The most beautiful part of the Danube cycle path is the Wachau, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
Are your camera or cell phone camera and bathing robe in your backpack? We will find many places to stop for a snack and a drink in the Wachau. Get out of the city, a bike trip to the Wachau beckons. Early in the morning we board the train from Vienna to Melk.
From Wien Hauptbahnhof you can take the train to Melk twice an hour, changing in St. Pölten. The train goes from Vienna Westbahnhof to Melk once an hour without changing trains. The train journey takes fifty to 60 minutes.
An hour later we are walking through the small, medieval old town of Melk, also known as the gate of the Wachau. High above the city, the southern head building with the marble hall and the adjoining balcony as well as the towers and the dome of the collegiate church of the Benedictine monastery in Melk greet us in bright yellow.
Visit to Melk Abbey
We begin our short visit to Melk Abbey with a short tour through the baroque gardens located northeast of the monastery building, the access to which is in the area of the north bastion, from whose viewing terrace there is a wonderfully wide view over the park.
The abbey garden was laid out in 1740 according to a plan by the Viennese architect Franz Rosenstingl with baroque terrain modeling, avenues and terraces. The extent of the garden corresponds to the length of the monastery complex. When projecting the monastery complex onto the garden, the position of the lantern on the church dome corresponds to the fountain basin. This establishes the connection between the Holy Spirit and water. The parterre of the garden is directed from north to south and is closed off in the north by the garden pavilion.
The garden pavilion of Melk Abbey was built by the St. Pölten baroque architect Franz Munggenast from 1746 to 1748. The single-storey, three-part building, built on a rectangular floor plan with surrounding beams covered with wooden shingles, has high arched openings with lattice windows. In the middle, on the long side, a semicircular, transverse oval, pavilion-like structure with a raised mansard dome roof with ridge knob protrudes. From the garden we enjoy the wonderful view over the Danube valley.
Melk Abbey was founded in the 11th century and is today one of the most beautiful, unified baroque ensembles in Europe. You can get to know the history of Melk Abbey in more detail on a guided tour of the monastery and the monastery library, which is worth seeing. Even without a tour, you can at least take a look into the collegiate church to get an impression of the important sacred work of art and the outstanding spatial creation of the Austrian and Central European Baroque.
After visiting Melk Abbey, we walk from the southern bastion of the monastery complex down the steep stairs, the Stiftsweg or “Bettlersteig”, to the market square, today's town hall square, a rectangular square created in the 13th century. From the town hall square we take the oldest street in Melk, Sterngasse, which is close to the Stiftsfelsen, the former thoroughfare with a connection to the Danube crossing and the shipping pier.
With the rental bike downstream from Melk to Krems
On this day we want to cycle carefree through the Wachau to Krems. At the end of Kremser Straße we cross the Nibelungenlände to the Danube in Melk and reach the Bike rental the Wachau-Touristik at Pilgerstrasse 2, Tel.: 0664 2222 070. We recommend a trekking bike for €15 for this cycling excursion.
The Wachau is the 36 km long section of the Danube between Melk and Krems. The Wachau is known as the most beautiful section of the Danube cycle path from Passau to Vienna. The landscape, the medieval castle ruins and picturesque towns are exceptionally impressive and worth protecting. That's why the Wachau became World Heritage Site explained.
Nature experience, the free-flowing Danube
We can cycle on both sides of the Danube, once on one bank and then take a ferry to the other bank several times.
There is a very nice cycle path along the south bank, almost always far away from the road. Overlooking terraced vineyards, steep rocky slopes, orchards. The Danube cycle path takes us through quiet meadow landscapes and picturesque medieval towns and past castle ruins overlooking the Danube. It is a pleasure to cycle down the Danube. It's almost always slightly downhill.
There are more attractions on the north bank. It is also louder here, the street next to the bike path is busy and the bike path runs for longer stretches right next to the car road. Our bike tour on the Danube cycle path through the Wachau begins on the right, quieter bank of the Danube always downstream.
Numerous gravel islands, gravel banks, oxbow lakes and remnants of alluvial forest characterize the free flow of the Danube in the Wachau. Due to the ecological gravel structures and the renatured branches of the Danube, the species-rich fish population is promoted. Young fish can survive better in the wave-protected shallow waters of the Danube's tributaries.
Protected Danube floodplains
We cycle through nature-protected alluvial forest with renatured Danube oxbows of the free-flowing Danube. We soon see Schönbühel Castle on a rocky outcrop, right on the banks of the Danube.
