Blashausgraben - Wachtturm and Frontiers of the Roman Empire - The Danube
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
311 km
Riding-time estimate
4 h 17
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
A 311 km round trip from Aggsbach - roughly 4 h 17 in the saddle. The stops in between: Tulln - Kastell Hufeisenturm, Frontiers of the Roman Empire - The Danube and back through Tulln - Kastell Hufeisenturm. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Scenic road chapters
Wachau Danube Road
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 71 km this is Wachau Danube Road, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
Length
71 km
Named road
Wachau Danube Road
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Blashausgraben - Wachtturm
The Wachau is the most beautiful stretch of the Danube in Austria, a narrow valley between Melk and Krems where the river winds between steep hills covered in vineyards and forest, with castles, abbeys and villages on its banks. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site in its own right. Near the village of Aggsbach, on the southern bank, a small Roman watchtower stood in the Blashausgraben, a side valley, as part of the Danube frontier of the Roman Empire.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Blashausgraben - Wachtturm is where the day begins. Next is Tulln - Kastell Hufeisenturm.
2. Tulln - Kastell Hufeisenturm
Egon Schiele was born in Tulln in 1890, in the station building where his father was stationmaster, and the town that produced one of the most provocative painters of Viennese modernism is today a quiet, prosperous place on the Danube, known as Austria's garden town. Long before that, it was the Roman fort of Comagena, part of the frontier along the Danube that protected the Roman province of Noricum. One of the fort's towers has survived remarkably well: the so-called Salzturm, a horseshoe-shaped tower on the riverbank, one of the best-preserved Roman structures in Austria. It is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire – The Danube Limes, listed by UNESCO in 2021.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Tulln - Kastell Hufeisenturm comes up about 71 km into the recorded legs. Next is Frontiers of the Roman Empire - The Danube.
3. Frontiers of the Roman Empire - The Danube
Marcus Aurelius, emperor and philosopher, spent several years at Carnuntum during his wars against the Germanic tribes north of the Danube, and he is thought to have written part of his Meditations here; the third book carries the note that it was written at Carnuntum. In the second century, this was one of the most important places on the Roman frontier: a legionary fortress, an auxiliary fort and a civil town that grew into the capital of the province of Upper Pannonia, with tens of thousands of inhabitants. Today, the archaeological park at Petronell-Carnuntum and Bad Deutsch-Altenburg shows reconstructed houses, a bath and streets built using Roman methods, two amphitheatres, and the Heidentor, a great ruined triumphal arch standing alone in the fields. The Danube Limes became a World Heritage site in 2021.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Blashausgraben - Wachtturm. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Blashausgraben - Wachtturm to Tulln - Kastell Hufeisenturm
Blashausgraben - Wachtturm → Tulln - Kastell Hufeisenturm is 71 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Tulln - Kastell Hufeisenturm to Frontiers of the Roman Empire - The Danube
Tulln - Kastell Hufeisenturm → Frontiers of the Roman Empire - The Danube is 85 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Frontiers of the Roman Empire - The Danube to back through Tulln - Kastell Hufeisenturm
Frontiers of the Roman Empire - The Danube → back through Tulln - Kastell Hufeisenturm is 85 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Tulln - Kastell Hufeisenturm to Blashausgraben - Wachtturm
back through Tulln - Kastell Hufeisenturm → Blashausgraben - Wachtturm is 70 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.