Neusiedler See Easy Scenic

A 511 km loop

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Why this ride

Leave the city behind and spend the day on roads with texture. Out of Petronell-Carnuntum and back again: 511 km, roughly 9 h 27 in the saddle. The stops in between: Hustopeče, near Hodonice, near Wilhelmsburg and Perchtoldsdorf. near Sopron is the high point. It crosses Austria, Czechia and Hungary - carry ID and check vignette or toll rules.

Roadbook

1. Fuel stop in Petronell-Carnuntum fuel

   Marcus Aurelius is said to have written part of his Meditations at Carnuntum, while campaigning against the Germanic tribes across the Danube in the second century. The city was then the capital of the Roman province of Upper Pannonia, a sprawling legionary fortress and civilian town of tens of thousands of people on the frontier of the empire. Today, the village of Petronell-Carnuntum sits on part of the site, and the archaeological park has reconstructed a Roman quarter with houses, baths and streets, built using ancient techniques, a remarkable way to imagine life on the frontier.

   The most striking monument is the Heidentor, the heathens' gate, a massive ruined arch standing alone in the fields south of the village, built in the fourth century, possibly to commemorate a victory. It is a haunting sight, especially in the evening light. The amphitheatres and the museum in nearby Bad Deutsch-Altenburg complete the picture of a great Roman city.

   The landscape here is the Danube floodplain, protected as the Donau-Auen National Park, one of the last large wetland forests in central Europe, with side arms, gravel banks and dense riparian woods. The riding is flat and relaxed, with roads along the river and through the fields and villages. Traffic can be heavy on the main road towards Bratislava, and wind is common on the open plain.

   Fuel and food are most easily found in Hainburg an der Donau or Bruck an der Leitha. Hainburg has impressive medieval walls and gates and a castle ruin on the hill above the river. A visit to the Roman sites and a meal in a local Heuriger, a wine tavern, make a satisfying day. The Neusiedler See lies to the south.

2. Near Hustopeče, on the way back swim

   South Moravia is the warmest corner of the Czech Republic, and in summer the plains around Hustopeče shimmer in the heat, the vineyards and orchards dusty under a hard blue sky. The point lies near Šakvice, close to the Nové Mlýny reservoirs, a chain of three large artificial lakes on the Dyje river, and on the way back to Vienna it is a natural place to cool off in the water.

   Above the reservoirs rise the Pavlov Hills, or Pálava, a sudden limestone ridge with cliffs, ruined castles and steppe grassland, rich in rare plants and insects. At the foot of the hills, at Dolní Věstonice, archaeologists found the Venus of Věstonice, a small ceramic figure of a woman about thirty thousand years old, one of the oldest known ceramic objects in the world. To the south, Mikulov is a beautiful town with a castle on a rock, a Jewish quarter and a hill of chapels.

   Hustopeče itself is known for its almond orchards, a rarity this far north, and in spring the trees blossom pink and white on the hillsides, celebrated with a festival. The whole region is wine country, with cellars, sklepy, dug into the hillsides, where local winemakers serve their wines, and in late summer and early autumn, burčák, a partially fermented young wine, is sold everywhere.

   The reservoirs have beaches and campsites, and at Pasohlávky there is a large thermal water park. The water in the lakes is warm in summer, though algae blooms can occur in hot weather, so check the local water quality reports. The roads in the area are flat to gently rolling, with good surfaces and little traffic, passing through vineyards and villages. Hustopeče and Mikulov have fuel and services. Remember that the Czech blood alcohol limit is zero, so save the wine for the evening, or take a bottle home.

3. Food stop near Hodonice food

   Hodonice lies in the vineyards and fields just east of Znojmo, in the southernmost corner of Moravia, a few kilometres from the Austrian border. The village is small and quiet, with a church and rows of houses, but the surrounding landscape is one of the most famous wine regions of the Czech Republic. The Znojmo area produces crisp white wines, and the cellars in the villages are often open for tasting.

   Znojmo itself, a short ride away, is a lovely old town perched above the gorge of the Dyje river. Its castle complex includes a Romanesque rotunda with remarkable wall paintings, and beneath the town lies a labyrinth of medieval cellars and tunnels. Znojmo is also famous across the Czech Republic for its pickled gherkins, a speciality since the sixteenth century. To the west lies the Podyjí National Park, where the Dyje has carved a deep, wooded valley along the border, matched on the Austrian side by the Thayatal park.

