By bike from Passau to Vienna: Along the Danube

Arrival in Passau:
Welcome to the start!

Use the first day to visit the episcopal residence of Passau with its baroque old town, St. Stephen’s Cathedral, the Three Rivers Corner and the castles Veste Oberhaus and Veste Unterhaus.

The best way to get a first overview is to visit the tourist information office at the old town hall on the Danube quay in the old town, Rathausplatz 2.

The travel documents and the rental bicycles (if booked) are waiting for you at the arrival hotel.

Do you feel like taking a three-river cruise?

We recommend the comfortable city tour from the water:
In summer daily every 30 minutes from 10:00 to 17:00; approx. € 15,- pP, payable on site, Danube riverside promenade.

Do you already like to cycle in a little?

Then we have an idea for you: about 15 km and completely flat.

1. Start your little door below the cathedral and cycle not towards the Danube but towards the Inn.
2. Cross the Inn River with the Marienbrücke bridge and turn right at Kirchplatz into Ledergasse out of town in the direction of Schärding. Follow the alley straight out of town.
3. Over a small, curved bridge, we cross the railroad tracks, poof, into Austria.
4. Continue cycling along the cycle path up the river bank to Wernstein am Inn.
5. There you cross the bike suspension bridge. You are, poof, back in Bavaria.
6. Keep to the right and drive along the left bank of the Inn River back towards Passau. You will pass the university and on your right you will see the Marienbrücke again.

Done. Congratulations!

Passau -> Engelhartszell -> Schlögen, approx. 45 km

From Passau we start along the Danube to the first stopover in Engelhartszell.

You can cycle on both sides of the Danube. We recommend the southern bank on the side of the old town and the mouth of the Inn River. So cross the Inn one last time. You already know the Marienbrücke from yesterday.

Cycle the north bank below the Veste Passau Oberhaus, then please cross the Danube at the weir and the power station Jochenstein. No matter which shore you take. A look at the weir, the lock and the power plant is always worthwhile. Let the dammed stream from its center on you!

Speaking of Jochenstein

They are standing in front of the first of a total of nine river power plants between Passau and Bratislava. The weir was built in 1952 to protect shipping from the rapids of the Jochenstein. Today, the annual average head of the lock is 10 meters. The power plant includes 5 tubines, through which the entire Danube water flows at normal times: 2,050 m3 per second. The machines have an output of 40,000 hp. The lock is about 230 meters long and 24 meters wide. If you wanted to fill it with a garden hose – you would need a good 7 years and 6 months….

Do you have a little time? Visit the museum “Haus am Strom”. Good coffee and interesting info about life on the Danube and the power plant.

But OK, let’s move on …

From Jochenstein please follow the southern shore to Engelhartszell with its famous Trappist monastery. It was founded in 1293 by order of the Bishop of Passau “in an unsafe area”. So be on your guard! Take a break in the monastery garden. Pause for a moment in the monastery church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Then follow the stream to Schlögen.

If you like, cross the Danube on the first bridge behind Engelhartszell before the village of Wesenufer. Then follow the north shore to the throat of the Schlögener Loop. You will drive through beautiful orchards along the river. At Dantelbach you cross the border from Germany to Austria.

Shortly after Marsbach you will pass the Haichenbach ghost castle. The ruin is located directly in the middle of the Schlögener Schlinge on the Danube peninsula. If you like, leave the bikes and climb up to the castle. The path is well marked, not long but steep. You will be rewarded with a fantastic view.

The haunted castle

It is said that on nights when the moon is full, the cries of the murdered lady of the castle can be heard echoing across the Danube: “It’s me! Don’t you recognize me?”

Why?

Once upon a time, robber barons from Marbach moved into neighboring Haichenbach, besieged and stormed the castle. They executed the lord of the castle. As a last wish, they granted him beforehand to eat cherries from his garden. He ate, spat the seeds over the wall and cursed them, “These seeds may kill you!”

A few years later, the Marsbachers again moved in front of the castle with a force of the Passau bishop. A young man got over the walls via a church tree. In the fight under the full moon man against man, the boy in a dark chamber did not realize that he was facing a woman. He killed them. This woman, he realized with horror, was his own mother.

Moving on…

You have almost made it.

