Biking Along the Danube in the Wachau Valley

Thinking that about this time we would need a break from the busy sites of palaces and churches in the city, I booked a biking tour which would take us outside the city of Vienna.  We joined the Grape Escape--Wachau Valley Wine Tasting Bike Tour.  

We began our day trip by meeting our guide at the Spittelau Station in Vienna. We then climbed aboard the train to Krems and arrived in the Wachau Valley, famous for its rolling hills, vineyards, fortresses and wineries, which produce high-quality wines...which we will sample!

 At this point we walked a short distance to where the bikes are stored and we all got fitted with a bike and helmet.

When everyone was ready, we jumped on our bikes and rode through historic, charming cobblestone villages, stopping at local wineries to sample the wines.

We stopped at our first winery for a sampling of the wines.  

 We all agreed they were very good!

Then it was back on the bikes and on to the next village, stopping in the vineyards for a few photos.

We then continued riding our bikes to the UNESCO-listed village of Durnstein where we enjoyed lunch.

I think we had goulash.....Austrian-style most likely!  It was very good.

After lunch we had time to explore a little on our own.  Several of us climbed up the hill to the ruins of Kuenringer Castle, where King Richard the Lionheart was imprisoned in 1192.

The view of the Danube and the Wachau Valley was beautiful.

When we got back down the hill, we met up with our guide who arranged for us to sample the local liqueur, apricot brandy, called "Drunken Apricot".

 It was quite tasty!

Then off we went again riding alongside the Danube River and through more vineyards to our next winery stop....

We spent quite a bit of time here sampling several wines and enjoying the view on the outside terrace overlooking the town and river.

When it was time to leave, we rode our bikes down to the river and crossed the Danube by ferry to head back to the train station.

Some teenagers entertained us as we pulled away from the dock by doing flips into the river.

 Unloading the bikes after crossing the river.

And away we went, heading back toward the town of Krems.

 We stopped at a beach along the way...

 It was directly across the river from the town where we had lunch and climbed up to the castle ruins.

A few in our group went for a quick swim in the river; we opted to just dip our feet in the Danube.

Then it was back on the bikes and to the train station and back to Vienna and our hotel.  We rode the bikes about 16 miles over the course of the day.  This day was a lot of fun and definitely one of the highlights of our trip.

To continue reading, scroll back up toward the top of this page and click in the right-hand column the entry entitled:  "We board the ship Adagio in Vienna".