Pöchlarn - Vicus und Kastellbad and Tulln - Kastell Hufeisenturm
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
172 km
Riding-time estimate
2 h 54
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.
172 km from Klein-Pöchlarn to Klein-Pöchlarn, about 2 h 54 of riding. On the way it passes St. Johann im Mauerthale - Wachtturm, Traismauer - Kastell südwestlicher Fächert, Tulln - Kastell Hufeisenturm and back through Traismauer - Kastell südwestlicher Fächert. The line favours views over speed.
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 - 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.
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 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 - Vicus und Kastellbad closes the day.
Leg by leg
Pöchlarn - Vicus und Kastellbad to St. Johann im Mauerthale - Wachtturm
Pöchlarn - Vicus und Kastellbad → 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 - Vicus und Kastellbad
back through St. Johann im Mauerthale - Wachtturm → Pöchlarn - Vicus und Kastellbad is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.