Waldviertel Cycle Path

From the river up into the highland. Krems at the gateway to the Wachau, whose old town with Stein is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a classic start. From the Danube valley the path climbs onto the Gföhl plateau and dips into the Kamp valley, where the Renaissance castle of Rosenburg stands high above the river. Over gentle fields and woods the stage reaches the district town of Horn in the Horn basin. A climb-heavy opening that quickly trades the Danube climate for the cooler air of the Waldviertel.

Ascent

720 m

Descent

600 m

Duration

approx. 4-5 h

Surface

mostly asphalt

Through the headwater country of the Thaya. Over the rolling heights of the eastern Waldviertel the path runs to Raabs an der Thaya, where the German and the Moravian Thaya unite to form the Thaya. Above the confluence stands the mighty Burg Raabs - the medieval county of Raabs even gave the Czech language its name for Austria. A quiet stage through thinly settled borderland.

Ascent

470 m

Descent

370 m

Duration

approx. 3 h

Surface

mostly asphalt

Into the far north of Austria. The path runs through silent forests and over open heights into the northernmost tip of the country to Litschau, the northernmost town in Austria. This stage holds the only notable unpaved stretch of the tour - around two kilometres of forest and meadow track. The old border town with its Hungerturm sits by the Herrensee lake and has been a climatic spa resort since 2007. Here the true land of bogs and ponds begins - cool, wide and Nordic.

Ascent

640 m

Descent

520 m

Duration

approx. 4 h

Surface

asphalt, one short unpaved section

The stage of bogs, ponds and granite blocks. Through pond-rich country the path reaches Heidenreichstein with its moated castle, one of the best-preserved water castles in Austria, and Schrems on the edge of the Schrems raised bog, where bog pines and sphagnum moss create an almost Scandinavian mood. The goal is Gmünd, the border town on the Lainsitz separated from its Czech twin České Velenice, with its sgraffito houses. On the edge of town lies the Blockheide nature park with its balancing stones: granite blocks of the Bohemian Massif weighing many tonnes and some 500 million years old.

Ascent

640 m

Descent

640 m

Duration

approx. 4-5 h

Surface

mostly asphalt

By way of the old brewing town into the granite country. The path soon reaches Weitra, the little town founded by the Kuenringer around 1201, with sgraffito facades, a Renaissance castle and civic brewing rights dating from 1321. Beyond it the route climbs into the wooded heights of the western Waldviertel, gaining height steadily to the climatic spa resort of Bad Großpertholz. Short but uphill - the prelude to the highest part of the route.

Ascent

500 m

Descent

330 m

Duration

approx. 3 h

Surface

mostly asphalt

The loneliest stage, high through the Weinsberg Forest. The path crosses the highest and most thinly settled part of the Waldviertel and stays long above 800 metres - all around nothing but granite domes, dark spruce forests and wide silence. On good, paved upland roads the route finally rolls down to the climatic spa resort of Bad Traunstein on the southern edge of the highland. A demanding but magnificently quiet upland stage.

Ascent

620 m

Descent

720 m

Duration

approx. 5 h

Surface

mostly asphalt

Over the roof of the tour and down to the Danube. Beyond Bad Traunstein the path climbs once more by way of Martinsberg and crosses the Ostrong, where at around 920 metres it reaches the high point of the whole route. Then the long descent through the southern Waldviertel begins. High above the Danube stands Maria Taferl, whose baroque pilgrimage basilica is among the most important Marian pilgrimage sites in Lower Austria and offers a wide view over the Nibelungengau and as far as the Alps. Steeply down, the loop ends at Klein Pöchlarn on the bank of the Danube - with the finest viewpoint saved for just before the finish.

Ascent

431 m

Descent

822 m

Duration

approx. 3-4 h

Surface

mostly asphalt