Pöchlarn - Kastell Zentralbereich and Tulln - Kastell Hufeisenturm
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
172 km
Riding-time estimate
2 h 56
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. 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 172 km round trip from Klein-Pöchlarn - roughly 2 h 56 in the saddle. The stops in between: St. Johann im Mauerthale - Wachtturm, Traismauer - Kastell südwestlicher Fächert, Tulln - Kastell Hufeisenturm and back through Traismauer - Kastell südwestlicher Fächert. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Scenic road chapters
Wachau Danube Road
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For 27 km this is Wachau Danube Road, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
Length
27 km
Named road
Wachau Danube Road
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. Johann im Mauerthale - Wachtturm, 31 km on.
2. St. Johann im Mauerthale - Wachtturm
Above the Wachau, in the forested hills on the south bank, a watchtower stood in the Roman period, and its stones are a quiet reminder that this valley was once the border of an empire. The Danube was the northern frontier of the province of Noricum, and the Romans guarded it with forts and signal towers every few kilometres, a chain that now forms part of the UNESCO listing for the Danube Limes. The tower near St Johann im Mauerthale was one of these, placed to see along the river and warn of anyone crossing from the north. Not much remains but the foundations, and they sit in a place with a long view.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
St. Johann im Mauerthale - Wachtturm comes up 31 km in. Next is Traismauer - Kastell südwestlicher Fächert.
3. Traismauer - Kastell südwestlicher Fächert
Traismauer is a small wine town on the south side of the Danube, just where the Traisen river comes down from the Alpine foothills to meet the big river, and it has been a fortified place for something like eighteen centuries. The Romans called their fort here Augustianis, one link in the chain of camps and watchtowers that guarded the frontier of the province of Noricum. In 2021 the Danube Limes was added to the UNESCO list, and Traismauer is one of the places where you can still see the old walls doing a job.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
61 km in you reach Traismauer - Kastell südwestlicher Fächert. Next is Tulln - Kastell Hufeisenturm.
4. Tulln - Kastell Hufeisenturm
Egon Schiele was born in Tulln in 1890, in the station building where his father was stationmaster, and the town that produced one of the most provocative painters of Viennese modernism is today a quiet, prosperous place on the Danube, known as Austria's garden town. Long before that, it was the Roman fort of Comagena, part of the frontier along the Danube that protected the Roman province of Noricum. One of the fort's towers has survived remarkably well: the so-called Salzturm, a horseshoe-shaped tower on the riverbank, one of the best-preserved Roman structures in Austria. It is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire – The Danube Limes, listed by UNESCO in 2021.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Traismauer - Kastell südwestlicher Fächert sits at 122 km, about halfway. Next is back through St. Johann im Mauerthale - Wachtturm, 31 km on.
6. back through St. Johann im Mauerthale - Wachtturm
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Pöchlarn - Kastell Zentralbereich closes the day.
Leg by leg
Pöchlarn - Kastell Zentralbereich to St. Johann im Mauerthale - Wachtturm
Pöchlarn - Kastell Zentralbereich → St. Johann im Mauerthale - Wachtturm is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
St. Johann im Mauerthale - Wachtturm to Traismauer - Kastell südwestlicher Fächert
St. Johann im Mauerthale - Wachtturm → Traismauer - Kastell südwestlicher Fächert is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Traismauer - Kastell südwestlicher Fächert to Tulln - Kastell Hufeisenturm
Traismauer - Kastell südwestlicher Fächert → Tulln - Kastell Hufeisenturm is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Tulln - Kastell Hufeisenturm to back through Traismauer - Kastell südwestlicher Fächert
Tulln - Kastell Hufeisenturm → back through Traismauer - Kastell südwestlicher Fächert is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Traismauer - Kastell südwestlicher Fächert to back through St. Johann im Mauerthale - Wachtturm
back through Traismauer - Kastell südwestlicher Fächert → back through St. Johann im Mauerthale - Wachtturm is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through St. Johann im Mauerthale - Wachtturm to Pöchlarn - Kastell Zentralbereich
back through St. Johann im Mauerthale - Wachtturm → Pöchlarn - Kastell Zentralbereich is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.