We recently have returned from our River Danube cycling holiday, which we took in the first two weeks of July. The itinerary below corresponds to our 9 night cycling holiday. However, our 7-night trip does cover the same places, just over fewer days. Remember you will get luggage transfers each day from hotel to hotel, which means you don’t have to carry all your luggage with you, just your daily items. We flew from Edinburgh into Vienna airport, where we had an extra night before heading to Passau on the train the next day. The train took about 3 hours and we had taken the direct train from Vienna.
Personally, I am not a strong cyclist (I like hiking more), my ex on the other hand does Time Trial events. My eldest son turned 6 years old while we were away and my youngest is two years old. We had two adult bikes; my bike had the trailer attached for our youngest and my ex’s bike had the follow me attached for my eldest. Most days we cycled at roughly 8.5 mph average, and we still had plenty of time to look around places along the way.
River Danube Trip Report – Passau to Vienna
You can collect your bikes on your arrival day between a set time. If you don’t make it in time then you can go on the morning of day 2 to collect them. We collected our bikes on Day 1 of the tour and rode them back to the hotel.
Passau to Schlogen
Passau to SchlogenLeaving our hotel, we crossed over to the left side of the Danube (North bank) and cycled along the cycle path. These were great as it meant we weren’t cycling along busy roads with the boys. Along the way, we stopped at Erlau for ice cream and a quick toilet break (we also bought our lunch from a local supermarket too).
We reached the ferry crossing to head across to Engelhartszell. This ferry isn’t included in the tour price. However, all ferries along the Danube are reasonably priced. For this crossing, it cost us about 9 Euros which was for a return ticket. My youngest son was free. We found a shaded spot and ate our lunch before exploring the town. Engelhartszell is home to the only Trappist monastery in Austria; Engelszell. The monks work and sell various products from the monastery. After spending some time exploring we headed back across the Danube on the ferry.
We cycled some more before taking another ferry across to our overnight location in Schlogen. We had our evening meal in the hotel and after dinner, we hiked up to the viewpoint. My two year old made it most of the way up to the top. It is pretty steep to hike up, but the views are well worth it!
Hotel: Hotel Donauschlinge
Evening Meal: In the hotel
Schlogen to Linz
Today we started off on the right bank (Same side as the hotel) and headed off through the trees. Due to some forestry works, we had to take a ferry from Inzell to Grafenau. There was quite a big queue waiting for the boat (we cycled straight past them at first!). Once off the boat, we cycled on until we reached Obermühl, where we took another boat back over to the right bank. Lunch was in a lovely little town called Aschach. Luckily we got there before 12.30pm as many places seemed to close from 12.30 until 2 pm!
Setting off again we then headed to Ufer where we got the ferry across to Ottensheim. From here we took the train into Linz (included on the 9-night trip). Taking the train misses out cycling near to the busy road into Linz. From the Linz-Urfahr station, we then cycled off to find our hotel. For our evening meal, we took a taxi from the hotel into the main square so we could explore a bit more.
Hotel: Courtyard Marriott
Evening Meal: Promenadenhof
Linz to Enns
Making our way out of Linz we then joined the cycle path on the left bank of the River. We really enjoyed the cycling as even though it was busy with other cyclists, you could still cycle together and talk to each other. When we reached Adwington, we crossed to the right bank. We decided to take the detour to St Florian to see the Monastery. After our picnic lunch, my youngest was getting pretty tired. So, we decided to skip the guided tour and cycle to Enns. Luckily it was a good decision as he fell straight asleep in the trailer. If you are taking the detour to the monastery, then there is a hill to get up to it. However, from the pictures, we have seen on inside it is well worth the climb/walk-up. For our evening meal, we headed up to the main square. Which meant after our meal we could go explore a little too.
Hotel: Zum Romer
Evening Meal: Zum Goldenen Schiff
Enns to Grein
As we had cycled right near the River for the past few days, we decided to cycle on the right bank today. It was a great alternative as it was away from the Danube and through countryside/farmland. There were a couple of busy roads to cross, but these were crossed with ease. Nearing to Grein we crossed by the road bridge instead of taking the boat nearer to the town. Our hotel wasn’t located in Grein, so we had a little wait until our transfer time. This was ideal as we had time for ice cream and then cycled up to Greinburg Castle. We let the boys run about near to the castle and relaxed for a bit. Once we transferred up to the hotel we had our dinner in the hotel restaurant.
Hotel: Aumühle Hotel
Evening Meal: In the hotel
Grein to Melk
Most people cycled down in the morning to head off on their day’s cycle ride. However, we opted for a transfer (extra fee). Taking the ferry to the right bank we then set off towards Melk. For today’s lunch, we stopped in Ybbs. We found a lovely stretch with a bench to sit on and relax while we ate our lunch. Afterwards, we cycled onwards stopping again just outside of Melk for a drink and toilet break. Upon entering Melk, you are met by the stunning Melk abbey right above you. Our hotel was easy enough to find as it was in the town centre, we had a room with a view! We spent a few hours relaxing before dinner and then checking out Melk Abbey.
Hotel: Hotel zur Post
Evening Meal: In the hotel
Melk to Krems
From Melk we headed off on the right bank, we cycled along the cycle path near to a road. This then headed away from the river and we then hit a hill. Now, without a trailer, it is probably not that bad. However, as my husband cycled off up the hill it took some effort in the heat for me to get to the top. As my ex reminded me, what goes up must come down, which was a welcome relief. There were 3 ferry crossings along the way. One over to Spitz which looked like a lovely town to visit. One from St.Lorenz to Weißenkirchen, and lastly one over to Durnstein which is the one we took. We spent a few hours looking around before continuing on to Krems. Our hotel was near to the university campus and was pretty cool. The room was very modern and had a welcoming feel to it. The beds were also very comfy!
Hotel: Arte Hotel
Evening Meal: 2Stein
Krems Day
On the 9 night tour, this day is another cycling day with a boat trip back to Krems. However, we decided to take a day off the bikes and spend it exploring. A day off the bike was welcomed by all of us and we loved exploring Krems on foot.
Hotel: Arte Hotel
Evening Meal: Corleone Stein
Krems to Vienna
Leaving Krems we headed to the right bank so we could cycle to Tulln. We had bought our lunch from a local supermarket in Krems. Buying food from a local supermarket was such a great way to save money while away. Our lunches were never more than 8 euros in total! We stopped along the cycle path at Traismauer for a drink before cycling some more before lunch. Finally making it to Tulln about 2pm we were meant to take the train to a station just outside of Vienna to drop off the bikes and trailer/follow me. Unfortunately, we realised the station we needed was closed due to construction work. We quickly phoned the helpline and arranged to take the bikes to our hotel in Vienna. This unfortunately meant, we had to miss our sightseeing in Vienna. However, it didn’t spoil the trip we all still had a great time cycling along.
Hotel: Imperial Renaissance Vienna Hotel
Evening Meal: In the hotel
Conclusion
Our River Danube cycling holiday is one of our most popular trips. We have many couples and groups going on the trip, but only families with older children. As I have young children myself we wanted to see if this cycling holiday would be suitable for young children too. Which we think it does. With child-friendly bikes, trailers, follow mes and child seats, there is something for the whole family. As most of the route is along cycle paths it makes it family-friendly.
Video Of Our Danube Trip
So what are you waiting for? Book your own family adventure along the River Danube today! If you have any other questions then just get in touch and we would be happy to help.
