Eining is the spot where the Danube Limes and the Raetian Limes meet, or more accurately the place where the wall and ditch ran down to the river and gave way to the water as a frontier. The Romans built a fort here called Abusina, on the south bank, with walls that can still be traced in the fields and a small museum nearby. For soldiers posted to the edge of the empire it must have felt like standing at the end of the world, with the river wide and cold in front of them and Germania on the far bank. The name Unterfeld refers to the lower field beside the fort, a plain, practical label for an ordinary piece of land.
The riding here is a pleasure. The Danube in this stretch is hemmed in by limestone cliffs, and just upstream lies the Danube Gorge near Weltenburg, where the river squeezes between white rock walls for several kilometres. A short ferry or road detour takes you to Weltenburg Abbey, said to be among the oldest monasteries in Bavaria, founded in the early Middle Ages and famous for its brewery. The lanes around Eining are quiet, with gentle bends along the river and through hop fields, and on warm weekends the cyclists and canoeists make the area lively.
Neustadt an der Donau and Abensberg, each with around twelve or thirteen thousand people, are the practical choices for fuel and food. Abensberg sits in the Hallertau, the largest hop-growing region in the world, and is known for its beer, with a quirky brewery tower designed by Friedensreich Hundertwasser. Hop gardens line the roads for miles in late summer, and the smell, bitter and green, is hard to miss.
If you enjoy a good story of ordinary lives, spend a while at the fort. The ruins include walls, a gate and traces of a bath house, and with a bit of imagination you can see the whole garrison at their daily chores. Come in late afternoon, when the light on the stones is warm and the river turns pewter.