The National Park "Hohe Tauern" is the largest in Austria, and the "Tauern Bike Path" runs along its northern boundary. The 695 square mile (1,800 square kilometer) park encompasses 246 glaciers and 304 mountains at 9,000 feet (2,743 meters) or higher. The "Tauern Bike Path" allows discovering one of Austria’s most beautiful regions. It runs along the banks of the Salzach River and passes through dozens of picturesque towns, yet it manages to avoid busy roads. While the 100 mile path is one of Europe's most popular touring routes, it never feels crowded.

The clearly marked path starts in Krimml, a small mountain village and popular holiday resort at an elevation of 3,500 feet (1,067 meter). It ends 100 miles (161 kilometers) and over 2,100 vertical feet (640 meter) later in Salzburg. Krimml is well known for its waterfalls. With a total drop of 1,247 feet (380 meter), the Krimml waterfalls are among Europe's highest and a source for the Salzach River.

Following the river downstream, the Tauern Bike Path will gently sloop through the Rosental  valley and pass the towns of Neukirchen, Bramberg, and Mittersill before reaching Zell am See after approximately 36 miles (58 kilometers). The small town of about 10,000 is a major tourist destination on picturesque Lake Zeller. The Hundstein is with 6,946 feet (2,117 meter) the highest peak in the area and provides a dramatic backdrop when seen from across the lake. The city itself dates back to Roman times and the St. Hippolyte Church is the oldest known building in the region.

Following the route to Bischofshofen, cyclists can enjoy grand views of the Grossglockner, Austria's highest peak. They will pass the town of St. Johann im Pongau, the most important shopping and tourist center in the region. St. Johann is famous for the scenic Liechtenstein gorge, open from mid-May to the end of October, and a beautiful cathedral.

Every year in January, Bischofshofen hosts the final competition of the traditional "Four Hills Tournament", an international ski jumping event. This 36 mile (58 kilometer) leg of the "Tauern Bike Path" combines mainly easy downhill cycling with beautiful scenery.

From here, Salzburg is another 36 mile (58 kilometer) ride through the Salzach meadows. A little climb to the 1,713 feet (552 meters) high Lueg pass will reward cyclists with a lunch-break at a rustic guesthouse.  On a downhill slope, the settlements of Golling and Hallein are passed. Hallein is a historic town close to the German border known for its salt mine. The name Hallein is derived from the Celtic word hall for salt, and the settlement can be traced back over 4,000 years.

After a short ride and a little bit more traffic, the city of Salzburg is reached. The city center, better known as the "Old Town," is one of the best preserved north of the Alps and listed as a World Heritage Site since 1997. Famous for its baroque architecture, Salzburg is the birthplace of the 18th-century composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. A castle called "Hohensalzburg" dominates the view and is one of the largest in Europe. With three universities, Salzburg is filled with the liveliness of a large student population. Many restaurants and cafés dot the city, and visitors outnumber locals by a large margin in peak times.

Cyclist can continue to follow the route along the Salzach and later the Inn. After crossing the border to Germany, they will pass through the picturesque towns of Burghausen and Braunau before reaching the city of Passau. At this point, they will have reached the Danube River. The landscape has changed, and majestic mountains and high peaks have disappeared in the distance. Instead, rolling hills and flat passages great cyclists and the early morning view is usually softened by a light mist.

If cyclists prefer to focus on burning calories and getting back in shape, the more active crowd can simply reverse the trip and travel from Passau or Salzburg to Krimml. Many uphill passages will certainly help to get back in shape after a long winter slack.

The best months to travel are usually Mai - June and September – October. Hotels enjoy their peak summer season in July and August when Europeans take long vacations. Hot temperatures at lower elevations can also limit the fun factor during this time. Cyclists will notice that Austrian’s and German’s always find reasons to celebrate. Town festivals are common, especially during the fall season, and the streets are often closed to traffic and filled with tourists sampling local cuisine, wine and beer from hundreds of vendors.

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Salzburg, Austria

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Some of the questions you need to ask are:

• What do I want to do?
• How do I want to do it?
• How long do I have before the event?
• How much time do I have each day and week?
• What skills do I have?
• What skills will I need?
• What are my current weaknesses?
• What are my current strengths?
• What is my current fitness level?

The whole idea of a training plan is to show your body what it is expected to do during the event. You need to practice your cycling or scuba diving skills, and condition your body AND your mind. You will expose yourself to the duration, distances, and depths that will encounter during the event. You need to develop a “can-do” attitude while strengthening your body, and work on your endurance. Eventually you will work your way into the event specifics, and show your body and mind the environment and the terrain that will be encountered.

To increase your chances of success, focus on small steps – how far do you want to go today? You will have a greater success-rate if you break your goal into smaller steps. The approach will also help your mind to process challenges more efficiently. At first, you may struggle with basic tasks. After they become routine, you can take on additional task. The workload you are capable to handle will increase significantly, and ultimately you will become a more efficient cyclist or diver.

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Yes, we admire cycling and scuba diving. This is why we plan tours and expeditions around the world to share what we found useful, and to explore what remains unexplored. Sunsets like this one burn into everybody’s mind, help to remember challenges and experiences encountered while cycling or scuba diving with Global Adventures. It is the environment, it is the spirit, and it is the team that makes our gateways special.  Read on below, research the destination, and start to share our dream.

Global Adventures is a manufacturer and distributor. We design and sell some of the best cycling and scuba diving gear available today. We develop tours and expeditions around the globe so that everybody interested can share our enthusiasm – we have the gear, we have the adventures, all we need is you!

This website will gradually “morph” over the next couple of months into a gateway to explore planet Earth. Information about our cycling gear will move to www.why-cycling.us and www.why-scuba.us will serve as our diving platform. While we will continue to serve our dealers, we will also add e-commerce capabilities to all sites to allow professionals and end-users to open an account and “buy direct.”You will see that this website changing every week, and we will keep you up-to-date on Twitter and trough our RSS-feed.

Please feel free to contact us any time and share your dreams, ideas, and comments with like-minded travelers, cyclists, and scuba divers.

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Monte Carlo is home to most of the Circuit de Monaco, on which the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix takes place. Although the Monte Carlo Masters tennis tournament is billed as taking place in the community, its actual location is in the adjacent French commune of Roquebrune-Cap-Martin. The Monte Carlo Rally is one of the longest running and most respected car rallies, and marks the start of each rally season as the first event on the World Rally Championship calendar, but the rally takes place outside the Monte Carlo quarter.

Monte Carlo is one of Europe's leading tourist resorts, although many of the key tourist destinations are located in other parts of Monaco, including such attractions as Monaco Cathedral, the Napoleon Museum, the Oceanographic Museum and Aquarium, and the Prince's Palace.

We always try to have a Monaco/Monte Carlo stopover when we visit the French Riviera for a relaxed week of cycling or to scuba dive in nearby Saint-Tropez. A true highlight is a stay at the Hotel Hermitage. Behind its corbelled facade decorated with frescoes and perched above the port, the Hermitage harbors a few masterpieces, such as the Salle Belle Époque with its pink marble columns and its crystal chandeliers, and a winter garden topped with a spectacular glass and steel dome designed by Gustave Eiffel (see pictures to the left and above). With its direct access to the Thermes Marins de Monte-Carlo, the Hotel Hermitage is the ideal place to lend your stay a sense of well-being and refinement.

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