Ybbs - Kleinkastell and Mautern - Kastell Ostbereich

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Ybbs - Kleinkastell

   Ybbs an der Donau and Persenbeug face each other across the Danube in Lower Austria, connected by a hydroelectric dam that was one of the first built on the Austrian Danube after the war. Persenbeug is dominated by its castle, perched on a rock above the river, which belonged to the Habsburgs and was the birthplace of Emperor Charles I, the last emperor of Austria-Hungary. On the Ybbs side, the remains of a small Roman fort have been found, part of the Danube frontier of the Roman Empire.

   Read the complete Ybbs - Kleinkastell write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Ybbs - Kleinkastell is where the day begins. Next is Blashausgraben - Wachtturm.

2. 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 30 km into the recorded legs. Next is St. Lorenz - Wachtturm, 25 km on.

3. 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 46 km into the recorded legs you reach St. Lorenz - Wachtturm. Next is Traismauer - Kastell südwestlicher Fächert.

4. 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. 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 99 km, about halfway. Next is back through Traismauer - Kastell südwestlicher Fächert.

6. 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 102 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through St. Lorenz - Wachtturm, 25 km on.

7. 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 126 km into the recorded legs you reach back through St. Lorenz - Wachtturm. Next is back through Blashausgraben - Wachtturm.

8. 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 Ybbs - Kleinkastell.

9. 9. Ybbs - Kleinkastell

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Ybbs - Kleinkastell 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 176 km.