Vienna - Venice tour

[Kirstie]

Can anyone tell me what the 'S' class of road is like in Europe - namely Austria and Italy? Do they tend to be dead busy...?
Ta.

 

[Haitch]

Don't know about Austria but in Italy the S just stands for "Strada". SS roads are State Strade, SP roads are Provincial Strade, etc. SSs are usually busier than SPs. "A" roads, as you probably know, are motoways.

 

[Percy]

Can anyone tell me what the 'S' class of road is like in Europe - namely Austria and Italy? Do they tend to be dead busy...?
Ta.

They vary, naturally, but are generally fine. As a general rule, anything that's not an E road is OK to cycle on. If you find a particularly busy one there are usually smaller alternatives - but not always!

In Austria particularly, you will find you are offered cycle paths as alternatives quite often. They are in general a good alternative to roads but be warned - they are not always as easy to navigate as you might think!

 

[Brains]

If you are doing that route whay not follow the Via Claudia ? It's a cycle route all the way

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Via_Claudia_Augusta

 

[HJ]

There is, of course, an Esterbauer guide (unfortunately only in German) to the Via Claudia. The guide is worth buying just for the maps, if you want to know what the profile of the ride is see here.

To get to the Via Claudia from Vienna, just follow the Danube and turn off at the Inn, follow up stream to Innsbruck and pick up the Via Claudia there... Cycle paths and quite roads all the way.

Correction keep going through Innsbruck to Landeck, then pick up the Via Claudia...

 

[Soltydog]

you may find this useful on the venice section

 

[Kirstie]

Thanks everyone.

 

[rich p]

Kirstie, if you do the Via Claudia Augusta, then stay on the road over the Fernpass and not on the parallel track. I found this out to my cost as I pushed my laden bike up some steep rough boulder strewn paths and then went back to help Mrs rich p.