Right in the throat you take one of the two cuddly bicycle ferries back to the south shore to Schlögen – your stage destination. The Hotel Donauschlinge and the campsite with its inn share a beautiful location directly on the banks of the Danube.

The Roman Limens watchtower IOVIACUM was once located here. The foundations of the gate can still be seen. A sketch informs about the dimensions of the camp.

As a highlight of the day, you will spend the night in the middle of the famous Schlögener Donau-Schlinge, if indicated on the hotel list.

Schlögen -> Linz, approx. 55 km

Stay on the “outside curve” and cycle through the narrowest spot in the entire Danube Valley into the Schlögener Schlinge. Sometimes it looks as if the valley here simply ends in the hard granite mountains. Follow the stream and pass the uninhabited narrow valley near Kaiserau.

Further on the way leads you to Aschach with its famous baroque market. Cross the Danube, if you like. The path leads them past numerous beautiful beer gardens.

Then you cycle through the fertile Eferding basin to the town of the same name via Wilhering. Take a moment to visit the rococo church with its thousand angel figures.

Now only a few kilometers remain to Linz.

Sights: The “New” Marian Cathedral, the Linz Castle, the Museum of the Future Ars Electronica or also the Avangarde Art Museum Lentos.

A special treat is of course the Linzer Torte in one of the many fine coffee houses and bakeries.

Linz -> Wallsee, Au or Perg, approx. 45 km

Behind Linz, the Danube valley widened. You follow the cycle path through the Machland in the direction of Mauthausen & Abwinden power station.

Leave the city center via the Nibelungen Bridge, turn right after the bridge onto the Danube Cycle Path on the left bank of the river. If you like, make a detour to the Pleschinger Badesee.

You follow the left bank and partly cycle along the main road, which is mostly lightly trafficked. On the way you will pass St. Georgen a bit off the Danube. Following the Danube Cycle Path, you will pass the Gusen Concentration Camp Memorial after St. Georgen and cycle towards Mauthausen.

Mauthausen

Here in Mauthausen, the National Socialists established the largest concentration camp on Austrian soil. In 49 satellite camps, mainly political prisoners, intellectual elites from all over Europe were at the mercy of Nazi terror. More than 100,000 people fell victim to the horrific living and working conditions, inhumane “medical experiments” and “racial studies” as forced laborers of the extermination machinery.

Take a little time. Descend and climb the 75 meters from the Danube to the concentration camp memorial. Take part in the only gesture that remains for us today in shame of what has happened: to remember and to admonish.

Next?

Yes. It’s not easy to get back on the saddle with this historic baggage. But we may. So let’s cycle on – in gratitude for the freedom in which we live.

Feel free to visit one of the beautiful beer gardens of the Mauthausen Danube bank. Afterwards, please follow the bike path on the flood embankment along the federal highway. in the direction of Camping Au, Mitterkirchen and Grein.

Celtic village Mitterkirchen

If you want to visit the Celtic village Mitterkirchen, follow the signs as a detour from the trail. In the 1980s, a number of Celtic princely tombs were found here. Around it, a Celtic village has been built, whose resting place and insight into the late antique life on the Danube is worth seeing.

Use the lock Wallsee Mitterkirchen to cross the Danube to the right, the south bank. You cycle directly to the oxbow island Wallsee. Behind the oxbow bridge Wallsee-Bergen two more places invite you to take a break: The Wallsee Roman Museum or the beach and water sports center at the oxbow lake.

Follow the riverside road past Wallsee Castle along the Danube between Upper and Lower Austria.

You will soon reach your destination for the day in Au or via Mitterkirchen – Wallsee.

Depending on the route variant, you will come to Grein with Greinburg Castle. For more than 500 years, this residential castle has watched over the Danube valley as a “sworn pilot” turned to stone. Once the most important economic factor for shipping through the dangerous whirlpools of the Studengau, today it lies peacefully on the shore of your stage destination.

The spacious Renaissance courtyard with knights’ hall, castle chapel and stone theater in the cellar can be visited – just like the Upper Austria Shipping Museum.

Wallsee-> Pöchlarn, Maria Taferl, approx. 55 km

Passing the “legendary” island of Wörth, you will reach the Nibelungengau – a stretch of the Danube with a storied past. You always cycle along the left, the northern bank. The peaceful idyll of the wide stream is deceptive. Once the deadly sister of the Loreley raged here….

