Travel diary

For cycle tourists, the itinerary from Passau in Bavaria to Vienna is the best-known and most popular section of the route along the Danube. The varied landscapes, the different aspects of the river, the rich cultural heritage of the towns, the vineyards around Wachau and the area’s fertile plains come together to provide a complete cycling experience that attracts cycle tourists from all over the world.

The superb cycleways along the right and left banks of the Danube take us through the Bavarian forest to Linz. At Schlögen, the Danube’s passage is blocked by a mass of granite that forces it to do a 180° pirouette and head back westwards. Then, as it flows through Linz and the romantic landscapes of Strudengau, the Danube becomes narrow and turbulent. Our route also takes us to Mauthausen, infamous for the extermination camp built here during the Second World War (a monument on the site of the camp is open to the public).
On the right bank, the cycle route goes through Enns, the oldest town in Austria, and then Melk, with its impressive Benedictine Abbey. After Wachau, Austria’s greatest wine region, the Danube widens again as it meanders across the fertile plateau of Tullnerfeld, and then narrows once more at the entrance to the forest that surrounds Vienna. It is here, in Austria’s fabulous capital, with its cultural riches and extensive parks, that this stage comes to an end.