Cycling San Candido to Lienz with kids: why you’ll love biking in the Dolomites along this stunning, easy route

All you need to know about cycling San Candido to Lienz with kids: duration, difficulty, where to get bikes, what to expect, based on our own family experience.

One of the best, most satisfying and fun days we ever have on the Dolomites, is the day when we get bikes and cycled from Italy into Austria.

Cycling in a mountain area may sound very daunting, especially if, like me, you are not a keen cyclist.

However, this biking route between Italy and Austria is easy, very kid-friendly and doesn’t involve any mountain biking at all. In fact, the cycling route is almost entirely on a gentle slope downhill!

I adore the Dolomites and have spent most of my summers in the area of San Candido, one of the prettiest towns in the whole region, since I was a small kid.

Now that I have kids myself, we keep coming here and my biggest joy is to get to have all the fabuolus experiences that make my childhood memories form here so special.

In a previous post i shared my favorite hikes.

Today, I share all you need to know about this cycling lane, my unfiltered opinion of the experience and why I recommend it for families with kids. I hope you enjoy it!

Cycling San Candido to Lienz overview

Length: about 42Km one way, you then take the train back. It took our family around 4 hours from start to finish, at a very leisurely pace and with several stops. The official info give it as a 2-3 hours cycle. With small kids, I would say you are unlikely to do it in less than 3 hours, just for length.

Paving: easy, almost entirely paved

Traffic free: for the most part yes. You only stare the road with cars at the very start and end (when inside the towns) plus at a couple of crossroads along the way

Child friendly: yes. Due to the length, very young kids will do better in a trailer / seat but kids up upper primary school age, tweens etc tend to do it easily.

Need to book: no

Cost: from Papin Sport in San Candido from 22 Euro per adult bike, at the time of writing + cost of train ticket. You can find info and prices here. Children bike seats and trailers are also available for rent.

Cycling San Candido to Lienz with kids TL;DR

This is a FANTASTIC excursion and a really fun, enjoyable family day out! The route is stunning, very east and not too tiring at all: most of it is slightly downhill so you get a good bit of speed without it ever becoming too dangerous or daunting.

We have done this route and the one from San Candido to Brunico and, for us, this is by far the best for views, level of difficulty and overall experience.

I can highly, highly recommend it!

Cycling San Candido to Lienz with kids: our exact experience!

Getting the bikes

We decided to get bikes on a sunny summer day and headed to Papin Sport bike shop mid-morning.

Papin has several locations in San Candido but the closest to Lienz is the one at the back of the hospital, so we rented from there.

The address you can choose from are:

• Papin Sport San Cadido Centro, Via Freising 9, I-39038 San Candido. Phone: 0474 913450

• Papin Sport San Cadido Stazione (Train Station), Via Pizach 24, I-39038 San Candido. Phone: 0474 913450

We went there with no reservation and they had plenty of bikes (this has been regularly the case every time we have gone, which means many times over many years).

The staff is helpful and patient and they quickly equipped us with bikes, baskets, locks, water, apple and a small snack each!

We were able to choose between a couple types of bikes and they gave helmets to the kids (compulsory for under 14) and us (optional for over 14) and a map with route, stops and useful phone numbers.

The route is very well indicated, so we found we didn’t need the map. However, it was good to have it and also to know there were numbers we could call in case of any difficultly.

In a matter of minutes, we were all kitted out and ready to go!

The route

The route towards Lienz starts in San Candido and the first two / three minutes are on the village streets, where you share space with cars.

This is not really a problem as the roads are small here; however, should you feel uncomfortable with it, the distance to the start of the actual cycling lane is minimal, you can also decide to push the bikes and hop on once there.

The walk wont’ take you more than five minutes.

Once you are on the cycling lane, you have a small uphill section (about a minute, I pushed the bike up) and then you are on! From this spot on, the biking lane is flat or downhill, and will require next to no effort on the pedals!

The route goes along the rain line for a little while and crosses pretty towns and alpine meadows.

The first part has lovely views over San Candido and the mountains around it

As you keep going, find yourself cycling along pretty towns: these are small centers with mostly local homes and the occasional cafe, and they are lovely to see as they have traditional architecture but also offer a glimpse into real life in the area, as you cycle along private gardens with kids’ playing, parents hanging laundry and even goats hopping around!

One of the first towns you encounter, Sillian, has a train station and a Papin Sport.

While it is very close to San Candido, it is handy to know as it is a potential good stop and even destination to keep in mind, should you prefer a much shorter cycle or in the case of sudden change of weather.

Something special for kids! Along this first stretch of route you find yourself passing the Loacker factory – the wafer biscuit makers! The factory is open to the public and offers kids’ workshops to make your own Loacker snack! You can find all info and how to book (required) here

Later along the route, you find yourself cycling in a lovely wooded areas, along the river Drau. This part of the route doesn’t see as many towns, yet as you get close to Lienz you start finding the occasional food kiosk and even restaurant.

Mama’s tip: bring snacks and water with you! We didn’t find much at all along the way until pretty close to the end so, if you have kids who need refueling, it is best to come prepared!

Along the routes we found very few food-stops in the first part of the route and there was one that stood out for having wonderful pools and playground (see photo). This was immediately before entering Lienz and I would say would have been a great place to stop.

We instead kept going and had lunch in Lienz town center, which is lovely but probably less suited to little kids, just due ot it being a more urban space.

Entering Lienz

As you enter Lienz, you find yourself again on village streets and sharing the lane with cars.

In this case, the distance to cover from the town entrance to the bike shop is a little longer than in San Candido, but there are good bike lanes in Lienz and the cars are well used to sharing the space with bikes, so we fond it easy even with little kids.

Lienz itself is a lovely Austrian town: the main piazza and streets are pedestrianized and there are many restaurants for lunch, plus lovely shops, ice cream places, and more. A nice place for a rest before hopping back onto the train to Italy.

Leaving the bikes in Lienz

Once in Lienz, you can choose between two options: you can leave the bikes at the local Papin sport stall (this is what we did) or you can keep the bikes and bring them back with you on the train.

Of the two, we usually prefer to leave the bikes there: we find this easier as it means we can get any train back, without having to worry about bike carriages etc.

We bought the ticket on the spot, from the easy to use machines in the Lienz train station.

Papin Sport in Lienz is at the train station. Address: Bahnhofsstrasse 1, 9900 Lienz, Austria

Food, drinks and facilities along the cycling route

Along the cycling routes there are food kiosks and a couple of restaurants; however, I recommend you brig your own snacks, as especially kids may need to refuel along the way and water.

The route offers many places for picnics and breaks, some equipped with sitting areas and tables, some just open air space to park the bike and rest.

Crossing the Border into Austria – need to know

The cycling route San Candido to Lienz is across two countries: Italy and Austria.

When I was little, the crossing between the two was a proper hard border however now, since both countries are in the EU and signatories of the Schengen Agreement, all you see between the two is a sign that states you are entering Austria.

Make sure you pay attention to is as it is easy to miss: I myself failed to take a photo of it but I promise the sing is there!

What to wear for cycling San Candido to Lienz

As you can see from the photos, we didn’t have any special gear for this cycle. We just made sure to have comfortable clothing, layers and runners.

The bike shop provided us with the helmets for the kids.

I hope you enjoyed this quick of this stunning cycling routes and it gave you an additional idea to enjoy your time on the Dolomites with kids. Safe travel planning!