Enns - Gräberstraße and Blashausgraben - Wachtturm

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Enns - Gräberstraße

   Enns claims to be the oldest town in Austria, on the strength of a charter granted in 1212, but its roots go much deeper. Just outside the modern town lay Lauriacum, a Roman legionary fortress that housed the Second Italian Legion and grew into one of the most important places on the Danube frontier, with a civilian town, temples and, as the Gräberstraße name suggests, roads lined with cemeteries. The Romans buried their dead along the roads outside settlements, and excavations here have found hundreds of graves, stones and offerings. The site is part of the Danube Limes World Heritage listing.

   Read the complete Enns - Gräberstraße write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Enns - Gräberstraße is where the day begins. Next is Wallsee - Kastell.

2. 2. Wallsee - Kastell

   Wallsee is one of those Danube villages that people cycle through on the long riverside path without guessing how much history sits under their tyres. A castle rises on a rock above the river, and beneath and around the village lie the remains of a Roman fort that guarded this stretch of the Danube frontier. It is part of the Danube Limes World Heritage Site, inscribed in 2021, which follows the river from Bavaria through Austria to Slovakia, a line of forts, watchtowers and towns that held the northern edge of the empire for centuries.

   Read the complete Wallsee - Kastell write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Wallsee - Kastell comes up about 34 km into the recorded legs. Next is Ybbs - Kleinkastell.

3. 3. Ybbs - Kleinkastell

   Ybbs an der Donau and Persenbeug face each other across the Danube in Lower Austria, connected by a hydroelectric dam that was one of the first built on the Austrian Danube after the war. Persenbeug is dominated by its castle, perched on a rock above the river, which belonged to the Habsburgs and was the birthplace of Emperor Charles I, the last emperor of Austria-Hungary. On the Ybbs side, the remains of a small Roman fort have been found, part of the Danube frontier of the Roman Empire.

   Read the complete Ybbs - Kleinkastell write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 77 km into the recorded legs you reach Ybbs - Kleinkastell. Next is Blashausgraben - Wachtturm.

4. 4. 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.

   Read the complete Blashausgraben - Wachtturm write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Blashausgraben - Wachtturm, about halfway. Next is back through Ybbs - Kleinkastell.

5. 5. back through Ybbs - Kleinkastell

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Ybbs - Kleinkastell write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Ybbs - Kleinkastell sits at 131 km, about halfway. Next is back through Wallsee - Kastell.

6. 6. back through Wallsee - Kastell

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Wallsee - Kastell write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Wallsee - Kastell comes up about 188 km into the recorded legs. Next is Enns - Gräberstraße.

7. 7. Enns - Gräberstraße

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Enns - Gräberstraße write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Enns - Gräberstraße closes the day.