Austria Bike Tour - Braunau to Krems
Biking along the Danube page 4 of 5
- Passau and the St. Stephen Dom
- The Abbey at Melk
- The Danube
Welcome to page 4 of our Austrian Bike Tour. This part
will cover the section from Braunau to Krems. We took a train from Salzburg to
Braunau and then biked along the Inn River to Passau,
Germany. Along the way we stayed in Passau, Aschach,
Melk, Krems and Klosterneuburg.
In Passau we visited the Dom and saw the largest Pipe
Organ in the World. We then biked along the Danube
to and saw the sobering prison camp at Mauthausen.
We trained to Melk and the next morning we visited
the beautiful Abbey at Melk. Then on to the walled
historic towns of Durnstein and Krems to Klosterneuburg.
In Obernberg we stopped for coffee and Apfel Strudal and had the best of the entire trip in this restaurant.
In Austria towns are proud of their support and amenities they provide for the cycling public. In Obernberg the bike rack proudly states that this is a "Bicycle Friendly City".
Riding along a country lane somewhere between Brannau and Passau
Passau was the only German town we "biked" into located at the joining of the Inn, Ilz and Danube Rivers
Crossing the Inn River to the Altstadt with the Dom St. Stephen ahead.
The Dom St. Stephen in Passau was a tremendously beautiful baroque church that contains the world's largest pipe organ
The pipe organ was built in 1924 and contains over 17,388 pipes and 231 stops. The daily pipe organ concert was one of the highlights of the trip
In Passau, Germany the winding streets and narrow passageways were great.
After the noontime organ concert in the Dom we had a wonderful Italian lunch on the old plaza behind the Dom.
In Passau the bike trail down to the Danau River went down this narrow steep walkway. Notice the left side of the street is stairs while the right side is ramped for bikes.
We took a ferry boat at Au which carries bicycles from one side of the Danube to continue along the DanauRadweg on the south side of the river
After unloading bikes from the ferry boat we continue on the path along the Danube
The path along the Danube which did look a little blue when it reflected a blue sky
It was a grey and drizzly day when we visited the Mauthausen concentration camp. While it is barren and sterile now, one could sense the horror for the 200,000 that parished here.
In Melk we stayed at another youth hostel, the next
morning we visited the Abbey of Melk
At the entrance to the Abbey they provided a "bikeport" for traveling cyclists. There were about 50 racks with lockers for panniers and gear all under cover while you visited the Abbey.
The entrance to the Melk Abbey
From the Abbey you get a great view of the town of Melk.
The Abbey had many painted ceilings like this
The spectacular baroque church in the abbey was unbelievable and this picture does not do it justice
Time for a little rest after a mind numbing tour of the beautiful Abbey.
The town square was a real medieval treasure where we stopped twice to eat in one of the street cafes
Melk is a historic and quaint town with an altstadt lined with restaurants and coffee shops. The beautiful Melk Abbey sits on the hill above the town.
Bonnie and Greg at lunch in Melk Altstadt
The Melk Abbey as seen from the Danube (Donau) River.
In Krems we were seated in a restaurant with two friendly German Damen who were biking along the Danube from
Germany to Vienna. We had a long dinner conversation as we spoke only a little German and they spoke only a little English.
We passed by and met Inge and Ingeborg a couple more times along our ride to Vienna.
The next day riding along the Danube we stopped for coffee and kuchen
at a great outdoor restaurant along the bike trail and we bumped into Inge and Ingeborg
again. We also met two couples from Holland doing the same route and they spoke very good english.
Later we met them in Vienna just before we caught the train back to Munich.
Ed, Greg and Bob wait out a rain shower in the town of Durnstein where Richard the Lionhearted was
imprisoned on his way back from the Crusades in the 10th Century. Parts of the castle ruins can be seen in the top right corner.
MORE photos of Austria Bike Tour - VIENNA
Links to other sites
Go to the next page - Vienna
Back to beginning of Austria Tour - Krimml
Back to Home
Link to our 2000 Switzerland Bike Tour Web Site
Email: bob.parry@juno.com
