Danube Cycle Path from Passau to Bratislava

7
RIGHT BANK
KLOSTERNEUBURG TO PETRONELL
// TÊTE-À-TÊTE OF CULTURE AND NATURE
Make sure to take time for a tour of Klosterneuburg
Abbey, which was founded in the 12 th c. At
least take a look at its treasury, which holds the altar
of Verdun from 1181 and is definitely worth seeing,
or visit the four-story cellars of the abbey, which is
Austria’s oldest winemaker. Vienna is only a stone’s
throw away from the abbey.
If you choose not to circumvent Vienna via the
Nordbrücke (bridge), you soon reach the so-called
»Danube Canal« on the south bank, which takes you
straight into the center of the city. After freshening
up in a bicycle-friendly hotel of your choice (q.v.
www.wien.info), you are free to explore this grand
city. You can visit a vast variety of attractions such as
Schönbrunn with its palace, zoo, palace grounds
and Gloriette, Vienna’s historical center with St.
Stephen’s Cathedral, the Hofburg (the imperial
apartments, Sisi museum, treasury, Spanish Riding
School), the Art History Museum, the graphic
collection Albertina and the MuseumsQuartier.
Other great sights awaiting you are Belvedere
Palace, the Prater with its Giant Ferris Wheel,
Jugendstil, cafés and heurige…
If you leave the city along the north bank, you reach
Lobau – a part of the Danube Wetlands National
Park (Information on the route diversion on
Page 131). These wetlands form a unique natural
habitat for beavers, kingfishers and even gray sea
eagles and extend to the Austrian-Slovak border. It is
one of the biggest intact areas of wetlands in Central
Europe. You can find out details at Orth Castle,
which is just beyond Schönau. The schloss-
ORTH National Park-Centre is housed in this
pretty castle (field trips, boat tours, local museum).
The castle island has an interactive wetlands exhibition
complete with underwater observation station.
After a ferry ride over the Danube you arrive in
Petronell-Carnuntum. Before reaching this
town, you pass Austria’s largest Roman landmark,
the »Heidentor« (»Heathen’s Gate«), the ruin of a
4th c triumphal monument. The Roman city of
Carnuntum is well worth a visit with its authentic
reconstruction of part of a Roman city.
Cycle in the Roman lands of Carnuntum-Marchfeld © Steve Haider
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