There were already settlements in Schönbühel in prehistoric times. In 1135 Marchwart de Sconinpuchele was installed as a feudal knight in Schönbühel, which was owned by the diocese of Passau.
Schönbühel Castle was built in the Middle Ages on a flat terrace above steep granite rock directly on the Danube. It consists of a main building with a steep hipped roof and an integrated high facade tower.
We could visit the former Servite monastery Schönbühel, the atmospheric monastery complex with a church (the church of Christ's birth is recreated in the lower church).
In Schönbühel the rocks protrude into the Danube. That's why we're guided uphill for a short distance on a separate cycle path next to the road, before rolling straight back downhill into the riparian forest. We continue along the banks of the Danube to Aggsbach-Dorf. An abandoned one Carthusian monastery and a medieval hammer forge await us here as a sight.
In a hammer forge, consumer goods such as hoes, hatchets and scythes were manufactured. The main feature of a hammer forge is that it is powered by water power Hammer. The water sets the water wheel in motion for the shaft that lifts the hammer. Radial “thumbs” are attached to the shaft, which periodically push down the end of the hammer handle and thus raise the hammer head. The fall of the hammer head serves to form red-hot iron.
A special Venus
An approximately 29.500 year old limestone Venus from the Stone Age was found in the small town of Willendorf, on the left bank of the Danube. The Venus of Willendorf is one of the most important artifacts in human history. The eleven centimeter high figure was discovered in 1908 during an excavation by the Natural History Museum in Vienna during the construction of the Wachau Railway.
The Venus of Willendorf is a faceless adult woman with pronounced breasts, wide hips and an elaborate hairstyle or headdress. The figure was carved from oolite, a rock composed of tiny limestone globules that form in the shallow waters of tropical seas.
The Venus or the material from which it was formed comes from Lake Garda in Italy or the Donets Basin in Ukraine. The oolite rock from which the Venus statue was formed formed around 150 million years ago. The important original of the Venus from Willendorf is exhibited in the Natural History Museum in Vienna.
Robber barons in the Wachau
Shortly afterwards our gaze wanders up to the famous and impressive one Aggstein ruins. Traveling with an e-bike? Our tip: let's cycle uphill to experience an impressive journey back in time to the Middle Ages. Stories of the robber barons on the Danube in the Wachau will broaden your perspective.
Aggstein Castle came into the possession of the Austrian ministerial family in 1181 Kuenringer. From the 11th century onwards, ministerials were unfree administrators and soldiers. In the 13th century, the lower nobility emerged from parts of this originally unfree class. In 1230 he rose Adel under the leadership of the Kuenringer against Frederick II., Duke of Austria and the Styria, because they wanted the confirmation of the rights of the ministerials. The Kuenringer took part from 1295 to 1296 Leutold I of Kuenring-Dürnstein in the uprising of the Austrian nobility against Albert I, Duke from Austria and the Styria.
Georg Scheck vom Wald was entrusted with Aggstein Castle by Duke Albrecht V with the order to rebuild it after its destruction in 1230/31 by Frederick II and the destruction in 1295/1296 by Duke Albrecht I. The destruction by the Austrian dukes Friedrich II and Albert I took place because the Kurenringers had taken part in the uprising of the nobility.
The current structure of the Aggstein castle ruins largely comes from the reconstruction between 1429 and 1436 by Georg Scheck vom Wald. A relief coat of arms by Georg Scheck vom Wald is embedded above the 3rd pointed arch gate, the coat of arms gate, the actual entrance to the central castle courtyard.
St. Johann im Mauerthale
We drive further along the river until we reach St. Johann im Mauerthale come round. St. Johann im Mauerthale is a church hamlet in the Wachau on the south bank of the Danube south of Spitz. The best Wachau wines grow on stone wall terraces on the rocky slopes.
The Branch church of Saint John the Baptist stands parallel to the Danube on a slight hill. The church is an elongated, essentially Romanesque building with a Gothic north choir and a delicate late Gothic tower with a weathercock on the pointed helmet pierced by an arrow.
Above the branch church of St. John the Baptist, on a west-facing steep hillside on the western slope of the Dunkelsteiner Forest, is the Johannser Berg vineyard, one of the best locations on the right bank of the Danube. The sunlight and the dry stone walls that store the warmth of the day allow Smaragd wines from Grüner Veltliner to thrive, for example in Hick winery in Oberarnsdorf.
Apricot blossom sea along the Danube cycle path
At the time of the Wachau apricot blossom, we dive into a delicate pink sea of flowers in the Arnsdorf apricot gardens. This natural spectacle only lasts a few days.
