11 Days Self Guided Biking in Austria & Germany , The Danube to Vienna

11 Days Self Guided Biking in Austria & Germany , The Danube to Vienna 11 Days

From $3748 USD

Trip URL: www.adventurelink.com/

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11 Days Self Guided Biking in Austria & Germany , The Danube to Vienna
11 Days Self Guided Biking in Austria & Germany , The Danube to Vienna
11 Days Self Guided Biking in Austria & Germany , The Danube to Vienna
11 Days Self Guided Biking in Austria & Germany , The Danube to Vienna
11 Days Self Guided Biking in Austria & Germany , The Danube to Vienna
11 Days Self Guided Biking in Austria & Germany , The Danube to Vienna
11 Days Self Guided Biking in Austria & Germany , The Danube to Vienna
11 Days Self Guided Biking in Austria & Germany , The Danube to Vienna
11 Days Self Guided Biking in Austria & Germany , The Danube to Vienna
11 Days Self Guided Biking in Austria & Germany , The Danube to Vienna

Overview
Itinerary
Nuts & Bolts
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Operator
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Overview

Highlights

Duration: 11 Days
Comfort: 66.6666666666667%
Language: English
Rating: 60.0%
Trip ID: 87621
Start Location: Haidenhof, Germany
End Location: Vienna, Austria

Guaranteed:
Yes
Your Satisfaction is Guaranteed!
1. AdventureLink has carefully handpicked the tour operators in our portfolio to give you the best possible selection and experience
2. AdventureLink does not pay the operator until your trip completes in order to ensure the highest possible standard of care
Primary Activities: Road Cycling
Other Activities: Local Culture, pottery, museum, castle, Nature Reserves, Architecture, art gallery, monastery, historic, bicycle
Activity Level: Basic

European culture is revealed as you cycle from Germany’s eastern border across Austria to sumptuous Vienna, following the Danube River through two thousand years of history. Along the way, baroque castles and historic abbeys provide inviting diversions, while the landscape offers a changing panorama of gorges, forests, and marshland. Acres of peach and apricot orchards beckon with cool, scented shade. Following the old river towpath, the easy cycling surface leaves you plenty of energy to explore farms, villages, and market stands. Or take a break, and hoist your wheels aboard a local boat or train. Highlights include bustling Linz, filled with medieval treasures; the baroque abbey at Melk; and Krems, a UNESCO site. Upon reaching the Viennese woods, the “City of Dreams” and waltz capital of Europe rises. A delightful variety of accommodations bring special pleasure to your adventure—from a 15th-century convent to a four-star luxury hotel.

Itinerary

Day 1: Arrive in Passau

Upon arrival in Passau on Germany’s eastern border, it’s just a 5-minute taxi from the station to your riverfront hotel. You will be tempted to step out and enjoy dinner in the heart of Passau’s old town tonight.

Day 2: Passau to Schlögen 23km/14mi or 47km/29mi

After a welcome briefing and being fitted to your bike, you pedal east to Obernzell, famous for its pottery, before peeking into the Keramic Museum in a riverside castle. The scent of wood smoke and grilled trout may tempt you for lunch as you cross into Austria, where the valley slopes are steeper and cloaked with oak forests. On reaching the hotel, you can relax in its pool before dinner on the terrace watching passenger boats sparkling with fairy lights cruise past.

Lodging: Post Hotel
Description: A former post office dating back to 1632, this charming Bavarian-style chalet hotel offers the finest lodging in town, two restaurants, sun terrace, indoor swimming pool, and Finnish sauna. Located on the main pedestrian street of Mittenwald, it is within walking distance of the town’s many shops, restaurants, and cafés.

Day 3: Schlögen to Aschach (Linz) 27km/17mi or 46km/29mi

You may spot kingfisher today in the Donauschlinge nature reserve. Picnic tables dot the waterfront below weeping willows before you reach Aschach’s frescoed waterfront. You can catch the Linz ferry, or follow the towpath through reed marshes to Ottensheim beach for a swim. From here you hop on the train and you soon arrive at your hotel—an ancient convent—in Linz’s extravagant town square. Its many lively restaurants offer wonderful dinner options for the next two nights here.

Day 4: Free day in Linz

Linz’s ornate baroque architecture in the Hauptplatz leads to boutique shops on Landstrasse, and to the old castle Schloss Museum, creaking with ancient armor. You can browse the all-glass Lentos Art Gallery—its bright artwork are lit up in spectacular colors at night. Or, perhaps you can catch the train to explore tiny 12th-century Enns, Austria’s oldest city. Or, you are also close to the World War II Nazi camp at Mauthausen, to visit this important and sober place.

