makes the town easily accessible by public transport. However, it is not only a conveniently located railway station to include on our tour, Kufstein is also wonderfully pretty and offers us plenty of infrastructure. Cafés, restaurants and accommodation, cultural highlights such as the Kufstein Fortress invite us to plan an additional exploration tour here.
However, as mentioned in the introduction, Kufstein can also be your destination and you can travel onwards with (or back to St. Johann in Tirol?) instead.
From Kufstein, we head north along the Inn and can already see Germany across the Inn. But we soon turn off. A gravel road hugs the foothills of the Kaiser Mountains and smoothly leads us north towards Lake Walchsee without any traffic.

Cycling paradise at Walchsee

We cycle steadily uphill to Walchensee on small side roads and a little gravel. Only in Durchholzen do we take a short bump along the main road.
But then we leave the main road again and head towards the back of Lake Walchsee. To the north, the main road runs along the ‘busy’ side of the lake. On the south side, quiet, single-lane farm roads and a magnificent lake panorama await us.
A stop for a swim is a good idea here! You'll pass several bathing spots and the water couldn't be more inviting!

Gravel fun along the Großache river

Now we continue towards Kössen. Once again, the town brings us very close to the German border. It also offers us a good opportunity to replenish our supplies.
But now we cycle further south! We have now cycled the north side of the Wilder Kaiser, and now we have a special highlight on the east side. Along the Großache we find a cycle path on gravel that puts a smile on our faces!
At the beginning, we climb a small ramp that sends us rocketing downwards like on a rollercoaster, then we can enjoy a winding stretch on perfect gravel.

The alpine landscape here is like something out of an Austrian postcard. The section flies by and we arrive in Erpfendorf, where we turn from gravel back onto tarmac.
In Erpfendorf we can top up our supplies again. We’re not far from St. Johann in Tyrol here! We continue along the Großache on a well-maintained cycle path. We cross the Ache at an impressive wooden bridge.
Café fans can take a diversion to Das Kaff here. Excellent café and cakes await you here.
Along the cyclepath on the river we get back to our start point in St. Johann in Tyrol.

Congratulations: you've circumnavigated the Kaiser Mountains on a gravel bike! You've done it!