Apricot flowers have five delicately scented, bright white-pink, downy petals. Several stamens with yellow anthers grow from the center of the flower. The edible apricot flowers have a fine texture. They have a mild apricot flavor with a sweet floral aroma. Apricot flowers symbolize “shy love”. When the wind blows from the east, let your fragrance be sent to me.
Where is the devil's wall?
It's good to take a break now, because we've already ridden half of the cycle path from Melk to Krems. Oberarnsdorf is a nice place to rest. A dream view of the opposite side of the Danube devil wall, we enjoy from this place.
The Devil's Wall in Spitz an der Donau, a striking rocky outcrop with Austria's shortest railway tunnel, has been a Lower Austrian natural monument since 1929. The Legend The devil wanted to build a wall across the Danube so that the church of St. Johann in Mauerthale would be flooded by the dammed water, because the little church attracted too many pious people.
God even allowed him to do the work if he could finish it in one night by the third cock crow. The wall was almost finished when the bell of St. Johann rang and a rooster on the church tower began to crow. When his voice sounded the third time, the devil shot an arrow that is still stuck in the body of the tower cock today.
On a rocky spur of the Jauerling Opposite the Thousand-Imer Mountain near Spitz on the Danube lies the Hinterhaus ruins, the first castle in the Wachau downstream on the left side. The location of the castle at this point was chosen because an ancient trade route from the Danube to Bohemia ran directly underneath.
The Hinterhaus ruins are one Hilltop castle with two lower ones outer castles and the higher one main castle. Hinterhaus was the upper castle of the Spitz lordship, which, in contrast to the lower house located in the village, was also called the upper house. The Niederaltaich Abbey passed the fiefdom on to the Bavarian dukes, who handed it over to the Kuenringers as an after-fiefdom. The Kuenringers had the rule administered by burgraves, the Knights of Spitz.
Hinterhaus Castle was built in the 13th and 14th centuries. The stronghold was probably built in the 12th century. At the highest point of the complex, in the northwest corner of the stronghold, is the 20 m high, square keep, which dates back to Romanesque times and was expanded into a viewing tower. Its high entrance is about six meters above the ground. The battlements of the outer walls and the beam holes of the former battlement are well preserved.
During the Thirty Years' War in 1620, Spitz was looted and set on fire for four days by the Polish mercenaries of the Catholic Emperor Ferdinand II, who aggressively carried out the Counter-Reformation, in revenge against the Spitzer squire Hans Lorenz II von Kueffstain, the Protestant general set. Afterwards, the destroyed Hinterhaus Castle was left to decay.
The area around Spitz is the heart of the Wachau. It was first mentioned in documents with the name Wahova in 830 when Emperor Charlemagne gave the area around Spitz, known as “Wahova”, to the Niederaltaich monastery. The Bavarian diamond still adorns it today Pointed market coat of arms.
In 1955 the Wachau was declared a landscape protection area. In the XNUMXs and XNUMXs, the construction of a Danube power plant near Reifesdorf was successfully averted. This meant that the Danube could be preserved as a naturally flowing body of water in the Wachau area. The Wachau area was awarded the European Nature Conservation Diploma by the Council of Europe. It has been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Rested, we drive a short distance along the stairway to the roller ferry. We go across the water to Spitz. This roller ferry offers something special. An art installation by the internationally renowned Danish artist, Olufar Eliasson. Eliasson deals with physical phenomena in nature such as light, water and movement.
Stone terraces vineyards on primary rock
The typical terraced vineyards along the Danube, which were planted centuries ago, and the fine-fruited Rieslings and Grüner Veltliners that thrive there, make the Wachau World Heritage Site one of the most important Austrian wine-growing regions. Let's take a little walk through the vineyards on the old stone terraces on the steep slopes of the Wachau.
The geological structures of the Wachau emerged over millions of years Primary rock weathering soils. In addition, the microclimate on the Danube is of great importance for fruit and wine growing. The delicately fruity Riesling is a special grape variety whose roots penetrate the gneiss rock when there is little soil contact. Riesling is considered the king of white wines. And now try an eighth of Wachauer Steinfeder, Federspiel or Smaragd wine? from Singerriedel, Ried Achleiten or Thousands of Mountains…..?
Place of worship and fortified church
We continue on the bike to St. Michael, a church settlement northeast of Spitz an der Donau. St. Michael is a cadastral community in the municipality of Weißenkirchen in der Wachau on a terrace at the foot of the Michaelerberg, a hamlet with vineyards and the church of St. Michael.
