CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
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.
257 km from Semmering to Semmering, about 4 h 07 of riding. It goes by way of Baden bei Wien, Palace and Gardens of Schönbrunn, Zeiselmauer - Kastell Hufeisenturm and back through Palace and Gardens of Schönbrunn. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,000 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available.
32 km on Baden bei Wien → Palace and Gardens of Schönbrunn.
Carl von Ghega's railway over the Semmering was a bold idea in the 1840s, when many engineers doubted that a conventional locomotive could haul a train over a mountain pass. Built between 1848 and 1854, the line climbs from Gloggnitz to the Semmering summit through fourteen tunnels and across sixteen viaducts, some with two tiers of stone arches, curving around the flanks of the mountains on ledges cut into the rock. It became the first mountain railway inscribed on the UNESCO list, in 1998, and it still carries trains between Vienna and the south, with the new Semmering Base Tunnel under construction beneath it to take over the heavy traffic.
Read the complete Semmering Railway write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Semmering Railway is where the day begins. Next is Baden bei Wien.
The Romans already knew about the hot sulphur springs at Baden, just south of Vienna, but it was in the early nineteenth century that the town became the summer playground of the Habsburg court. Emperor Franz I spent his summers here, and the aristocracy and the wealthy bourgeoisie followed, building elegant villas, parks and bathhouses in the Biedermeier style. Beethoven came to take the waters too, staying many times and working on his Ninth Symphony in a house that is now a museum. In 2021, Baden was listed by UNESCO as one of the Great Spa Towns of Europe, alongside Bath, Baden-Baden, Karlovy Vary and others.
Read the complete Baden bei Wien write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Baden bei Wien comes up about 69 km into the recorded legs. Next is Palace and Gardens of Schönbrunn.
Schönbrunn was the summer residence of the Habsburgs, the dynasty that ruled a large part of Europe for centuries. The palace, on the western edge of Vienna, was rebuilt in the Baroque style in the eighteenth century under Empress Maria Theresa, and it has more than a thousand rooms. It began as a hunting lodge on land where, legend says, Emperor Matthias found a beautiful spring, the schöner Brunnen that gave the place its name. The gardens are vast and formal, with avenues of trees, fountains, statues, a maze, and the Gloriette, a colonnaded structure on the hill above the palace with views over Vienna. The palace and gardens were inscribed on the UNESCO list in 1996.
Read the complete Palace and Gardens of Schönbrunn write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 101 km into the recorded legs you reach Palace and Gardens of Schönbrunn. Next is Zeiselmauer - Kastell Hufeisenturm.
Zeiselmauer is a village that grew up inside a Roman fort, and it never quite moved out. The late Roman fort of Cannabiaca guarded this stretch of the Danube near Tulln, part of the frontier of the province of Noricum, and its walls, gate and towers were absorbed into the village over the centuries. One of the best-preserved features is a horseshoe-shaped tower, typical of late Roman fortifications, and a later fortlet within the fort, with walls standing several metres high, is one of the most impressive Roman buildings in Austria. Zeiselmauer is part of the Danube Limes, listed by UNESCO in 2021.
Read the complete Zeiselmauer - Kastell Hufeisenturm write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Zeiselmauer - Kastell Hufeisenturm, about halfway. Next is back through Palace and Gardens of Schönbrunn.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Palace and Gardens of Schönbrunn write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Palace and Gardens of Schönbrunn sits at 161 km, about halfway. Next is back through Baden bei Wien.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Baden bei Wien write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Baden bei Wien comes up about 187 km into the recorded legs. Next is Semmering Railway.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Semmering Railway write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Semmering Railway closes the day.
Semmering Railway → Baden bei Wien is 69 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Baden bei Wien → Palace and Gardens of Schönbrunn is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Palace and Gardens of Schönbrunn → Zeiselmauer - Kastell Hufeisenturm is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Zeiselmauer - Kastell Hufeisenturm → back through Palace and Gardens of Schönbrunn is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Palace and Gardens of Schönbrunn → back through Baden bei Wien is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Baden bei Wien → Semmering Railway is 69 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.