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 197 km round trip from Salzweg - roughly 3 h 05 in the saddle. The stops in between: Oberranna - Kleinkastell, Hirschleitengraben - Wachtturm, Enns - Gräberstraße and back through Hirschleitengraben - Wachtturm. It climbs into the mountains.
Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through. 32 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it.
Chapter facts
Length
28 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Passau Haibach - Burgus
Passau sits where three rivers meet, the Danube, the Inn and the Ilz, and from the high point of the Oberhaus fortress you can see their colours run side by side before mixing: green from the Inn, blue-grey from the Danube, and dark from the Ilz, which flows down from the Bavarian Forest stained by peat. The Romans knew this spot well. They had a fort here called Batavis, named after a unit of Batavian soldiers from the Rhine delta, and another at Boiotro across the Inn, and along the Danube downstream they built small fortified towers called burgi to watch the river and signal to each other. One of these late Roman burgi stood near Haibach, and its remains are part of the Danube Limes, inscribed by UNESCO in 2021 as part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Passau Haibach - Burgus is where the day begins. Next is Oberranna - Kleinkastell.
2. Oberranna - Kleinkastell
The Danube between Passau and Linz is one of the loveliest stretches of the whole river, and near Oberranna, on the Upper Austrian bank, it flows quietly between steep wooded slopes, dark and almost gorge-like. Here, beside the water, archaeologists found a small Roman fort, a Kleinkastell, part of the Danube Limes that guarded the northern frontier of the province of Noricum. Its remains are now protected under a modern shelter, and it forms part of the UNESCO listing of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire along the Danube.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Oberranna - Kleinkastell comes up about 28 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hirschleitengraben - Wachtturm.
3. Hirschleitengraben - Wachtturm
Just west of Linz, the Danube narrows and the steep, wooded slopes of the Kürnberger Wald rise from its southern bank. In the Roman period this river was the frontier of the empire, and the soldiers who guarded it built a chain of forts and watchtowers along the bank to watch for raiders crossing from the north. The Hirschleitengraben watchtower is one of these, a small Roman tower in a side ravine of the forest, part of the Danube Limes, which UNESCO listed in 2021 as one of the great frontiers of the Roman Empire. Its remains are modest, but the position, looking over the river toward Puchenau and the hills of the Mühlviertel, makes the purpose clear.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 71 km into the recorded legs you reach Hirschleitengraben - Wachtturm. Next is Enns - Gräberstraße.
4. 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Passau Haibach - Burgus closes the day.
Leg by leg
Passau Haibach - Burgus to Oberranna - Kleinkastell
Passau Haibach - Burgus → Oberranna - Kleinkastell is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Oberranna - Kleinkastell to Hirschleitengraben - Wachtturm
Oberranna - Kleinkastell → Hirschleitengraben - Wachtturm is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hirschleitengraben - Wachtturm to Enns - Gräberstraße
Hirschleitengraben - Wachtturm → Enns - Gräberstraße is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Enns - Gräberstraße to back through Hirschleitengraben - Wachtturm
Enns - Gräberstraße → back through Hirschleitengraben - Wachtturm is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hirschleitengraben - Wachtturm to back through Oberranna - Kleinkastell
back through Hirschleitengraben - Wachtturm → back through Oberranna - Kleinkastell is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Oberranna - Kleinkastell to Passau Haibach - Burgus
back through Oberranna - Kleinkastell → Passau Haibach - Burgus is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.