Durnstein cycling tour through Wachau Valley on Heart of the Danube Cruise
We will be cruising the Danube in Aug. 2025. On day 4 there is the option of a round trip bike excursion from Durnstein through the Wachau Valley. They told us it is about 3 hours, but we can't get any info on total distance or the difficulty - is it mainly along the river (flat) or are there many hills involved? Is it a very scenic trip?
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Google the details of the excursion and select the timetravelturtle article. The paths along the Danube are mostly flat. Also, there are 3 youtube videos of cycling the Wachau Valley.
We did not do the ride on the Blue Danube tour and I am assuming you are doing the Heart of the Danube tour. We did tour Durstein and did the hike up to the castle ruins which is a moderate workout and offers great views of the valley.. Reports from others on our tour is that the Durnstein ride was flat and not that difficult. It was not as good as the longer ride at Engelhartszell. Our TD favorite ride was the one at Bratislava.
We did it as part of a different Danube cruise and our ride was only about 2 hours long. While riding along the river it was pretty easy. The challenge came when we detoured up to a small village and rested with a cold drink. If you think you want to do the excursion, sign up for it now. Then once on board talk to the TD about what's involved. It's easier to back out of a bike ride that add it once on board when they've already given the head count to the company they rent the bikes from.
I did the long 26 mi. ride from Englehartzell to Aschach . My wife did the much shorter one from Durnstein to Weisenkirken and back. Bike paths are generally flat asphalt and run right along the river. I hadn't biked in some years and was in my late 60's so trained for a few months before hand. Frankly the scenery wasn't that great- steep hillsides of pine forrest and one castle type place on a hill.. On the long trip there were the jack rabbits in the lead, me in the middle, and the slow pokes and one TD in the last group. Neither are strenuous unless you are really out of shape or try to keep up with the jackrabbits.