Into the mountains

13-20th April 2026

The Alps! Holly had seen the Alps. I hadn’t as I’d been so keen to take her photo coming through the tunnel that l sped through it without looking up in a bid to capture her pic as she emerged. Thankfully, in addition to taking her photo l also captured her expression as she set eyes on the impressive mountains for the first time.

After being overtaken by some quite terrifying logging trucks and crossing into Austria, we pootled along some much nicer roads to a campsite with the fanciest sanitary block yet (in addition to a quite noisy cow next door). As the next day was looking a bit cold and wet we checked into our first hotel of the trip, a budget option next to a busy logistics hub. We didn’t mind though, and much washing of ourselves (shower) and our clothes (sink) ensued. Rested, stretched and with the sun coming out again, we set off for our first big day in the Alps.

The climb out of Innsbruck wasn’t exactly what I’d call fun. It suddenly got very steep and with a fairly regular flow of traffic, was a bit hairy at times. But we walked when we needed to and were rewarded with stunning views. Thankfully the roads and extensive cycle paths over the coming days would turn out to be brilliant for cycling. Whilst we had previously had some concerns regarding the weather, particularly as people were still going skiing, these were unfounded, as it turned out that we would in fact not be cycling on the ski runs but on roads (mostly) free of snow.

We cycled over the Brenner Pass, stopping so that I could buy some rather fetching Under Armour trouser-leggings in one of the many outlet stores situated at the border. We then spent the night in Italy, cycling an additional 8km at the end of a long day just so we could get a (takeaway) pizza and lemonade. Definitely worth it. Next, we crossed back into Austria for a couple more nights, including one at a very Wes Anderson feeling campsite/tennis court, before heading into Slovenia via Italy again, commenting non-stop about how amazing the scenery was. Despite seemingly being fond of overtaking us on blind corners, Slovenian drivers seemed pretty good at letting us go at junctions and giving us enough space.

We did have a somewhat more crappy day cycling along the side of busier roads and into a headwind, humiliatingly unable to overtake several small children. We had our lunch in the shelter of the carpark of a closed Lidl, a real highlight. The day ended well though, at a campsite set up by an avid caver who had been to the Mendip Hills and apparently got very drunk indeed. He let us sleep in the communal hut thingy as it wasn’t busy and rain was on the way.

The few days we spent in the mountains have been the favourite part of the trip so far for both of us. After the relatively brief sections on busier roads and a couple of nights in campsites next to highways, we agreed that we preferred the less direct quieter routes, even (and in Holly’s case especially) if it meant more climbing. Worth it though… We’d take a look at our planned route for Croatia and beyond, potentially diverting away from the main coastal roads.