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Easy riding along the Danube
Clean fresh air and smooth water.DANUBE RIVER BIKE TRIP Gerald Hasser
GERMANY & AUSTRIA
SEPTEMBER & OCTOBER 2008
This is a great way to see a wonderfully scenic and historic part of Europe in a most healthy and refreshing way. It is not a difficult trip and does not require great conditioning.
The first trick is getting to the continent. The best deal found from northern California was on a code share with Delta and Air France, from San Francisco via Paris to Munich. The search engine that seems the most helpful in making comparisons is kayak.com; followed by going to the airline website to book the flights. For a little more money, Lufthansa offers daily non-stops from SFO to Munich and back.
Success was found with biketoursdirect.com for the Danube River trip. They have many different trips, are based in the states, and work with tour operators around Europe. Their website is very thorough and easy to use, and they actually answer the phone when someone calls. A self guided tour is perfectly adequate, which means you don’t have to ride and eat with a group and guide. Hotel arrangements, breakfast, luggage shuttle each day, bikes, maps etc. are all supplied. The total for two for an eight day seven night tour was about two thousand dollars, staying in good three star hotels where all the rooms have private baths. They also arranged two additional nights in Vienna for a reasonable extra amount. Air arrangements can also be made, as they are a full service travel agency. Guides and groups are unnecessary and could limit your flexibility and spirit of adventure.
If you begin the bike trip by train from Munich you may board at the main station. A very good value was the 27 euro ticket which is good for anywhere in the state of Bavaria. Arrival is two hours later in the beautiful small “City of Three Rivers” at the confluence of the Danube, Inn and Ilz Rivers. The Alstadt Hotel, pre-booked by the tour, is near the tip of the peninsula formed by the confluence of the rivers, a prime spot in the old town (Alstadt) where the river cruise ships dock.
A stroll around the town with the requisite look inside the cathedral is recommended, followed by a nice outdoor dinner on the waterfront. A main street in the downtown has been converted to pedestrian only use and is lined with shops and dining.
After an excellent breakfast your bicycles, pre-selected for gender and size, will be brought along with a package containing all the hotel vouchers, contact information and a very well done cycling guide for the entire trip. After a comprehensive half hour briefing, fitting the bikes and adequately filling the tires you will be ready to start. The rep will transport your luggage to your next stop (one bag each); one of the best features of the tour service. The bikes each have waterproof saddlebags which easily hold whatever is needed during the day.
The first Danube crossing is only a block from the hotel, immediately followed by the crossing of the creek sized Ilz River.
A couple hours later will be convenient for a lunch stop at a café next to a power station, just prior to crossing into Austria. A hundred yards past the power station the path peels off from the road for the first time toward the converted tow path along the river, skirting a corn field to the first of many picturesque villages, Obernzell, once known for its many potters. The path continues along a walled riverbank through the village, reverting to roadside beyond until dipping back off the main road a short distance further, continuing on small lanes along the river until crossing into Austria. Once in Austria you may see para sailors hovering over an ancient castle high above us. There will be many more castles.
The first bicycle ferry is encountered shortly after entering Austria, crossing to Obermuhl. The ferries are typically small wooden boats that pull up to wooden or metal ramps on the bank, holding their position long enough for bikers to board or deboard. The fare is usually a couple of Euros, plus or minus. Nice little business.
The crossing puts you into the shade along the cliff side of the river as it rounds a big bend, leading to a recrossing about a mile further. The path is very quiet with little bike traffic, cruising along multiple small cornfields squeezed between the bank and the hillside; and crosses at least once more in this scenic gorge section of the valley, sometimes escorted by regal swans.
The first day’s total distance of about 65 kilometers (40 miles?) ends with the first hotel stop, in Aschach. The lovely Gasthof Sonne on the main riverfront street of this small town is very low key, with its own excellent outdoor restaurant across the lane alongside the river and the bike path. Your bags will be waiting in the lobby.
No surprise, the first night’s sleep will come easily in a nice quiet room, followed by a hearty breakfast in the dining room off the lobby. As on every other stop, you will encounter other bicyclists in a wide age range, from all over the world.
The second day’s start on the tow path in a wider part of the valley should have no crowds, just lots of scenery. This is a wide agricultural area, with lots of fields in corn, potatoes, cabbage and apple orchards. A good goal for café and kuchen in the late morning is the city of Linz, third largest in Austria after Vienna and Salzburg. The approach to Linz is a bit tighter along a busy road, but you can make it into the historic square in good order.
