Heart of Europe Bicycle Tours
Romantic Danube
Itinerary
Saturday
, USA/MUNICHDeparture for Europe via scheduled international carrier to Munich, Germany.
Sunday
, MUNICH/SALZBURGEarly morning arrival in Munich, the vibrant capital of Bavaria. After loading our fully equipped motor coach, we will travel to Salzburg, Austria, the city of Mozart and the Sound of Music. The afternoon is free for relaxing or strolling on the fashionable Getreidegasse and other l7th century streets. Enjoy the Mirabel Palace and Gardens, St. Peters and the Residence Square before dinner at the hotel. Tonight you may attend a concert at Hohensalzburg, the fortress with its magnificent view of the city.
Monday
, SALZBURG/SCHAERDING(42 miles cycling)
After we assemble our bicycles, the bus will take us to Burghausen. After visiting this medieval town which overlooks the Salzach River, we bike to Braunau, a border town with a picturesque old quarter and quaint gabled houses. Following a newly established bike trail, our journey takes us along the river Inn through forests and pastures to Schaerding. We will have time to experience this baroque jewel before settling into the charming Hotel Forstinger, a member of Romantik Hotels & Restaurants.
Tuesday
, SCHAERDING/SCHLOEGEN(35 miles cycling)
Biking all day we cross back and forth into Germany staying along the Inn River at first and then along the Danube. This morning we will have an opportunity to visit the historic city of Passau, located on a peninsula at the confluence of the Inn and Danube Rivers. Pushing our bikes through narrow streets, we check out the shops and stop for Weisswurst und Sauerkraut, the favorite Bavarian lunch dish. We visit the cathedral with the world's largest church organ and may have an opportunity to hear a short concert. From Passau we continue biking through Engelhartszell, site of Austria's only Trappist monastery, and on to Schloegen, named for the "S" turn the Danube makes at this point.
Wednesday
, SCHLOEGEN/FREISTADT(36 miles cycling)
This morning we enter the Muehlviertel region, a hilly, romantic and largely undiscovered area of Upper Austria. At Haslach we bike on a fabulous ride to Freistadt - past castles and monasteries, meadows and deep forests. WE also have the opportunity to bike a short distance into the Czech Republic. Freistadt is an old trading post along the historic salt trail from Austria into Bohemia and we can see the medieval city fortification complete with moat, gate towers and a baroque city square.
Thursday
, FREISTADT/GREIN(42 to 50 miles cycling)
Leaving Freistadt we ride through fertile farmlands to Kefermarkt with its beautiful wood-carved altar dating from the l5th century. We continue biking downhill to Mauthausen which was a toll station at the Danube during medieval times. Option to visit Enns, one of the oldest cities of all of Austria. We bike through the Machland past the Baumgartenberg Cloister to Klam with one of the best preserved mountain fortresses in Austria. Today's destination is Grein, a charming village with a castle from the Renaissance and stately houses from a period of great wealth based on trade along the Danube River.
Friday
, GREIN/DUERNSTEIN(48 to 65 miles cycling)
Highlight of the tour. After a visit to the oldest continuously playing theater of Austria in Grein, we bike through some of the most picturesque landscapes of our trip. At Melk we visit the majestic Benedictine Abbey where we have a guided tour and short private organ concert. From here we bike through the Wachau, the Napa Valley of Austria, past Willendorf, a camp for mammoth hunters during the Ice Age, and on to Duernstein, a romantic town with wall, gates and towers. We visit the ruins of the former Kuenringer Castle where Richard the Lionheart was kept prisoner in ll93 (Legend of the singer Blondel). Optional side trip through the beautiful Yspertal gorge and to Maria Taferl overlooking the Danube Valley.
