Bike Riding Beetle Bean Tour for Families - Touren-Impression #1 | © Steiermark Tourismus/Harry Schiffer Bike Riding Beetle Bean Tour for Families - Touren-Impression #1 | © Steiermark Tourismus/Harry Schiffer

Beetle Bean Tour for Families

Open
The cycle tour is particularly suitable for families thanks to its variety and numerous rest stops. There are also several ice cream parlors waiting to be visited.
Numerous circular tours have been established around the Raabtal cycle path, which leads from Almenland to Thermenland in south-eastern Styria, and are an ideal addition to a relaxing active vacation in eastern Styria. Starting from St. Ruprecht an der Raab, the tour takes us through varied landscapes: The district town of Weiz invites us to take a break and stop for refreshments, the Bärental valley with its forests provides soothing shade and the Raab as our companion provides the necessary freshness for tired calves. The circular tour is a combination of several cycle paths, primarily the Raabtalradweg R11. Orientation is good and clearly laid out - we simply follow the route numbers given in the following route description.
  • The beetle bean fields are marked with their own signs!

Characteristics

Skill
Fitness
Experience
Scenery

Best season

January
December

The tour in numbers

easy
Level of difficulty
21,0 km
Route
2:00 h
Time
135 hm
Uphill
135 hm
Downhill
509 m
Highest point
378 m
Lowest point

Map & downloads

More information

The market town of St.Ruprecht is located in Eastern Styria and is very easy to reach via the A2 from Vienna (approx. 1.5 hrs) and Graz (approx. 30 min).
  • Arrival from Vienna and from Graz: On the A2 from Vienna and from Graz, take motorway exit 161 / Gleisdorf West in the direction of B54/B64. Follow the B65 / Gleisdorf federal road until you reach the B54 / Wechselbundesstraße. At the roundabout take the second exit to the B64 / Rechberg-Bundesstraße. After about 6 km turn left to St. Ruprecht an der Raab.

Open map here

  • We start at the Peace Grotto on the main square, the central starting point of all cycle paths in St. Ruprecht an der Raab. We cycle between the church and the fire station to the Weizbach stream, which we cross. Immediately after the bridge, we turn left and cycle over another small bridge into Weizbachgasse.
  • Follow this to the right and leave the village and, after crossing the main road through a subway, you reach Arndorf on the R11 Raabtalradweg. Passing the area of the Lieb timber construction company, we leisurely cycle along the cycle path that leads through the fields to the small, beautifully situated settlement of Neudorf.
  • Here we continue to follow the R11 signs and branch off slightly diagonally to the left to reach Unterfladnitz, where a "right-left combination" awaits us. At the end of Unterfladnitz we come to a junction where we keep to the right.
  • After about 200 metres, however, we immediately turn left again past a carpenter's workshop in the direction of Farcha. Rolling leisurely past apple orchards with a view of the town of Weiz and the Weizberg church towering above it, we reach Regerstätten.
  • At the end of the town we leave the Raabtalradweg, go straight on (the Raabtalradweg R11 turns left) and change to the FunErgyTour, which takes us to Krottendorf, a suburb of Weiz. In Krottendorf we continue along the WZ10 and soon arrive at the Hotel Allmer and the roundabout immediately after.
  • Here we turn left into Birkfelder Straße (if you feel like it, you can take the climb to the beautifully situated Weizbergkirche) and cycle along it to the large crossing with traffic lights, where we keep to the well-marked cycle path strip and turn right into Dr. Karl-Widmann-Straße.
  • At this point, however, we should also do something for body and soul and consider which café to stop at. There are many possibilities and each café is worth a visit.
  • After about 50 metres we turn left into Europaallee, which takes us right into the old town. Following Dr. Karl Renner Gasse, we reach the main square with the Tabor Church, which should definitely be visited. The small inner courtyard is not only worth seeing, but also an island of peace in the middle of the beautiful small town of Weiz.
  • From now on, it's a bit of an uphill climb to the Göttelsberg for a short while: we ride across the main square, turn left at the end of the square and from now on keep to the WZ8 Energie-Achter, which takes us to the previously mentioned hill, from where there is another beautiful view of the town of Weiz.
  • In a sharp right-hand bend we branch off to the left and get back onto the R11 Raabtalradweg via the Götzenbichl. Rolling out of the city, we now ride through the middle of the Bärental, a beautiful recreational area with forests just like this and the Raabklamm, a wildly romantic nature reserve that delights families, athletes and the young at heart with hiking, cycling and running trails.
  • Here we almost have to make a short stop and put our feet in the cool waters of the Raab. Refreshed, we now follow the R11 Raabtalradweg via Mitterdorf an der Raab and past Stadl Castle, which hosts a festival worth seeing every summer, back to St. Ruprecht an der Raab, our starting point.

The tour is not specially signposted, but we follow the existing regional and district cycle paths.

If you want to learn more about the beetle bean, visit the Kernothek of the Steirerkraft company in Wollsdorf/St. Ruprecht an der Raab. 
Timetables and travel information can be found at Österreichische Bundesbahnen (ÖBB) or at Verkehrsauskunft Verbundlinie.

For local transportation, we recommend the SAM-Sammeltaxi Oststeiermark, which also takes bicycles if booked in advance.

There are several parking spaces available on the main square in St. Ruprecht. Alternatively, about 150 m away, past the Hotel Locker & Legere and the Marktheurigen Strobl, there are numerous parking spaces at the large park in the middle of St. Ruprecht an der Raab.
Information about the region, places to stop and stay overnight, excursion destinations, etc., can be found here

 

Eastern Styria Tourist Board
Office St. Ruprecht an der Raab
Lower main road 27
8181 St. Ruprecht an der Raab
Tel. +43 664 2353414 
www.oststeiermark.com
Current weather

Gallery

What the weather will be like

St. Ruprecht an der Raab (379m)

Morning
sunny
6°C
5%
5 km/h
Noon
slightly cloudy
18°C
0%
20 km/h
Night
slightly cloudy
16°C
0%
15 km/h
Dry and partly sunny throughout the day, with cloudy periods from time to time.
Morning
sunny
10°C
0%
5 km/h
Noon
very sunny
23°C
0%
15 km/h
Night
sunny
18°C
5%
10 km/h
Rather sunny weather during the day with clouds mainly in the morning and towards the evening
31.03.2024
sunny
9°C 22°C
01.04.2024
cloudy
8°C 23°C
02.04.2024
sunny
6°C 18°C

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