Traismauer - Kleinkastell and St. Johann im Mauerthale - Wachtturm
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
72 km
Riding-time estimate
1 h 11
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.
A 72 km round trip from Traismauer - roughly 1 h 11 in the saddle. The stops in between: Mautern - Kastell Ostbereich, St. Johann im Mauerthale - Wachtturm and back through Mautern - Kastell Ostbereich. The line favours views over speed.
Scenic road chapters
Wachau Danube Road
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 15 km this is Wachau Danube Road, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
Length
15 km
Named road
Wachau Danube Road
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Traismauer - Kleinkastell
Traismauer is a small town with a very long memory. Before it was a market town on the Traisen river, it was the Roman fort of Augustianis, one of the posts on the Noricum stretch of the Danube frontier, and some of the Roman wall still stands in the town. The Kleinkastell, the small fort, is part of that chain: a compact stone enclosure, a few watchtowers and a garrison, one of the many modest strongpoints that made the limes more than a line on a map.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Traismauer - Kleinkastell is where the day begins. Next is Mautern - Kastell Ostbereich.
2. 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Mautern - Kastell Ostbereich comes up about 15 km into the recorded legs. Next is St. Johann im Mauerthale - Wachtturm, 19 km on.
3. 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
Back at Traismauer - Kleinkastell. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Traismauer - Kleinkastell to Mautern - Kastell Ostbereich
Traismauer - Kleinkastell → Mautern - Kastell Ostbereich is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mautern - Kastell Ostbereich to St. Johann im Mauerthale - Wachtturm
Mautern - Kastell Ostbereich → St. Johann im Mauerthale - Wachtturm is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
St. Johann im Mauerthale - Wachtturm to back through Mautern - Kastell Ostbereich
St. Johann im Mauerthale - Wachtturm → back through Mautern - Kastell Ostbereich is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Mautern - Kastell Ostbereich to Traismauer - Kleinkastell
back through Mautern - Kastell Ostbereich → Traismauer - Kleinkastell is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.