Cycling the Danube Part II: Passau to Vienna

Hurrah! We are in Vienna, Austria, over 1100 kilometers and almost 700 miles from our starting

point at the Danube Spring in Germany. The sun came out the day after we sent our last newsletter and has been it shining gloriously on the river and the mountainsides rising above the Austrian Danube ever since. It is perhaps a truism of long distance cycling that if you keep pedaling long enough, the weather will always change. Like life, it’s best to just keep pedaling rain or shine and you’ll get there sooner or later.

The past week of cycling in Austria has been a delight. If you only have time to cycle one section of the Danube, cycle Austria (though perhaps we should hold off our final verdict until we get to Budapest).

Germany was wonderful and perhaps it’s not fair to compare, since it rained the whole time there. But Austria has its advantages. First the camping is to die for. There is nothing like waking up to the sun rising over the mountains and Danube, with a castle perched on the mountain looming over your tent. The campgrounds are also very lovely, with picnic tables, restaurants

and large green spaces devoted to cycling campers only (yes we are definitely not the only ones pedaling). Second, while the German bike route often wanders away from the river, since the Danube is now enormous and confined to a gorge, it’s impossible to get lost. Furthermore, the entire Austrian route is paved (no more muddy dikes!), making the pedaling so easy and flat that you might as well just let the bike ride downhill by itself. If you have kids, this is truly one of the best family biking routes in the world.

To be fair, Germany had more lovely historic towns and museums to visit. Austria is filled with more natural beauty and fewer towns. But the Danube is so geared to cyclists that every 10 kilometers or so you run into a little café or restaurant or hotel right at the side of the bike path in the middle of nowhere—just for cyclists. You could theoretically just eat your way down the Danube right on the path. For health reasons, we still carry our own food and cook at  campsites; three meals a day of cake, coffee, wurst and beer is not the most heart healthy diet even if you are cycling. Though it wouldn’t be a bad way to die!

The highlight of the journey so far was the Wachau wine region, filled with a string of stunning historic mountainside villages—and yes winemakers. We arrived in Vienna a couple of days ago and have been madly rushing to see a few of its many amazing sites. Today we watched a training session of the famed Lippizaner horses. And tonight we go to a Mozart and Strauss concert in the Schonbrun concert hall. Then tomorrow it’s off to Budapest and the end of our journey.

Thanks for following and all your messages and comments. Til next time.