Danube Cycle Path Stage 5

The most beautiful part of the Danube bike tour through Austria is the Wachau.

In 2008 National Geographic Traveler magazine named the river valley the “Best Historic Destination in the World”Chosen.

On the Danube Cycle Path in the heart of the Wachau

Take a lot of time, plan to spend a day or more in the Wachau.

In the heart of the Wachau you will find a room with a view of the Danube or the vineyards.

The area between Melk and Krems is now known as the Wachau.

However, origins refer to a 830 first documentary mention of the area around Spitz and Weissenkirchen as "Wahowa". From the 12th to the 14th century, the vineyard holdings of the Tegernsee Monastery, the Zwettl Monastery and the Clarissinnen Monastery in Dürnstein were named as the "Wachau District". St. Michael, Wösendorf, Joching and Weißenkirchen.

A bike tour for all senses the free-flowing Danube

Cycling in the Wachau is an experience for all the senses. Forests, mountains and the sound of the river, just nature that invigorates and refreshes, relaxes and calms, lifts the spirits and is proven to reduce stress. In the seventies and eighties the construction of a Danube Power plant near Rührsdorf successfully repelled. As a result, the Danube in the Wachau area was preserved as a naturally flowing body of water.

Conservation of a unique landscape

The Wachau was declared a landscape protection area and received that Council of Europe European Nature Conservation Diploma, the Wachau was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The free-flowing Danube is the heart of the Wachau for over 33 km. Rugged rocks, floodplain, forests, dry grasslands and stone terraces determine the landscape.

Best Wachau wines on primary rock soils

The microclimate on the Danube is of great importance for wine and fruit growing. The geological structures of the Wachau developed over millions of years. Hard gneiss, softer slate gneiss, crystalline lime, marble and graphite deposits sometimes determine the varied shape of the Danube valley.

The typical terraced vineyards along the Danube, which were laid out centuries ago, and the finely fruity Rieslings and Grüner Veltliners that thrive there, make the Wachau World Heritage Site one of the most important Austrian wine-growing regions.

The typical terraced vineyards that were laid out centuries ago with their weathered soils of primary rock are of essential importance for viticulture. In the terraced vineyards, the roots of the vine can penetrate the gneiss rock if there is little soil coverage. A special grape variety is the fine-fruited one that thrives here Riesling, which is considered the king of white wines.

The medieval town of Dürnstein is also worth seeing. The notorious Kuenringer ruled here. Seat were also the castles of Aggstein and Dürnstein. The two sons of Hademar II were notorious as robber barons and as the “hounds of Kuenring”. A historical and political event worth mentioning was the arrest of the legendary English king Richard I, the Lionheart, in Vienna Erdberg. Leopold V then had his prominent prisoner taken to Dürren Stein on the Danube.

Cycle along the tranquil, beautiful Danube south bank

Downstream we cycle along the quieter southern side of the Danube. We drive through beautiful countryside, along orchards, vineyards and floodplain landscapes of the freely flowing Danube. With bicycle ferries we can change the river side several times.

About the LIFE-Nature conservation program between 2003 and 2008, the remains of an old arm of the Danube, e.g. B. in Aggsbach Dorf, connected to the Danube again. The channels were dug up to one meter deeper than the regulatory low water in order to create new habitats for Danube fish and other water dwellers such as kingfisher, sandpiper, amphibian and dragonflies.

Coming from Melk we see Schönbühel Castle and the former on a Danube rock Service monastery Schönbühel. According to the plans of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, Count Conrad Balthasar von Starhemberg had an underground sanctuary built in 1675, which is still unique in Europe today. Doors lead to the outside on both sides of the tomb. Here we enjoy the wide view over the Danube.

Natural paradise Danube meadows and monasteries

Then it continues through the Donau Auen. Numerous gravel islands, gravel banks, backwaters and remnants of alluvial forest characterize the free-flowing section of the Danube in the Wachau.

Soils form and die in a floodplain. In one place soil is removed, in other places sand, gravel or clay is deposited. The river sometimes changes its course, leaving an oxbow lake.