A long time ago there was a Celtic sacrificial site on this terrace at the foot of the Michaelerberg. Built around 800 Charlemagne, from the Gender of Carolingian, from 768 to 814 king of Frankish Empire, which is the core part of the early medieval Latin Christianity, instead of the small Celtic sacrificial site Michael's Shrine. In Christianity Saint Michael is considered the conqueror of devil and as the chief general of the Lord's forces.
After the victorious Battle of Lechfeld on August 10, 955, the end point of the Hungarian invasions, the archangel Michael became the patron saint of Eastern France, which from the Division of the Frankish Empire Eastern part of the empire that emerged in 843 early medieval Forerunner of the Holy Roman Empire.
In a location dominating the Danube valley, slightly elevated on a terrace, is the branch church of St. Michael, a relay hall building with a striking western defensive tower surrounded by a cemetery and a well-preserved fortification. The fortified church to the saint Michael is considered the oldest, formerly extensive parish and mother church of the Wachau in the area donated by Charlemagne to the Bishopric of Passau after 800.
The fortification from 1530 originally had 5 towers and a drawbridge and the Church of St. Michael offered a shelter for the residents of the small town. Worth mentioning is the Renaissance organ in the church as one of the oldest preserved in Austria and an altarpiece by Martin Johann Schmidt, the “Kremser Schmidt”, one of the most outstanding painters of the Austrian late baroque/rococo, who was born in Stein an der Donau, and by the A figure is exhibited in the window of his home at the beginning of Steiner Landstrasse.
Picturesque villages in the heart of the Wachau
The Danube cycle path has been laid out for a short stretch on an old road that is now intended for cyclists. We cycle past vineyards through Wösendorf and shortly afterwards reach Weissenkirchen. Old listed Wachau citizens' houses characterize the townscape. The Theisenhoferhof, a former Gothic building dating from 1335, deserves special mention. It was later rebuilt in the Renaissance style, enlarged and protected with defensive towers and walls. The Wachau Museum and a gallery (with exhibitions by well-known artists) can now be visited in these rooms. The Wachau Festival takes place every year in July and August in the beautiful Renaissance Arkadenhof.
Refreshing Danube river bath
We drive in Weißenkirchen to the ferry to the Danube bank. We continue our recommended bike tour in St. Lorenz on the southern bank of the Danube.
An oversized nose protrudes from the ground here. …
It is an art object by the Austrian artist group Gelitin. (Initiated and made possible by art in the public space of Lower Austria).
Orchards, vineyards and riparian forests accompany our tranquil cycle path. Is it a very hot day? There are pebble and sometimes sandy beaches, so let's try a refreshing Danube bath.
Salzburg's spiritual rule in Arnsdorf
Rossatz Arnsdorf is the name of the long community on the southern bank of the Danube. It is the largest apricot growing area in the Wachau. The Arnsdorf were under the rule of the Salzburg prince-archbishops for almost 1000 years. The wine production of the Wachau Arnsdörfer was of great importance for the dioceses and monasteries.
In Oberarnsdorf, the Salzburgerhof, built by the Archbishopric of St. Peter, is a reminder of this time. With secularization in 1803, clerical rule also ended in Arnsdorf.
The Romans lived here
Finds from the Stone Age and the Iron Age attest to very early settlement.
The Limes of the Roman province of Noricum ran along the right bank of the Danube. Remains of walls from two watchtowers of the Limes and remains of a Roman road, an important Roman trade route, can be seen in Bacharnsdorf and Rossatzbach.
From Rossatzbach we look at Dürnstein.
The medieval town of Dürnstein is also worth seeing. The infamous Kuenringers ruled here. For example, the castles of Aggstein and Dürnstein were located. The two sons of Hademar II were infamous as robber barons and the “Dogs of Kuenring”. A notable historical political event was the arrest of the legendary English King Richard I, the Lionheart, on December 21, 1192 in Vienna Erdberg. Leopold V then had his prominent prisoner brought to the Dürren Stein on the Danube before he was handed over to Emperor Henry VI. handed over in the spring of 1193.
The blue tower, landmark of the Wachau
That's right, a ferry is waiting here and will take us to Dürnstein on the northern bank.
A picture-book town welcomes its guests. Many stories tell about it Durnstein Castle and the capture of Richard the Lionheart. The Augustinian Canons' Monastery of Dürnstein, a former Monastery, can be visited. The blue church tower of the collegiate church is considered and the Landmark of the Wachau.