The Danube Struden

Around the island of Wörth at the foot of Werfenstein Castle, the Danube once showed its wildest side. Even a ship of the young Empress Elisabeth capsized here. Today, there is nothing left of the once wild water. From the 1860s, the rocks in the Fluus began to be blasted and with the construction of the Ybbs barrage, the mean water level was raised by about 10 meters (!).

Originally, however, the danger was not overcome until St. Nikola. The church is dedicated to St. Nicholas, patron saint of sailors.

Behind Weins you reach the weir Ybbs. Feel free to make a detour to the lock, but please stay on the north bank towards Persenbeug. Ybbs you can see from a distance on the opposite bank. From Persenbeug to Gottsdorf you are welcome to shorten the peninsula. The more beautiful path, however, follows the shore.

Drive along the Danube meander past the Granz marina to Marbach an der Donau with the most important pilgrimage site in Lower Austria, Maria Taferl, high above the Danube.

If you have time and feel like a hike, we recommend a side trip to the Steinbachklamm gorge – or to the pilgrimage church of Maria Taferl. Be impressed by the basilica with its magnificent distant view.

Maria Taferl -> Krems / Traismauer, approx. 65 km

Coming from Marbach, please continue along the north bank until you reach the Danube bridge in Klein-Pöchlarn. Here you cross the Danube to the south bank and keep left downstream towards Melk.

Alternatively, you can follow the Danube a little further on the north side and cross the stream at the Melk barrage.

Either way – Melk is not to be missed. The world-famous Benedictine Abbey Stift Melk is worth a visit. High above the city and the river, the UNESCO World Heritage Site and landmark of the Wachau is enthroned on the monastery rock.

Abbey Stift Melk

It is said that the huge monastery complex has 365 magnificent windows, so that one should be cleaned every day. In fact, however, there are 1,365 windows that let the light flood into 497 rooms according to the course of the sun. Hallelujah!

Next

Linger a little in Melk. Then you will leave the city and head towards the Danube bank, crossing the river behind the Melk Altarm boat station along the B1 federal road bridge. Keep to the right in the direction of Willendorf through the Schwallenbach vineyards via the wine villages of Mitterarnsdorf and Mautern to Krems.

You cycle through the world-famous vineyards of the Wachau World Heritage Site.

Pass the towns of Spitz and Weißenkirchen and Dürnstein. Treat yourself to a detour to the old town with its castle ruins before heading to the day’s destination in Krems (UNESCO World Heritage Site) or Traismauer.

Shortcut possible by Wachau boat trip e.g. from Spitz (from 11:40) or Dürnstein (from 12:30) to Krems, arrival approx. 12:50 (slight change in timetable possible for 2022)

Krems / Traismauer – Vienna, approx. 60 – 75 km

Today we start the last stage to Vienna – always along the south bank of the Danube.

Your starting point, Traismauer an der Traisen opens up the basin of the Tulln fields to you. Once an important base of the Romans as an equestrian camp on the Limes, Traismeuer was in the Middle Ages again and again fiercely fought over between the bishoprics of Passau and the cathedral capital of Salzburg.

In 1483 Turkish troops briefly conquered Traismauer. From the subsequent fortification of the city against a renewed attack originate the massive city walls and gates, such as the Roman Gate.

Drive past the Roman and flower and Nibelungen city of Tulln. Via Greifenstein Castle at the spa settlement of St. Andrä-Wördern and Klosterneuburg you will reach Höflein, a suburb of Vienna.

Depending on the information in your travel documents, please return your the rental bikes in Höflein. Bike-free, take the S-Bahn (payable locally, approx. € 4,-/person) to Vienna.

Alternatively, you can cycle past Klosterneuburg to the center of the city of waltzes (approx. 20 km additional).

The world metropolis offers a variety of sights. Allow yourself some time for St. Stephen’s Cathedral, the Ringstrasse, the palace, Schönbrunn Zoo, Prater, Danube Tower or Belvedere Palace.

Departure or extension in Vienna

If you don’t know this wonderful city yet or just want to enjoy it a little more – we definitely recommend an extension!