On this untapped section of the river we experience the dynamics of a river that is constantly changing due to the flowing water. Here we experience the intact Danube.

We'll get there soon Aggsbach with the remarkable Carthusian monastery, The medieval Carthusian church originally had no organ, pulpit or church tower. According to the strict rules of the order, the praise of God could only be sung in a human voice. The small cloister had no connection to the outside world. The buildings fell into disrepair in the second half of the 2th century. The complex was later restored in the Renaissance style. Emperor Josef II lifted the monastery in 16 and the estate was sold in succession. The monastery rebuilt as a castle.

There is an old hammer mill to visit near the former monastery in Aggsbach-Dorf. This was in operation until 1956. We cycle leisurely to the next small village of Aggstein.

E-biker tip: Raubritterburg ruin Aggstein

E-bike cyclists could choose the steep Burgweg, about 300 meters above the right bank of the Danube, for a visit to the historic ruins of the former Aggstein Castle.

The Babenberg castle Aggstein was built around 1100 as protection for the country and the Danube. The Kuenringer took over Aggstein and had the right to toll on the Danube. Protection changed to the contrary under the rule of the new owners. After the extinction of the Kueringer the castle was handed over to Jörg Scheck vom Wald in 1429. As a robber baron he was feared by the merchants.

After a fire, the Aggstein Castle rebuilt around 1600 and offered shelter to the population during the 30-year war. After this time the castle fell into disrepair. Bricks were later used for the construction of Maria Langegg Monastery .

Wachau apricots and wine in the Arns villages

On the river bank, the Danube cycle path leads us downstream to St Johann in the Mauertal, the beginning of the municipality of Rossatz-Arnsdorf. Past orchards and vineyards we reach Oberarnsdorf. Here we rest in this beautiful place with a view of the Ruin back house and Spitz on the Danube, the heart of the Wachau.

Below you will find the track of the distance traveled so far from Melk to Oberarnsdorf.

Also a small detour from Oberarnsdorf to the ruins Secret Annex, on foot or by e-bike, would be worthwhile. You can find the track for it below.

In 1955 the Wachau was declared a landscape protection area. In the XNUMXs and XNUMXs, the construction of a Danube power plant near Rührsdorf was successfully repelled. As a result, 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 was awarded UNESCO World Heritage status.

Salzburg rule in the Arns villages

Finds from the Stone Age and the later Iron Age prove that the municipality of Rossatz-Arnsdorf was settled very early. The border of the Roman province of Noricum, Remains of the wall from two watchtowers of the Limes can still be seen in Bacharnsdorf and Rossatzbach.
From 860 to 1803 the Arns villages were under the rule of the Archbishops of Salzburg. The church in Hofarnsdorf is dedicated to St. Rupert, the founding saint of Salzburg. Wine production in the Arns villages was of great importance to the dioceses and monasteries. In Oberarnsdorf, the Salzburgerhof built by the Archbishopric of St. Peter is a reminder. Two years later, in 1803, the clerical rule ended with secularization in the Arnsdorfern.

Arnsdorf is today the largest Wachau apricot growing community. Wine is grown on a total of 103 hectares of land on the Danube.
We continue cycling through Ruhr village next to vineyards to Rossatz and Rossatzbach. On hot summer days, the Danube invites you to take a cool bath. We enjoy the mild summer evening at a wine tavern in the vineyard with a glass of wine from the Wachau and a view of the Danube.

Romans along the southern bank of the Danube, the Limes

After Rossatzbach to Mautern, the Danube Cycle Path is laid out alongside the motorway but on its own route. In Mautern, archaeological excavations such as graves, wine cellars and more bear witness to an important Roman settlement "Favianis", which was on an important trade route on the northern border to the Germanic peoples. We cross the Danube to Krems/Stein over the Mauten Bridge, one of the first and most important Danube crossings between Linz and Vienna.