Best wines in the Wachau
We cycle on the “Domain Wachau" over. With a tour of the production and cellar facilities of this company, we can learn interesting facts about wine growing and the special features of this renowned Wachau wine region.
We cycle through Loiben on the old road, past vineyards and rocky mountain slopes. The Loibenberg rises north of the valley floor of the Loiben plain between Förthofgraben and Loibenberggraben. Geologically, it consists of Gföhler gneiss. Gföhler Gneiss consists mainly of alkali feldspar, quartz and oligoclase.
On the Danube cycle path through the Wachau you come to Stein an der Donau through Förthof. Förthof is a residence in the cadastral community of Stein in the statutory city of Krems, which was only incorporated in 1938. The name Fört, also known as Ford, refers to an old crossing to the other bank. The “de Urfahr” family built the Förthof around 1200 on the site of a Danube crossing. The Förthof is an extensive four-wing complex around a trapezoidal courtyard. Next to the Förthof is the chapel of St. Matthias am Urfahr. Rapoto von Urvar was a land clerk and mint master of Austria. He built the chapel in 1280 as a two-bay early Gothic hall building with a massive roof turret. When the Danube bridge was built in Stein in 1463, the Förthof lost its importance as a shipping location.
On June 17, 1463, Kaiser Frederick III The bridge privilege to build the Krems-Stein Danube Bridge was issued after Vienna was allowed to build the first Danube bridge in all of Austria in 1439. The privilege determined that the wooden Yoke bridge, which was repeatedly damaged by floods and ice, preserved by Mautern and half of the Toll revenue should be given to the ruler. The wooden bridge was an important economic factor and employer for many people.
Construction of the Kaiser Franz Joseph Bridge began in 1893. The four semi-parabolic girders of the superstructure were built by the Viennese company R. Ph. Waagner and Fabrik Ig. Gridl created. The Mautern Bridge was ceremoniously opened on May 18, 1895 and on May 8, 1945 the bridge was partially blown up by the German Wehrmacht. After the end of the war, the two southern bridge spans were rebuilt using Roth-Waagner bridge equipment. They are characterized by their parallel-belt framework and the many screw connections.
Krems/Stone is the destination of our Wachau excursion by bike. The first church settlement existed in the area of today's Frauenberg Church. Below the steeply sloping Frauenberg, a riverside settlement was built in the 11th century. Stein an der Donau was first mentioned as a town in 1144. The St. Nicholas Church was built at the foot of the Frauenberg. We can marvel at a very beautiful, unchanged old town from the heyday of this former Danube trading town in Stein an der Donau.
The area of the medieval town of Stein an der Donau extends on the narrow bank of the river between Frauenberg and the Danube from the Kremsertor in the east to the Linzertor in the west. The Linzertor is also called the Bridge Gate. It was built in 1470 as the first Danube bridge connecting Stein an der Donau with Mautern. On Steiner Landstrasse near the Brückentor is the house of Martin Johann Schmidt, who was called the “Kremser Schmidt”, one of the most outstanding painters of the Austrian late baroque/rococo.
Along Steiner Landstrasse there are dense rows of medieval and Renaissance town houses with two churches staggered one behind the other, the parish church of St. Nicholas and Frauenberg Church, whose two towers are dominated by the mighty, landmark tower on the Frauenberg. In the parish church of St. Nicholas in Steiner Landstrasse there is an altarpiece by the baroque painter Martin Johann Schmidt, who was born in Stein an der Donau, depicting St. St. Nicholas rescuing shipwrecked people.
By train back to Vienna
At the train station iWhen you arrive in Krems, return the rental bike to the train station. Trains run every hour, at 51 minutes past the hour, from Krems an der Donau to Vienna Franz Josefs Bahnhof. We drive comfortably without changing trains An hour by train and enjoy the landscape passing by, especially the beautiful cellar lanes along the Wagram. In the evening we are back in Vienna.
A tip for traveling to the Wachau tour by car and your own bike: With one Danube ship through the Wachau drive from Krems to Melk and then cycle back from Melk through the Wachau. This is a special experience.
For example, at 10:05 from Danube station No. 24 for € 31,50 per person with Brandner Schiffahrt from Krems to Melk. You get there at 12:55. You then have the whole afternoon to ride the e-bike back to Krems.
There is one for your car near the ship pier in Krems at Strandbadstraße 3500 Free park and ride parking.
The Radler-Rast team will be happy to advise you on your cycling trip to the Wachau.
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