Day 5: Linz to Melk 31km/19mi or 49km/31mi

After a short 30-minute train ride to 16th-century Grein, you are spinning through orchards as the Danube valley becomes more fertile. This is where you can view the statuette of the “Venus of Willendorf,” dating to 23,000 BC. A short while later, you can have lunch in Ybbs. The hilltop twin towers of Maria Taferl appear and Melk’s monastery looms high above as you pedal towards your welcoming family hotel in Melk.

Day 6: Free day in Melk

Melk’s massive Benedictine monastery was rebuilt in 1683 and the interior abbey is as breathtaking as the countryside views from the rooftop terrace. For a day trip, you may choose to cycle to Schloss Schallaburg (~5 miles round-trip), one of the finest Renaissance castles north of the Alps, to stroll in magnificent rose gardens and enjoy acclaimed cultural exhibitions. After dinner this evening, you can relax by wandering Melk’s atmospheric cobbled streets.

Day 7: Melk to Krems 39km/24mi

Today you coast along a necklace of villages afloat on acres of vines, anchored by pretty churches along the north bank. Each is charming as the next, although Durnstein especially stands out, as this is where Richard the Lionheart was held for ransom in its craggy hilltop castle. You can taste wine along the way, and buy cherries and peaches from locals’ roadside gardens! Upon arriving in Krems, you may choose to splash in the pool before a candlelit dinner on the terrace overlooking the valley.

Day 8: Free day in Krems

Krems has one of the most beautiful historic centers in Europe, and it is packed with interesting places to visit—from the wine museum housed in a restored Dominican monastery to the 13th-century abbey exhibiting paintings of Martin Johann Schmidt. You can cycle out to Schloss Grafenegg (~10 miles away), a gargoyle-encrusted Gothic castle set in 85 acres of parkland, which is perfect for picnics, or you may choose to simply relax in your hotel’s fabulous spa and pool!

Day 9: Krems to Tulln 39km/24mi

Today you delight in a freewheel, downriver to Tulln—known as the “Town of Roses.” Among its attractions are the Roman museum, packed with artifacts. Later, you dine out amid the fountains, statues, and ornate buildings that make up the pretty center before returning to your waterfront hotel.

Day 10: Tulln to Vienna 21km/13mi

On your last full day, you coast along the final stretch to relax over lunch in imperial Klosterneuburg. You may choose to drop into the Essl Art Gallery, a contemporary collection. You can take your bicycle on the train for 15 minutes for the last stretch into Vienna, then roll it off and follow the Donaukanal cycle path to your hotel—right in the heart of the city. Dinner out in Vienna’s lively center—breathtakingly floodlit at night—is a superb ending.

Day 11: Departure

You may depart your hotel and Vienna at your leisure this morning after breakfast.

Nuts & Bolts

Trip Includes

Continental breakfast and 6 dinners - nights 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, and 8 (lunches, 4 dinners, and beverages are not included)
All accommodations (with private bathrooms) while on tour
Arrival and departure transfers as noted in the itinerary (valid only for established transfer times)
Luggage transfers between the hotels
Detailed route notes and maps
High-quality bicycle with 21-speed Shimano gears (helmet not provided), tire repair kit, lock, map/route note holder, and panniers
Basic travel insurance coverage (see Travel Insurance section that follows)
24-hour emergency service
The exclusive ease of a mobile phone rental with our Cellhire partnership. Receive preferred calling rates, free phone rental, and complimentary shipping of mobile phones
The unbeatable and cumulative experience of the Country Walkers staff

Trip Excludes

Trip ID#: 87621

CANCELLATIONS: 20% cancellation fee applied if cancelled 60 days prior to departure. Cancellations within 60 days are 100% non-cancelable

Operator

For the specifics on this tour operator, please contact AdventureLink directly.

Reviews (2)

J. & J.

Country Walkers tours are an excellent way to enjoy the natural beauty and learn of the culture of an area in the company of interesting fellow travellers with excellent guides.
- Overall Rating
  100%
- Guide Rating
  80%
- Value Rating
  90%
- Itinerary Rating
  90%
- Accomodation Rating
  80%
S. & J.

Everything about the trip exceeded my expectations!
- Overall Rating
  50%
- Guide Rating
  50%
- Value Rating
  50%
- Itinerary Rating
  50%
- Accomodation Rating
  50%

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