Self-guided bike tour in Austria in June. Danube or Salzburg lakes?

Nobody done a bike tour?

Not in that part of the country I haven't.

I've been in the Schladming area hiking and there is quite the summer set up there for e-bike tours around the Dachstein which is spectacular. I chatted with a couple who had done that and said it was great. Good equipment, lots of nice routes, and it is beautiful.

Weather could be most anything--you'll want some rain gear, fleece, cap, gloves. It's unlikely to be COLD, but it can be breezy and cool on a bike.

Ah, yes. That's really in the mountains, 7000 feet elevation and up! It's less than 2000 feet around Salzburg/Mondsee, etc. and even lower along the Danube. Should be warmer. But thanks for the tip; maybe another time.

Cindi why not just do the standard Danube ride from Passau? Passau is a charming small Baroque city - great cathedral, tight-passaged medieval quarter, lively university, many Germans living the fabulous provincial capital city good life. The stretch of the Danube from Passau to nearly Linz is the wildest part of the river and quite a lovely ride. This tour is one of the very cheapest too, given the number of people who do it (but it's a big river and hundreds of miles, so you'll never feel a crowd of cyclists). I've done this ride Passau to Vienna twice and would do it again!

On my short list too is the Tauern bike trail from Krimml to Passau. This one looks good in a number of respects - like the Danube very low traffic and mostly dedicated cycle roads, passes through Tyrolean-wonderland scenery and folk life, an Alpine mountain ride that is nearly flat and overall a little downhill, you go to Salzburg on the way through.

How about you do both, starting Krimml, to Passau, ending in Vienna? YOLO right? Or do Krimml to Salzburg, a lay day or so in Salzburg, then train to Passau to do the Danube.

I've used a few of the companies you listed. Most deal with the same local wholesalers so the product is about the same. My preferred of the 3 we've tried is https://www.radurlaub.com/en/cycle-tours/danube.html . This outfit is, I think, affiliated with the Austria's federal tourist office, and was a bit cheaper than the other and just as good. YMMV, but I was able to semi-customize our agenda (an extra night in LInz as a lay day for example, cutting out a standard stop once to skip a section by train in the interest of time).

Have fun! We started with the (easy, self-guided) cycle touring in Europe a few years ago and now can't imagine doing it any other way!

Cindi also regarding the Salzkammergut (Salzburg Lakes): it would be a lovely place to bike tour. But when my family visits this summer it won't be on a bike tour per se; rather we'll rent a chalet-style apartment for 4 night and rent mountain bikes one day, maybe road bikes another day, we'll hike up to the alpine huts, paddle kayaks around a lake, etc. When we go on Europe trips we love to visit mountain places like the Salzburg Lakes, but see them as glorious multi-sport destinations where we can take in a lot of scenery and culture, get exercise outdoors, and get a break from being in a different hotel every night. I'd wager that you gain very little from riding a bike from mountain town to largely similar mountain town in the Salzkammergut compared to plunking yourself down in one place and launching forays by a variety of modes.

Now the rivers of Europe, on the other hand, there's some epic cycle touring country. Because rivers were trade routes for so long they tend to be lined by historically prosperous cities, and you cover enough distance to see some regional variety - Passau, Linz, Melk and Krems are all nice places to visit and all quite different. Personally, I have a long list of European rivers to ride before I start looping around in the Alpine regions.