Riding through the heart of Linz is lovely, with a long park flanking the river for about a mile until leaving town. Reality returns on leaving town, with major industrial and quarry uses, thankfully on the other side of the river. Your side remains serene on the tow path.
The old town of Enns will be a good stop for an outdoor lunch on the much smaller square atop the hill. A full breakfast before starting out, followed by café and kuchen late morning, followed by a full lunch with beer in the early afternoon, and finally a full dinner with beer or wine in the evening, is a very civilized and restorative regimen. You may even lose weight!
The small agricultural town of Perg is this night’s stop, after another long day in the saddle, about 45 miles. This little town is perhaps the least memorable of the trip, with no stunning scenery and a very noisy main street.
However the breakfast the next morning will be as good as any, and the start along creek side paths through several farms, dairies and hamlets leading back to the river is peaceful and beautiful.
A bonus point for Perg is the restored prehistoric Machland Celtic village dating from 700 BC along the path on the way back to the river. This place is unique and quite well done, illustrating a little known part of European history. You might be the only visitors that morning.
Pressing on, pass through this fertile and productive valley through the small towns of Ybbs and Dornach, finally arriving for lunch at the tiny town square in Persahau, famous for the elm tree planted in 1300 AD, and which provides shade for lunch at the cafe.
The goal this night will be the hilltop village of Maria Taferl, site of a pilgrimage church, about a thousand feet above the river. In the town of Marbach at river level, a van shuttle will collect you and several other riders up the hill with the bikes in a trailer, for a quick trip up the hill to the Hotel Rose
The hotel restaurant patio perched above the river provides excellent food and beverage and stunning views. Fish, courtesy of the river, is delicious enough to complement the setting and another day finishes on a high note.
The next day begins with an exhilarating start, zooming downhill through neat dairy farms for several miles until returning to river level in the small town of Klein-Pochlarn, holding the surprising sight of a large used car dealership devoted to old Detroit iron from the seventies and eighties. What are the stories that brought them to this little corner of Austria?
It won’t take long to arrive in Melk, to trudge up the hill to the magnificent Benedictine abbey, a classic Baroque structure dating from the early 1700s, with a glorious chapel and priceless library. After a self guided tour of the abbey you can enjoy its café overlooking the grounds. A stroll through the accompanying gardens leads back to the winding stairs to return downhill through the old downtown to bikes parked securely in racks.
Then it’s back up the hill at least a mile to the edge of town, and back downhill again, cooling off on the way to the bridge across the river to continue toward Krems, passing through several villages and many vineyards and orchards in this very pretty part of the Wachau Valley. At some points along the way are found honor system displays of fresh fruit including grapes, as well as preserves set out in front of homes and fields along the path. Take what you want and leave a fair price behind.
An open air café in the village of Stein by the river serves well for lunch before continuing through the lush green vineyards, in great contrast to the dusty and dry Napa Valley ones, to a late afternoon arrival in Krems, a beautiful college town. Cruise into town through a large wooded park, and on the far side find the Park Hotel.
The lovely old downtown main street is a car free shopping and dining area, with plenty of choices for dinner with excellent people watching after shop window browsing. This is a lively mid size town with a college vibe to complement the medieval history.
The next morning starts toward Tulln, continuing through green agricultural land toward the “City of Flowers”, passing the commercial nurseries with large and varied splashes of color on approach. In town are many more flower beds in support of the town’s reputation.
The path leads to the old town and the excellent Hotel Nibelungenhof, probably the nicest accommodations of the trip. The hotel overlooks the path and the river and is very quiet; and also offers the best bathroom and shower.
The city’s riverside park and old downtown are a very short walk from the hotel, as is the Roman Museum which describes in detail the ancient Roman occupation of the area.
The final day’s mileage is the shortest, only twenty more miles to Vienna. Gazing on the approaching Vienna skyline, follow the suggestion of the tour company rep and use the long wooded island park in the middle of the river to make the approach to the city.
Vienna is a major city, but excellent directions will allow you to easily find the Austria Classic Hotel not far from the river. Check in is smooth at this business oriented hotel, where you lock up and bid goodbye to your faithful bikes.
An entry to the outstanding and easily learned subway and transit system is only a block or so away, and easily leads to the historic old city. When you return to the hotel that evening, a nice note and complimentary bottle of Austrian wine may await you, courtesy of the bike tour company. This outfit is definitely OK.
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