Why this ride
From Klein-Pöchlarn it runs 148 km to Klein-Pöchlarn; allow about 2 h 25 of riding. The stops in between: Blashausgraben - Wachtturm, St. Lorenz - Wachtturm, Traismauer - Kastell südwestlicher Fächert and Mautern - Kastell Ostbereich.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Pöchlarn - Vicus und Kastellbad and Mautern - Kastell Ostbereich
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 148 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 25
- 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 18 km this is Wachau Danube Road, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 18 km
- Named road
- Wachau Danube Road
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Pöchlarn - Vicus und Kastellbad
Pöchlarn is a small town on the south bank of the Danube, a few kilometres upstream from Melk, where the river is broad and slow and the Wachau valley is about to begin. The Romans called it Arelape and kept a fort here on the frontier of the empire, with a civilian settlement, the vicus, and a bathhouse for the garrison. Not much is visible above ground, but the town is part of the Danube Limes World Heritage site, which traces that long line of forts and watchtowers through Austria.
Read the complete Pöchlarn - Vicus und Kastellbad write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Pöchlarn - Vicus und Kastellbad 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 18 km into the recorded legs. Next is St. Lorenz - Wachtturm, 22 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 34 km into the recorded legs you reach St. Lorenz - Wachtturm. Next is Traismauer - Kastell südwestlicher Fächert.
4. 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.
Read the complete Traismauer - Kastell südwestlicher Fächert write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Traismauer - Kastell südwestlicher Fächert, about halfway. Next is Mautern - Kastell Ostbereich.
5. Mautern - Kastell Ostbereich
In the fifth century, as Roman authority along the Danube collapsed, a holy man named Severinus lived at a place called Favianis, organising food supplies, ransoming captives and negotiating with barbarian kings on behalf of the remaining Roman population. His biography, written by his disciple Eugippius, is one of the most vivid accounts of the end of Roman rule in central Europe, and Favianis is generally identified with Mautern, a small town on the south bank of the Danube opposite Krems. The Roman fort here, parts of which survive in the town walls, is part of the Danube Limes World Heritage listing.
Read the complete Mautern - Kastell Ostbereich write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Mautern - Kastell Ostbereich sits at 85 km, about halfway. Next is back through Traismauer - Kastell südwestlicher Fächert.
6. back through Traismauer - Kastell südwestlicher Fächert
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Traismauer - Kastell südwestlicher Fächert write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Traismauer - Kastell südwestlicher Fächert comes up about 90 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through St. Lorenz - Wachtturm, 22 km on.
7. 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
about 114 km into the recorded legs you reach back through St. Lorenz - Wachtturm. Next is back through Blashausgraben - Wachtturm.
8. 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 - Vicus und Kastellbad.
9. Pöchlarn - Vicus und Kastellbad
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Pöchlarn - Vicus und Kastellbad 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 148 km.
Leg by leg
Pöchlarn - Vicus und Kastellbad to Blashausgraben - Wachtturm
Pöchlarn - Vicus und Kastellbad → Blashausgraben - Wachtturm is 18 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 Traismauer - Kastell südwestlicher Fächert
St. Lorenz - Wachtturm → Traismauer - Kastell südwestlicher Fächert is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Traismauer - Kastell südwestlicher Fächert to Mautern - Kastell Ostbereich
Traismauer - Kastell südwestlicher Fächert → Mautern - Kastell Ostbereich is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mautern - Kastell Ostbereich to back through Traismauer - Kastell südwestlicher Fächert
Mautern - Kastell Ostbereich → back through Traismauer - Kastell südwestlicher Fächert is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Traismauer - Kastell südwestlicher Fächert to back through St. Lorenz - Wachtturm
back through Traismauer - Kastell südwestlicher Fächert → back through St. Lorenz - Wachtturm is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through St. Lorenz - Wachtturm to back through Blashausgraben - Wachtturm
back through 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 - Vicus und Kastellbad
back through Blashausgraben - Wachtturm → Pöchlarn - Vicus und Kastellbad is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.