Tour # 7: Along the Blue Danube: Linz – Vienna
9 days, 9 nights
Itinerary:
Day 1: Arrival in St. Florian near Linz, during the evening meet with the other guests and the postillions. Overnight Gasthaus "Kanne". Dinner on your own expense.
Day 2: 09.00 am departure of the mail-coaches from the market square near the hotel, ride through quiet country lanes to Enns, the oldest city in Austria. After a bit of busy drive through the city roads and suburbs we turn off to the tow path and ride along the banks of the Danube River, no traffic at all any more for hours. Left hand the barges and cruisers are steaming up and down the river, at right side dense forests stretch along the dam. Late noon we arrive at a hidden cottage surrounded by small ponds: a fisher-man’s hut, where we will enjoy the catch of the day. Continuing through small fields and orchards (we are now in the "cider" area of Austria) we cross the Danube by a bridge and arrive in the town of Grein, formerly a famous town of shipmasters and raftsmen. A shipping museum shows how the live at and along the river has been a hundred years ago, when just here the Danube had the most dangerous whirlpools, caused by a large number of underwater rocks, having made the shipping very dangerous, if not impossible.
Day 3: 10.00 am departure from the hotel, back to the southern banks of the Danube and along the tow paths viewing the ruins of old castles, having once controlled the traffic on the river. In Ybbs we cross the Danube on a bridge to the northern banks, have a lunch break in a small village directly at the banks and continue steep uphill to the pilgrimage place of Maria Taferl: A good hotel (Hotel "Krone" 4*) from where you can watch the river far down.
Day 4: 11.00 am leaving Maria Taferl, driving downhill to the banks again; an exciting embarkation of the whole hitch onto a small ferry boat brings us to the southern banks again, where we follow again the tow-path. A picnic, while watching the ships on the river, waving to the men onboard the barges of so many nations: Ukraina, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Rumania, Hungary, Germany, Netherlands, Austria....Early afternoon we will arrive at Melk, famous for ist huge monastery above the little town. There will be an opportunity to see the library andd the baroque church. Hotel "Post" will host us for this night.
Day 5: Around 10.00 am departure from Melk, and we will enter the narrow Wachau Valley, where on both sides of the Danube the famous wine of the Wachau is grown. A lunch in a nice country inn, if ever possible outside in the beer garden underneath the chestnut trees. Later we continue along the banks, through small wine villages, tempting the passengers for a wine tasting. We arrive again at a ferry station where we embark. This time we use a rope ferry, a boat tied by a cable to a heavy rope fixed on both banks high across the river; the ferry has no engine, it is just driven by the current of the river, so the crossing of the Danube is very quiet. Early afternoon we clip-clop into the medieval town of Dürnstein, where Prince Lionheart on his return from a cruisade was hostaged and taken into prison to blackmail to get ransom from Great Britain (which was actually paid some 16 month later...). The excellent hotel "Prinz Löwenherz" close to the steam boat jetty is our night station. Shopping and walking is on the program for the afternoon and the next morning.
Day 6: 11.00 am departure from Dürnstein to the city of Krems and high above the busy town we will visit a "Heurigen", one of the typical vintner’s inns, where they sell their own wine and a substantial "Brettljaus‘n" (snack) from their own farm. Continuing through the hilly vinyards we will arrive at the castle of Grafenegg, the Neuschwanstein of Austria; here we spend the night in the "Schloss-Hotel". A visit of the castle is scheduled for the next morning.
Day 7: About 11.00 am we leave Grafenegg and ride through little farm villages, have a snack in a small inn along the road and after the (last!) crossing of the Danube by bridge we arrive in the town of Tulln, famous for the place of birth of the painter Egon Schiele. The hotel "Roßmühle" directly located at the busy maket square is our accomodation. Again opportunity to shop or to visit the Schiele-museum.
Day 8: Next morning around 11.00 am we leave Tulln and head for the Wiener Wald. On top of one of the highest hills is the hotel "Tulbinger Kogel" with an extra-ordinary view of the hills and a famous cuisine.
Day 9: Through the beech forests of the Wiener Wald down into the Danube valley again; lunch stop in Klosterneuburg, again a huge monastery with a dome, the richest monastery in Austria. Driving into Vienna on more or less busy roads and streets. A 4* hotel "Ambassador" in the very center of Vienna is our destination.
Day 10: After breakfast guests will make the continuation due to their own plans.
Included:
Not included:
Further departures on request for a minimum of 8 passengers