   The riding around Hodonice is gentle and pleasant. Roads wind through vineyards and fields, with long views over the rolling countryside. The surfaces can be variable, and the villages often have narrow streets and sharp corners. Traffic is light, but be careful of tractors and cyclists, especially on weekends. The climate is warm and dry, and summer can be hot.

   Hodonice has limited services, so for fuel and supplies head to Znojmo, which has everything you need. A stop at a local wine cellar is a classic experience, but leave the tasting for when the riding is done. After this stop the ride crosses into Austria and heads towards the Neusiedler See, Central Europe's great steppe lake.

4. Photo stop near Wilhelmsburg photo

   Porcelain with a lily trademark was once found in almost every Austrian kitchen, and much of it came from Wilhelmsburg, a small industrial town in the Traisen valley south of St. Pölten. The Lilien porcelain works were famous for their simple, practical designs, and the town has a museum devoted to the history of ceramics. Today, Wilhelmsburg is a quiet place, with a church and old factory buildings, set in a valley of meadows and forests.

   The Traisen flows north from the Alps to the Danube, and its valley is a gateway to the mountains of the Mostviertel and the Pre-Alps. A short ride south lies Lilienfeld Abbey, the largest Cistercian monastery in Austria, with a magnificent church and cloister. Beyond it, the roads climb into the mountains towards Mariazell, the great pilgrimage town of Austria, through forests and over passes. To the north, St. Pölten, the capital of Lower Austria, has a baroque old centre and a modern government quarter.

   The riding here is excellent. The roads follow the valley and climb into the hills and mountains, with curves, gradients and views. The roads towards Mariazell and the Annaberg are classics, with tight bends and steep climbs. Traffic is moderate, but the roads can be busy on weekends, and the weather in the mountains can change quickly. Watch for gravel and for cyclists.

   Wilhelmsburg has fuel, shops and inns, making it a good stop. A Mostviertel speciality is pear cider, Most, and the local inns serve hearty Austrian dishes, such as Wiener Schnitzel and roast pork. The Neusiedler See lies to the east, beyond Vienna.

5. Perchtoldsdorf finish

   Perchtoldsdorf lies on the very edge of Vienna, where the city's southern suburbs meet the first hills of the Vienna Woods, and it has the relaxed atmosphere of a wine village rather than a suburb. The hills behind the town are covered in vineyards, and the old streets are lined with Heurigen, the traditional wine taverns where producers serve their own new wine with simple cold food. When a Heuriger is open, it hangs a bunch of pine branches over the door, a sign that has been used for centuries.

   The town's history has a darker side. Its massive defensive tower, the Wehrturm, rising next to the parish church, was built in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries to protect against Ottoman raids. In 1683, during the second Ottoman siege of Vienna, the people of Perchtoldsdorf were massacred after surrendering to Ottoman troops, an event still remembered in the town. In more peaceful times, the composer Hugo Wolf lived and worked here, and his house is now a small memorial.

   As a starting point for rides south and east, Perchtoldsdorf is excellent. It sits right at the start of the Thermenlinie, the line of wine villages and spa towns that runs south along the edge of the Vienna Woods towards Baden, and the roads through the vineyards and into the woods are pleasant, with gentle curves and views over the Vienna basin. Further afield, the rides head east to the Neusiedler See, a vast, shallow steppe lake on the Hungarian border, or west to the lakes and mountains of the Salzkammergut.

   There is fuel and food in Perchtoldsdorf and the neighbouring towns, and the coffee houses in the centre are a civilised place to start the day. Traffic in the Vienna area can be heavy, especially on weekday mornings, so it pays to leave early. At the end of a long ride, sitting in a Heuriger garden with a glass of local white wine, under the chestnut trees, watching the sun set over the vineyards, is a very Viennese way to finish.

6. Scenic stretch in Bad Sauerbrunn scenic

   Bad Sauerbrunn is named after its acidic mineral spring, which has been used for healing since the nineteenth century, and it remains one of the smaller spa towns of Austria. It lies in northern Burgenland, at the foot of the Rosalia hills, a wooded range that marks the border between Lower Austria and Burgenland. The town is quiet and green, with villas, parks and a spa centre, and it has an air of gentle relaxation.