Pitoresque Medieval town

We can also choose the northern bank of the Danube through the Wachau.
From Emmersdorf we cycle on the Danube cycle path via Aggsbach Markt, Willendorf, Schwallenbach, Spitz, St. Michael, Wösendorf in der Wachau, Joching, Weissenkirchen, Dürnstein, Oberloiben to Krems.

The Danube Cycle Path leads partly on the old road through small picturesque medieval villages, but also along the more heavily trafficked road (than on the southern side of the Danube). There is also the possibility to change the river bank several times by ferry: near Oberarnsdorf to Spitz, from St. Lorenz to Weißenkirchen or from Rossatzbach to Dürnstein.

Willendorf and the Stone Age Venus

The village of Willendorf gained importance when a 29.500-year-old limestone Venus from the Stone Age was found. That Original of Venus is exhibited in the Natural History Museum in Vienna.

Experience cultural heritage Wachau

After a visit to Spitz an der Donau we soon see the fortified church of St Michael with Karner. The origin points to a Celtic sacrificial site. Under Charlemagne A chapel was built on this site around 800 and the Celtic cult site was converted into a Christian Michael’s shrine. When the church was rebuilt in 1530, the fortification was originally built with five towers and a drawbridge. The upper floors were defensively developed and difficult to access. A medieval salvage room was used on the first floor. The renaissance organ from 1650 is one of the oldest preserved in Austria.

Dürnstein and Richard Löwenherz

The medieval town of Dürnstein is also worth seeing. The notorious Kuenringer ruled here. Seat were also the castles of Aggstein and Hinterhaus. As a robber baron and as "Dogs from Kuenring' the two sons of Hademar II were disreputable. A historical and political event worth mentioning was the arrest of the legendary English king Richard I, the Lionheart, in Vienna Erdberg. Leopold V then had his prominent prisoner taken to Dürren Stein on the Danube.

The Danube cycle path goes through Loiben to Stein and Krems on the old Wachau road.

Arnsdorf

The Arns villages have developed over time from an estate that Ludwig II the German of the Carolingian family, who was king of the East Frankish kingdom from 843 to 876, gave to the Salzburg church in 860 as a reward for loyalty during the uprisings of his had given to the border counts. Over time, the villages of Oberarnsdorf, Hofarnsdorf, Mitterarnsdorf and Bacharnsdorf on the right bank of the Danube have developed from the richly endowed estate in the Wachau. The Arns villages were named after the first Archbishop Arn of the new Archdiocese of Salzburg, who ruled around 800, and who was also abbot of the monastery of Sankt Peter. The importance of the Arns villages was in wine production.

The management of the Arnsdorf wineries of the Prince Archbishopric of Salzburg was the responsibility of a steward who had a large Freihof as his seat in Hofarnsdorf. A dedicated archbishop's miner was responsible for viticulture. The daily life of the Arnsdorf population was characterized by the archbishop's manorial rule. The chapel of the Salzburg Meierhof became the parish church of St. Ruprecht in Hofarnsdorf, named after St. Rupert of Salzburg, who was the first bishop of Salzburg and abbot of the St. Peter monastery. The current church dates from the 15th century. It has a Romanesque west tower and a baroque choir. There are two side altars with altarpieces by the Krems baroque painter Martin Johann Schmidt from 1773. On the left the Holy Family, on the right Saint Sebastian cared for by Irene and the women. The Hofarnsdorfer Freihof and the parish church of St. Ruprecht were surrounded by a common defensive wall, which is indicated by the remains of the wall.

In Oberarnsdorf there is still the Salzburgerhof, the large, former reading courtyard of the Benedictine monastery of St. Peter in Salzburg with a mighty barn and a barrel-vaulted entrance. Older residents of Oberarnsdorf still listen to the name Rupert and a number of Arnsdorf winegrowers have joined together to form the so-called Rupertiwinzers to present their good wine, although secularisation in 1803 brought the end of Salzburg's clerical rule in Arnsdorf.

Maria Langegg Monastery

The construction of the convent building of the former Servite monastery in Maria Langegg took place in several stages. The west wing was built from 1652 to 1654, the north wing from 1682 to 1721 and the south and east wing from 1733 to 1734. The convent building of the former Servitenkloster Maria Langegg is a two-storey, west and south side three-storey, simple four-wing structure around a rectangular courtyard, the facade of which is partially structured with cordon cornices.

