Beetle Bean Tour to the Apple Country

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.
From here we continue straight on - leaving the R11 Raabtalradweg, which branches off to the left towards Weiz - slightly uphill through the beautiful Mühlwald forest on the WZ1 Kulmblick Tour towards Etzersdorf.
Just before Etzersdorf, a relaxing descent into the middle of the small village awaits us. In Etzersdorf we keep to the right and after a "left-right combination" we continue along the WZ1 over a short climb uphill to the Wetzlberg.
At the junction we change to the WZ16 Apfel-Tour cycle path, which takes us past beautifully landscaped apple orchards to the apple village of Puch bei Weiz, the centre of the Styrian Apple Road, where the Apple Road Festival is celebrated every year in late spring.
The beautifully designed village also invites you to take a first leisurely rest before we first head uphill along the WZ16 to the Unterharl district and soon after downhill to the Feistritz River with its beautiful gorge.
Here we meet the R8 Feistritztalradweg, one of the great river cycle paths in Styria and our constant companion for the next few kilometres. We keep going downstream and leisurely cycle through the Feistritz gorge with its truly charming natural wonders. It can happen that a fire salamander crosses our path: we have to watch out and just marvel at nature!
At the end of the gorge, Lake Stubenberg welcomes us. A good third of the tour is now done: we could probably treat ourselves to a break like that, couldn't we! Our bodies will thank us for a jump into the cooling water before we continue on our tour through the Garden of Austria, as Eastern Styria is often called.
We leave Lake Stubenberg on the R8 Feistritztal cycle path and the next highlight of the tour awaits us: the Herberstein Animal World, with the Schönbrunn Zoo in Vienna surely the most beautiful zoo in Austria. It probably doesn't need to be mentioned that it's worth a visit. And like Schönbrunn in Vienna, Herberstein also has a beautiful castle in the immediate vicinity that provides an insight into cultural history.
After the Herberstein Animal World, we cycle along the R8 downhill (attention: sharp hairpin bends!) via St. Johann bei Herberstein and Kaibing to Kroisbach an der Feistritz, where we leave the R8 Feistritztalradweg in the village and turn right onto the WZ2 Hügelland Tour.
In Gersdorf an der Feistritz we keep left further along the WZ2, which takes us uphill to beautifully landscaped vineyards with magnificent views of south-eastern Styria. After a few short stops to enjoy the view, we reach Prebensdorf.
In the centre of the village we leave the WZ2 and turn left onto the WZ3 Hartwald-Tour. The WZ3 now takes us uphill into the middle of the vineyards of the East Styrian Roman Wine Route. If you haven't forgotten your camera, you should definitely take extra time for this section, because the views and vistas are enchanting.
In the village of Nitscha we change from WZ3 to WZ4, which takes us directly into the centre of Gleisdorf with the charming main square and the worth seeing town parish church.
At the main square we now keep to the right and change to the R11 Raabtalradweg, which will be our companion from now on as at the beginning of the tour. We cycle the last few kilometres through the villages of Albersdorf and Wollsdorf and soon catch sight of the striking tower of the Ruprecht Baroque Church.
The last few metres take us through the village with its small settlements and beautifully maintained family homes until we finally reach our starting point again. And if you haven't jumped into the Stubenbergsee on the bike tour, you've earned a cool down in the open-air swimming pool in St. Ruprecht now at the latest.