During this segment, we benefited from Austria’s top notch cycling paths and signage – comparable to those in France. We encountered on a daily basis a much larger volume of cyclists of all types and caliber who were enjoying some easy cycling along the Danube. We realized cyclists were not the only ones enjoying the splendid views along the river, but also plenty of kayakers and river cruise ship passengers were savoring the scenery. We are planning to rest for a few days in Vienna before bidding sadly farewell to Austria in another 65kms or so.

2022.07.03 – Haibach ob der Donau ==> Linz (52 kms | Total: 3129 kms)

In the morning, as we were enjoying our guest house’s breakfast, we could not stop sympathizing with the handful of cyclists that opted yesterday to setup their tents at the guest house’s campground. As we departed the guest house, the cyclist-campers were eagerly trying to dry their tents from the heavy morning dew. The cycling along the Danube continued to offer some of the best scenery we had seen to-date while we were riding on smooth paved paths. Later on, we diverted from the cycling route signage some 12 kms before the town of Linz as we wanted to continue cycling along the Danube. Unfortunately, we discovered that the convenient cycling path along the Danube had disappeared and hence we had to cycle on a narrow road shoulder with fast moving vehicles. We checked into our hotel shortly after 12:30pm. Although it was Sunday, we managed to find an open grocery store at the nearby train station for our snacks and beverages. We later returned to the train station for our dinner at one of its restaurants.

2022.07.04 – Linz ==> Linz (0 kms | Total: 3129 kms)

After the morning rain stopped at 8:30am, I visited the McDonald’s at the train station to pick up some breakfast sandwiches and coffee. As much as the train station and restaurants were very quiet yesterday, this morning was quite different. After our in-room breakfast, we left our hotel for some sightseeing in the town center. We returned to our hotel in the early afternoon after dropping by a grocery store along the way (12,000+ steps). Late afternoon we enjoyed, once again, our hotel complimentary Welcome drink in the lounge area. We went to a Thai restaurant for our dinner.

2022.07.05 – Linz ==> Ardagger (62 kms | Total: 3191 kms)

As we expected to cycle under the rain today, we wore our rain shoe covers. Fortunately for us, we left our hotel under dry condition. For 20kms after leaving Linz, the bicycle path was quite busy with cyclists of all types. We also noticed a considerably number of kayakers going down the Danube. At an intersection along the way, we opted to cycle on the south side of the Danube where much fewer cyclist followed this route as it went further inland. Near the town of Enns, we reached unexpectedly the end of the road. We had to wait 15 mins. for a ferry boat to bring us across one of the tributary rivers of the Danube. Since we opted to stick with the southern version of EV Route 6, we estimated having cycled 5 kms more than expected – across farm land rather than along the Danube. We had our third flat tire of the trip only 5 kms before our hotel. We arrived at our hotel at 1:30pm without encountering any rain along the way. Unfortunately, we were told that our room was still not ready, so we took some drinks at the hotel’s restaurant. The hotel appeared like it was hosting a large gathering given the extra long tables of patrons at the restaurant. Later, as we were cozy in our room, we enjoyed seeing some heavy rain fall for 30 mins. Given the distance to the town’s center, we opted to have our dinner at the hotel’s restaurant. The views from our room balcony of both the Danube and many river cruise ships, were quite enjoyable.

2022.07.06 – Ardagger ==> Melk (54 kms | Total: 3244 kms)

It was easy to rejoin our bicycle path after breakfast as it passed just in front of our hotel. Again we saw several dozen kayakers paddling down the Danube. The bicycle path was also quite busy with cyclists of all types. The cycling was more enjoyable than yesterday as we cycled along the Danube for most of our journey. Thinking about it – the strong tail wind made us almost glide on the cycling paths as we reached, at times, speed above 24 km/h. We encountered some light rain on our last 5kms to the hotel. The town of Melk appeared to attract many tourists as we saw three river cruise ships docked in town. The main attraction was naturally the famous Melk Abbey – an Austrian Benedictine abbey, and one of the world’s most famous monastic sites. Although the abbey was founded in 1089, today’s impressive architecture was built between 1702 and 1736. Upon arriving at our accommodation, we were confronted to a locked door. Thankfully we were able to call our host and gain access to our room. Later, I walked over to the local grocery store under rain falls. In the evening, we visited the town center and stopped at a Chinese restaurant for our dinner.

2022.07.07 – Melk ==> Krems an der Donau (44 kms | Total: 3289 kms)

We both had a deep night sleep with the fresh air (almost autumn air) coming from our room’s open windows. We shared breakfast at our pension/accommodation with 5 other cyclist couples. Cycling was again very pleasant along the Danube and sometimes through orchards and vineyards. The cloudy sky, mid 20C temperature and mostly flat paths contributed to today’s enjoyable riding. We checked into our hotel by 12:15pm. We encountered some light rain as we walked over to a nearby grocery store. We opted for another Chinese restaurant for our dinner.

2022.07.08 – Krems an der Donau ==> Tulln (42 kms | Total: 3330 kms)

At breakfast, we met two female cyclists that we first encountered at the guest house in Haibach ob der Donau. We met them again while leaving the town of Linz and next day we saw them at a restaurant in Melk. When we left our hotel, we were surprised by the cool temperature of 16C and the cloudy sky. Although the cycling was easy, the scenery was not overly captivating. Upon arriving in the town of Tulln, we enjoyed the riverfront gardens, water fountain and general landscaping. We struggled a bit to gain access to our hotel room as we were advised in a Booking.com message that we had to check-in and pick up our room keys at a different hotel nearby. Later we visited a grocery store and bought items for our in-room evening meal.

2022.07.09 – Tulln ==> Vienna (36 kms | Total: 3366 kms)
This morning we had to return to yesterday’s hotel where we picked up our keys for our breakfast. The cycling was once again easy aided by a tailwind. As we approached Vienna (Wiens), we were amazed by the network of cycling paths across the city. Although we ended up cycling through the town center to get to our hotel, we easily managed to follow well signed cycling paths up to our destination. At the time of our hotel check-in, we discovered that the hotel did not provide bicycle storage onsite, but rather referred cyclists to a paid bicycle parking. I had much difficulty finding the bicycle parking due to the hotel receptionist provided me the poor directions. Later, we visited a nearby grocery store for some snacks and drinks. In the evening, we made the poor decision of visiting an Italian fast-food which was rather expensive and offered very disappointing quality and quantity.