Why this ride
69 km from Klein-Pöchlarn to Klein-Pöchlarn, about 1 h 13 of riding. It goes by way of Blashausgraben - Wachtturm, St. Lorenz - Wachtturm and back through Blashausgraben - Wachtturm.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Pöchlarn - Kastell Hufeisenturm West and St. Lorenz - Wachtturm
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 69 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 13
- 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.
Scenic road chapters
Wachau Danube Road
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 19 km this is Wachau Danube Road, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 19 km
- Named road
- Wachau Danube Road
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
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 Blashausgraben - Wachtturm.
2. 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 comes up about 19 km into the recorded legs. Next is St. Lorenz - Wachtturm, 20 km on.
3. 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
about 35 km into the recorded legs you reach St. Lorenz - Wachtturm. Next is back through Blashausgraben - Wachtturm.
4. back through Blashausgraben - Wachtturm
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
back through Blashausgraben - Wachtturm, late in the day. Next is Pöchlarn - Kastell Hufeisenturm West.
5. 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
Back at Pöchlarn - Kastell Hufeisenturm West. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Pöchlarn - Kastell Hufeisenturm West to Blashausgraben - Wachtturm
Pöchlarn - Kastell Hufeisenturm West → Blashausgraben - Wachtturm is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Blashausgraben - Wachtturm to St. Lorenz - Wachtturm
Blashausgraben - Wachtturm → St. Lorenz - Wachtturm is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
St. Lorenz - Wachtturm to back through Blashausgraben - Wachtturm
St. Lorenz - Wachtturm → back through Blashausgraben - Wachtturm is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Blashausgraben - Wachtturm to Pöchlarn - Kastell Hufeisenturm West
back through Blashausgraben - Wachtturm → Pöchlarn - Kastell Hufeisenturm West is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.