The Lake Kaltern Tour

Spring is the ideal bike season in Kaltern: While the mountaintops are still covered under a blanket of snow, the southern part of South Tyrol, at 230 m altitude, is starting to welcome spring, with orchards in full bloom and pleasant temperatures. The ideal setting for an early spring training session in the run-up to the start of the biking season.

The small Lake Kaltern circuit is the ideal training tour upon arrival, what with its 17 km and 320 m elevation gain, to explore the lake’s surroundings and get a first glimpse of the area. Most of the route consists of asphalted bike paths, making it the perfect choice for beginners and families with children. Start from the information centre in the Kellereistraße on the bike path and head down towards the Lavasontal valley; continue on a flat trail towards Lake Kaltern and Auer. The whooshing ride through vineyards to the lake is only briefly interrupted once, by an intermediate climb. Once arrived at See in Klughammer, continue along the eastern shore of the lake proceeding south. Just before the southern shore of the lake, take a right and continue on the Bozen-Auer bike path for an even circuit around the lake, cycling past the Church of St. Josef until you reach the large car park next to Lake Kaltern and its restaurants and sandy shores: what an alluring sight, and the perfect excuse for an ice cream during summer. After a pleasant break, continue on asphalted bike paths up to Kaltern - white limestone sills set on the ground along the wine path show bikers where the vineyards are located. While you need to pedal like mad to overcome the 180 m uphill elevation gain, rest assured it’s not as hard in the afternoon thanks to the help of the southern tailwind. Back in Kaltern things will have started kicking off, and the siren call of the lively atmosphere is too hard to resist: join in by ordering a refreshing ice cream or a restorative cappuccino.

Alternatives
At path marking 16, to the south of Lake Kaltern, you can continue on the bike path to Auer across numerous easy, if somewhat longer, tours: for example, tour 2 Mitterberg, 3 Egna/Neumarkt, 6 Salorno/Salurn, or 7 Mezzocorona.

Don’t miss out on...
- Lake Kaltern and its biotope and birdwatching observation deck
- The Kaltern Wine Path

(Photo credits: IDM Südtirol/Alex Filz, Tourismusverein Kaltern/Helmuth Rier)