   The Rosalia hills are a pleasant surprise in this region of plains and vineyards. Covered in forests of beech, oak and chestnut, they rise above the surrounding countryside, with views over the Vienna basin to the north and the plains of Hungary to the east. Forchtenstein Castle, the great fortress of the Esterházy family, stands on a spur of the hills, housing a treasure chamber and an armoury. In the Middle Ages, this border region was contested between Austria and Hungary, and Burgenland only became part of Austria in 1921.

   On the bike, things are a pleasure. The roads climb into the Rosalia hills, with curves, gradients and views, and wind through the vineyards and villages of the plain. Traffic is light on the minor roads, but the main roads towards Vienna and Wiener Neustadt can be busy. The weather is generally mild and sunny, with hot summers, and wind can be strong on the plain.

   Bad Sauerbrunn has a few shops and restaurants, and fuel is easily found in Mattersburg or Wiener Neustadt. A visit to Forchtenstein Castle and a meal in a local wine tavern make a satisfying day. The Neusiedler See lies to the east, with its reed beds and wide views.

7. High point near Sopron pass

   Sopron calls itself the most loyal town, Civitas Fidelissima, because in 1921, when the region was being handed from Hungary to Austria after the First World War, its people voted in a plebiscite to remain Hungarian. The town became a Hungarian peninsula reaching into Austria, and its medieval centre, with the Firewatch Tower rising above the old walls, is one of the best-preserved in the country. The tower offers sweeping views over the rooftops and the surrounding hills.

   Sopron has another claim to history. In August 1989, at a meadow near the border, a Pan-European Picnic was organised by opposition groups, and during the event a border gate was opened for a few hours. Hundreds of East Germans, holidaying in Hungary, rushed through to Austria, one of the first cracks in the Iron Curtain, a few months before the Berlin Wall fell. A memorial park marks the spot today.

   The high ground around Sopron is the Lővér hills, the foothills of the Alps, covered in forests of oak, beech and chestnut, with walking trails, lookout towers and villas. To the east, the land drops to the Fertő, the Hungarian part of the Neusiedler See, with reed beds and vineyards. The riding is varied, with winding roads through the hills and flat roads across the plain. Traffic can be heavy at the border crossings, and the roads in Hungary may have different speed limits and rules.

   Sopron has plenty of fuel stations, shops and restaurants, and fuel is often cheaper than in Austria. Hungarian motorways require an electronic vignette, so plan accordingly. A meal of Hungarian dishes, such as goulash or paprika chicken, with a glass of local Kékfrankos later, rounds off the day.

8. Back to Neusiedler See finish

   Despite the label, you are not on the lake. This point lies on the right bank of the Danube, about thirty kilometres east of Vienna, in Petronell-Carnuntum, and the lake is a good half hour's ride further south. What you have instead is something that most riders miss: the ruins of Carnuntum, once the capital of the Roman province of Upper Pannonia and a military base of the Danube frontier. In its time it held a legionary fortress, an amphitheatre and a city of tens of thousands, and several emperors passed through. Marcus Aurelius is said to have written part of his Meditations while on campaign here.

   Most of what was built has been quarried away over the centuries, but a few pieces stand. The Heidentor, the pagan gate, is a freestanding arch of massive stone rising out of the fields, and it has become the symbol of the place. There is a reconstructed Roman quarter, with villas rebuilt using ancient techniques, and an archaeological park where excavations still go on every season. The flat farmland between Petronell and Bad Deutsch-Altenburg is rich in finds, and farmers plough up pottery fragments.

   North of the villages lies the Donau-Auen National Park, one of the last intact stretches of floodplain forest in Central Europe. Poplars, willows and oaks stand in the wet ground, with white-tailed eagles overhead and beavers working the backwaters. A stop on the dyke path, with the broad grey river sliding past, shows why the Romans put their frontier here. The Danube cycle route runs right along it, so expect families on bikes.

   For the rider, this is a quiet, flat, easy ending to a day on the road. The back roads through Rohrau, birthplace of Joseph Haydn, and the smaller villages are straight and lightly trafficked, with wide fields, wind turbines on the horizon, and a steady breeze that can push you sideways on exposed stretches. The Bundesstrasse into Vienna is faster but busier.

   Petronell is small and has limited services, so go for fuel and a proper meal in Hainburg an der Donau, a town of about six and a half thousand with a medieval gate and wall, a few kilometres east. After a long day, a glass of Zweigelt and a plate of Wiener schnitzel at a village inn do the job, and you will still be in Vienna before dark.

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