Wien - Canabae Südwest and Mautern - Kastell Ostbereich
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
166 km
Riding-time estimate
3 h 05
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 166 km round trip from Innere Stadt - roughly 3 h in the saddle. On the way it passes Zeiselmauer - Kastell Hufeisenturm, Zwentendorf - Kastell, Mautern - Kastell Ostbereich and back through Zwentendorf - Kastell. 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 29 km this is Wachau Danube Road, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
Length
29 km
Named road
Wachau Danube Road
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Wien - Canabae Südwest
Vienna sits on top of an older city, and Vindobona was it. In the first century AD, the Romans built a legionary fortress here, on a bluff above the Danube, to guard the northern frontier of the empire. A civilian settlement, the canabae, grew up beside it, with taverns, workshops and homes for the families of soldiers, and the area to the southwest of the fortress was part of that sprawl. Today the streets of the inner city still follow the lines of the Roman camp, and fragments of walls and baths lie beneath cellars and basements.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Wien - Canabae Südwest is where the day begins. Next is Zeiselmauer - Kastell Hufeisenturm.
2. 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Zeiselmauer - Kastell Hufeisenturm comes up about 28 km into the recorded legs. Next is Zwentendorf - Kastell.
3. Zwentendorf - Kastell
The Danube flows broad and brown past Zwentendorf, a quiet village on the Tullnerfeld plain west of Vienna, and for once the most famous building in the area is not the oldest one. Zwentendorf is where Austria built a nuclear power station in the 1970s and then, after a national referendum in 1978, decided never to switch it on. The plant still stands by the river, complete and unused, now a training site and a curiosity.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 54 km into the recorded legs you reach Zwentendorf - Kastell. Next is Mautern - Kastell Ostbereich.
4. 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
Wien - Canabae Südwest closes the day.
Leg by leg
Wien - Canabae Südwest to Zeiselmauer - Kastell Hufeisenturm
Wien - Canabae Südwest → Zeiselmauer - Kastell Hufeisenturm is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Zeiselmauer - Kastell Hufeisenturm to Zwentendorf - Kastell
Zeiselmauer - Kastell Hufeisenturm → Zwentendorf - Kastell is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Zwentendorf - Kastell to Mautern - Kastell Ostbereich
Zwentendorf - Kastell → Mautern - Kastell Ostbereich is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mautern - Kastell Ostbereich to back through Zwentendorf - Kastell
Mautern - Kastell Ostbereich → back through Zwentendorf - Kastell is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Zwentendorf - Kastell to back through Zeiselmauer - Kastell Hufeisenturm
back through Zwentendorf - Kastell → back through Zeiselmauer - Kastell Hufeisenturm is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Zeiselmauer - Kastell Hufeisenturm to Wien - Canabae Südwest
back through Zeiselmauer - Kastell Hufeisenturm → Wien - Canabae Südwest is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.