Danube Cycle Path — Wachau Segment
Melk to Krems along the Donau: baroque abbey, apricot orchards, and a Heuriger bench at dusk.
- Distance
- 36 km
- Elevation gain
- 180 m
- Est. duration
- 2.5–3 h
- Difficulty
- Easy
Melk → Krems an der Donau
Elevation profile
Stops along the route (3)
Marillenhof Angerer
Wachauer Marille — fresh, as nectar, or in a warm dumpling
- Cyclist-friendly4
- Secure bike parking3
- Quick service2
- +2
Heuriger Steinbügel
Grüner Veltliner from the jug, with Liptauer and Schweinsbraten
- Cyclist-friendly4
- Secure bike parking3
- Quick service2
- +2
Winzerzimmer Wachau
Six rooms above a Riesling cellar, 80 m from the Danube cycle path, with luggage transfer to Melk or Krems.
- Locked bike storage5
- E-bike charging2
- Early breakfast2
- +3
About this route
The Wachau is the stretch of the Danube where Austria stops being a country and becomes a still life. You leave Melk under the yellow bulk of the abbey, cross to the quieter left bank, and follow a path so flat it feels like cheating. The terraces above you are dry-stone, some of them a thousand years old, planted with Grüner Veltliner and Riesling that taste of the river stones they grow on. Between the vines: apricots. Thirty-odd kilometres of Marillen, made into jam, schnapps, dumplings and a nectar you will want to carry home. Time the ride so you arrive in Dürnstein late — the Heurigen open when the fir branch goes up over the door, and the last hour into Krems is best ridden slightly, contentedly wine-warm.