Pöchlarn - Kastell Zentralbereich 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.
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Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
337 km from Klein-Pöchlarn to Klein-Pöchlarn, about 5 h 41 of riding. On the way it passes 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. Pöchlarn - Kastell Zentralbereich
Pochlarn is a quiet town on the Danube, but it has been famous for a long time. The Romans had a fort here called Arelape, built to guard the river and the mouth of the Erlauf, which flows in from the south. Later, in the medieval epic known as the Nibelungenlied, the town appears under the name Bechelaren, home of the margrave Rudiger, a loyal knight who is torn between his oath and his love. The region from Melk to Pochlarn is still called the Nibelungengau because of this.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Pöchlarn - Kastell Zentralbereich is where the day begins. Next is St. Lorenz - Wachtturm, 46 km on.
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.
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. 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.
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. 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.
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. 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
The route ends here after 337 km.
Leg by leg
Pöchlarn - Kastell Zentralbereich to St. Lorenz - Wachtturm
Pöchlarn - Kastell Zentralbereich → 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 Zentralbereich
back through St. Lorenz - Wachtturm → Pöchlarn - Kastell Zentralbereich is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.