The eastern wing of the convent building is lower and, with a pitched roof, faces the pilgrimage church of Maria Langegg to the west. The baroque chimneys of the convent building have decorated heads. On the south and east side in the courtyard of the convent building, the window frames have ears, and on the west and north side on the ground floor plaster carvings indicate the former arcades. On the west and north side there are remains of a painted sundial.

Which side of the Wachau to cycle from Melk to Krems?

From Melk we start our bike tour on the Danube Cycle Path Passau Vienna on the right side of the Danube. We ride from Melk to Oberarnsdorf on the southern bank of the Danube, because on this side the cycle path hardly follows the road and in one section also runs nicely through the Danube floodplain landscape, while on the left side larger sections of the Danube cycle path between Emmersdorf and Spitz am Gehsteig, right next to it the busy federal highway number 3. Cycling on the pavement right next to a street where cars are driving very fast is extremely stressful, especially for families traveling with children.

After Oberarnsdorf, the Danube ferry to Spitz an der Donau comes on the right-hand side. We recommend taking the ferry to Spitz an der Donau. The ferry runs all day without a timetable as required. The journey continues on the left bank via Sankt Michael to Weißenkirchen through the so-called Thal Wachau with its villages of Wösendorf and Joching and in particular their historical cores worth seeing. The Danube Cycle Path runs on this section between Spitz and Weißenkirchen in der Wachau, with one small exception at the beginning, on the old Wachau Straße, on which there is little traffic.

In Weißenkirchen we change to the right side again, to the south bank of the Danube. We recommend taking the rolling ferry to St. Lorenz on the right bank of the Danube, which also runs all day without a timetable. The Danube Cycle Path runs from St. Lorenz on a supply road through orchards and vineyards and through the towns of Rührsdorf and Rossatz to Rossatzbach. This recommendation is made because on the left-hand side between Weißenkirchen and Dürnstein the cycle path runs again on the pavement of federal highway 3, on which cars travel very quickly.

In Rossatzbach, which is located opposite Dürnstein on the right bank of the Danube, we recommend taking the bike ferry to Dürnstein, which also runs at any time if necessary. This is a particularly beautiful crossing. You drive straight towards the blue tower of the church of Stift Dürnstein, a popular motif for calendars and postcards.

Arrived in Dürnstein on the staircase path, we recommend moving a little bit north at the foot of the castle and monastery buildings on a rock, and then, after crossing the federal highway 3, the well-preserved medieval core of Dürnstein on its main street traverse.

Now that you are back on the northern route of the Danube cycle path, you continue to Dürnstein on the old Wachau road through the Loiben plain to Rothenhof and Förthof. In the area of the Mauterner Bridge, Förthof borders on Stein an der Donau, a district of Krems an der Donau. At this point you can now cross the Danube south again or continue through Krems.

It is advisable to choose the north side of the Danube Cycle Path for the journey from Dürnstein to Krems, because on the southern bank on the stretch from Rossatzbach the cycle path again runs on the pavement next to the main road, on which cars travel very quickly.

In summary, we recommend changing sides three times on your journey through the Wachau from Melk to Krems. As a result, you are only on small sections next to the main road and at the same time you come through the most scenic sections of the Wachau and the historical cores of its villages. Take a day for your stage through the Wachau. Stations that are particularly recommended for getting off your bike are Donauplatz in Oberarnsdorf with a view of the Hinterhaus ruins, the medieval fortified church with the Observation tower in St. Michael, the historical center of Weißenkirchen with parish church and Teisenhoferhof and the old town of Dürnstein. When leaving Dürnstein, you still have the opportunity to taste the wines of the Wachau in the vinotheque of the Wachau domain.

If you are traveling along the Danube Cycle Path from Passau to Vienna, then we recommend the following route for your journey on the most beautiful stage through the Wachau.

Stage 5 from Melk to Krems