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CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

Pöchlarn - Kastell Hufeisenturm West and Frontiers of the Roman Empire - The Danube

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
337 km
Riding-time estimate
5 h 41
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.

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Why this ride

From Klein-Pöchlarn it runs 337 km to Klein-Pöchlarn; allow about 5 h 41 of riding. It goes by way of St. Lorenz - Wachtturm, Zwentendorf - Kastell, Klosterneuburg - Kastell und Vicus and Frontiers of the Roman Empire - The Danube. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.

Scenic road chapters

Wachau Danube Road

For about 33 km this is Wachau Danube Road, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it — expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast.

Chapter facts
Length
33 km
Named road
Wachau Danube Road

Zwentendorf - Kastell → Klosterneuburg - Kastell und Vicus

44 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it. Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through.

Chapter facts
Length
38 km

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

  1. 1. Pöchlarn - Kastell Hufeisenturm West

    The Danube has been a border for a long time, and Pöchlarn is one of the places where you can feel it. The Romans knew it as Arelape, one of the forts on the river frontier of the province of Noricum, and the Horseshoe Tower, the Hufeisenturm, is what is left of the western side of that fort. A horseshoe-shaped tower is just what it sounds like: a defensive bastion with a curved outline that lets the garrison cover the wall in more directions. It is a modest ruin, not a Colosseum, and its charm is that you find it between houses rather than in a field of tickets.

    Read the complete Pöchlarn - Kastell Hufeisenturm West write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Pöchlarn - Kastell Hufeisenturm West is where the day begins. Next is St. Lorenz - Wachtturm, 46 km on.

  2. 2. St. Lorenz - Wachtturm

    On the quiet south bank of the Danube in the Wachau, opposite the wine village of Weißenkirchen, the little church of St. Lorenz has a secret in its walls. Part of the building stands on, and incorporates, the masonry of a Roman watchtower, one of a chain of small fortifications that guarded the river frontier of the province of Noricum in late antiquity. The Danube was the edge of the empire here, and soldiers in the tower kept watch over the far bank for raiders. Today the site is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire, Danube Limes listing, inscribed by UNESCO in 2021.

    Read the complete St. Lorenz - Wachtturm write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    St. Lorenz - Wachtturm comes up about 33 km into the recorded legs. Next is Zwentendorf - Kastell.

  3. 3. Zwentendorf - Kastell

    The Danube flows broad and brown past Zwentendorf, a quiet village on the Tullnerfeld plain west of Vienna, and for once the most famous building in the area is not the oldest one. Zwentendorf is where Austria built a nuclear power station in the 1970s and then, after a national referendum in 1978, decided never to switch it on. The plant still stands by the river, complete and unused, now a training site and a curiosity.

    Read the complete Zwentendorf - Kastell write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    about 70 km into the recorded legs you reach Zwentendorf - Kastell. Next is Klosterneuburg - Kastell und Vicus.

  4. 4. Klosterneuburg - Kastell und Vicus

    Klosterneuburg Abbey rises on a terrace above the Danube just north of Vienna, its baroque domes topped with an imperial crown and an archducal hat, and few visitors realise that beneath its walls lie the remains of a Roman fort. The Romans guarded this stretch of the Danube frontier, the Limes, with a chain of forts, and Klosterneuburg's position on a hill overlooking the river made it an obvious choice. The fort and the civil settlement around it are part of the UNESCO site of the Danube Limes, inscribed in 2021.

    Read the complete Klosterneuburg - Kastell und Vicus write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Klosterneuburg - Kastell und Vicus, about halfway. Next is Frontiers of the Roman Empire - The Danube.

  5. 5. 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.

    Read the complete Frontiers of the Roman Empire - The Danube write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Frontiers of the Roman Empire - The Danube sits at 185 km, about halfway. Next is back through Klosterneuburg - Kastell und Vicus.

  6. 6. back through Klosterneuburg - Kastell und Vicus

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Klosterneuburg - Kastell und Vicus write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    back through Klosterneuburg - Kastell und Vicus comes up about 222 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Zwentendorf - Kastell.

  7. 7. back through Zwentendorf - Kastell

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Zwentendorf - Kastell write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    about 261 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Zwentendorf - Kastell. Next is back through St. Lorenz - Wachtturm, 46 km on.

  8. 8. back through St. Lorenz - Wachtturm

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete St. Lorenz - Wachtturm write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    back through St. Lorenz - Wachtturm, late in the day. Next is Pöchlarn - Kastell Hufeisenturm West.

  9. 9. Pöchlarn - Kastell Hufeisenturm West

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Pöchlarn - Kastell Hufeisenturm West write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    The route ends here after 337 km.

Leg by leg

Pöchlarn - Kastell Hufeisenturm West to St. Lorenz - Wachtturm

Pöchlarn - Kastell Hufeisenturm West → St. Lorenz - Wachtturm is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

St. Lorenz - Wachtturm to Zwentendorf - Kastell

St. Lorenz - Wachtturm → Zwentendorf - Kastell is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Zwentendorf - Kastell to Klosterneuburg - Kastell und Vicus

Zwentendorf - Kastell → Klosterneuburg - Kastell und Vicus is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Klosterneuburg - Kastell und Vicus to Frontiers of the Roman Empire - The Danube

Klosterneuburg - Kastell und Vicus → Frontiers of the Roman Empire - The Danube is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Frontiers of the Roman Empire - The Danube to back through Klosterneuburg - Kastell und Vicus

Frontiers of the Roman Empire - The Danube → back through Klosterneuburg - Kastell und Vicus is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Klosterneuburg - Kastell und Vicus to back through Zwentendorf - Kastell

back through Klosterneuburg - Kastell und Vicus → back through Zwentendorf - Kastell is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Zwentendorf - Kastell to back through St. Lorenz - Wachtturm

back through Zwentendorf - Kastell → back through St. Lorenz - Wachtturm is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through St. Lorenz - Wachtturm to Pöchlarn - Kastell Hufeisenturm West

back through St. Lorenz - Wachtturm → Pöchlarn - Kastell Hufeisenturm West is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

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