Biking the Danube: Mauthausen to Grein, Austria

In September, Matt and I, and five of our friends went on a river cruise/bicycle ride on the Danube River.  We departed from Passau, Germany, went all the way to Vienna, Austria, and came back – with lots of stops along the way.  Over the course of a week, we cycled around 250 km, and the boat took us the rest of the way.

Every evening, our guide would map out our cycling route for the following day, he gave us recommendations for places of interest and suggestions on where to eat and drink.   He also gave us the time that we had to be back on board – and after that, we were on our own.  It was a wonderful way to see the Austrian countryside.

Missed Part 1? Check out Passau to Linz here.

While we were sleeping, our boat had left Linz and and docked in Mauthausen.  When we woke for our second morning of cycling, it was pouring rain.

Our group of seven had decided to take an alternative route to Grein, by way of Klam Castle.  We were accompanied by Jan, our guide, and two other women from our boat.  Despite the heavy rain, it was a gorgeous ride through a rural area.  I so badly wanted to stop and soak in the landscape, but we were anxious to get to our destination, and I certainly didn’t want to take my camera out from under the protection of my raincoat.  We rode most of the way before stopping to eat lunch.  While we were inside eating spaetzle, the rain finally stopped.

After lunch we rode to Klam Castle for a private tour.

When we arrived in Grein, we immediately went on another castle tour.  Greinburg Castle was fascinating and beautiful and it was so cool to see the similarities between the two.

To be continued… Readers, this has turned into a five part series. I’ll be posting parts 3-5 in December.