Danube bike path stage 3 south bank: Linz - Ardagger

The old town with the main square and Landstraße, the castle museum, the botanical garden, the music theater at Volksgarten, the Lentos Museum, the Ars Electronica Center, the Pöstlingberg adventure world – so much to visit in Linz... If leaving is hard for you, console yourself with the fact that this bike route stage offers an entertaining "cultural break" in Enns.

Before that, you still share the path with the northern branch of the Danube bike path until Steyregg. After crossing to the south bank via the Abwinden-Asten Danube power plant, two rewarding detours present themselves: one leads you to the worthwhile collegiate monastery of St. Florian with the famous Bruckner organ and the Altdorfer altar. The other (near Enghagen) to Enns:

The historically significant small town is one of Austria's oldest cities and can ideally be explored with a guided tour. The remains of the old city fortifications, the 60-meter-high town tower from the Reformation period (16th century), the Renaissance and Baroque houses on the town square enchant equally. And perhaps there’s still time for brief visits to the Roman museum and Ennsegg castle.

Soon after Enns you reach Lower Austria's Mostviertel, where cider taverns and cider-growers' inns repeatedly offer resting places. In Wallsee, another Roman museum illustrates how far back the history of this region goes. A turbulent history in which the Wallsee castle (private property), once inhabited by Habsburg Archduke Franz Salvator, also played a role. Up to the stage destination Ardagger, the Mostviertel shows itself from its most beautiful side away from the Danube.

Linz - Steyregg - Enns - St. Pantaleon - Wallsee - Ardagger

Route description

You start this route in Flussgasse in Linz, near the New Town Hall. You immediately find the Danube embankment, which leads you directly along the river and grants a view of the Linz Danube bend. The view of Pöstlingberg is not denied to you either.

Continuing on the Danube bike path past Steyregg, a name familiar to all castle enthusiasts. You now cross the Danube via the dam of the Abwinden-Asten Danube power plant and continue on the southern riverbank. The Danube bike path initially leads you through bright forests, and you cross two small waters. Shortly thereafter, you turn left and thus continue downstream. You pass through the small town of Enghagen and continue along the Danube bank. All culture lovers should make a short detour to Enns - Austria’s oldest city - because this is where Lauriacum was located. It was a legion base and a significant Roman town on the Austrian Danube Limes. It’s worth making a detour to St. Florian. The baroque monastery and Anton Bruckner’s organ are worth a visit. Due to the Enns river, which also forms the border between Upper and Lower Austria, you must use the bike ferry to cross this Danube side arm. On the other side, you are already in the Mostviertel region, and the ride continues through a forest along the Danube. The area blooms and smells strongly of wild garlic here.

Passing Albing, you move away from the Danube again and ride through St. Pantaleon. From this point, you continue on the well-signposted Mostviertel Danube bike path towards your destination. The cider route opens up the largest contiguous cider pear orchard area in Europe, the Mostviertel south of the Danube in Lower Austria. You pass numerous cider taverns, cider route inns, and farm "farm-gate" businesses offering locally produced cider. Ultimately, you reach Wallsee, where there is another castle to admire. You again move away from the Danube for a longer stretch and continue through the cider pear orchard area towards Ardagger. There, a visit to the eponymous monastery, over 950 years old, which was converted into a castle in 1813, is worthwhile.