Traveling

Saturday, 4 July 2026

Ybbstal Bike Trail - Part 1

Ybbstal Bike Trail

Friday, June 19th 2026

Friday after work we hit the road and drove to the small village of Ybbs an der Donau. We arrived in the late afternoon and once we found a good parking space our biking tour started. For our first cycling trip in 2026 we chose the Ybbstal Bike Trail in Lower Austria. The Ybbstal Bike Trail is a roughly 100 kilometres long, mostly asphalted cycling route that follows the river Ybbs from Ybbs an der Donau southward to Lunz am See. Luckily we only had about 30 kilometres to cover today, but since Austria was in the middle of a heat wave that was not as easy as expected.

Today's Tour

Ybbs an der Donau

The Start of the Bike Trail

Along the Bike Trail

The landscape along our route was rather flat and so we made good progress. After about two hours we made it to Amstetten, where we first had to find our hotel. We stayed at Hotel Exel and once we checked in, we were so happy to shower and then we headed out for dinner. To our surprise the hotel restaurant called Brothers offered some great vegetarian options and so we decided to eat here. We maded the right decisiosn, because the food was delicious and the staff was very friendly and welcoming. Claudia and I shared falafel as a starter and then we both hat the plant based shawarma. Afterwars we just strolled through the small city, got ice cream and stopped at a bar for drinks before calling it a day.

Hotel Exel

Our Room

Our Bathroom

Restaurant Brothers

Dinner

Amstetten

Ice Cream

Amstetten

Drinks

Thursday, 2 July 2026

Ybbstal Bike Trail - Part 2

Ybbstal Bike Trail

Saturday - June 20th 2026

Our second day started with an early breakfast, because due to the heat we wanted to hit the road early. Once we checked out and left Amstetten behind we followed the river Ybbs through the gentle Mostviertel landscape with scenic views and quiet forest areas. Luckily it wasn't very warm yet and so we were quite fast and reached Waidhofen an der Ybbs before noon. There we stopped at Rothschild Castle, the main attraction of this small city and then we searched for a supermarket to get some snacks and drinks for lunch. Just outside of Waidhofen we found a nice spot and enjoyed our drinks.

Today's Tour

Breakfast

Along the Bike Trail

Rothschild Castle

Waidhofen an der Ybbs

Along the Bike Trail

Taking a Break

The second part of our route between Waidhofen and der Ybbs and Lunz am See is the heart of the entire bike trail, because the riverside cycle path built on the former Ybbstalbahn railway line runs very close to the Ybbs, passing beautiful old bridges, tunnels and scenic riverbanks with nice rest areas. In Hollenstein we took a break and ate our lunch snacks before continuing our cycling tour towards Kogelsbach, where we stopped at Käfers am Radweg, a lovely coffee house built into the old railway station. There we got some cold drinks and enjoyed some ice cream. During the last stretch we were suprised by a thunderstorm and had to wait a couple of minutes under a tree until the rain passed. In the afternoon we finally arrived in Lunz am See and after visiting Lake Lunz we headed to our bed and breakfast named Paula's Pension. There we refreshed before getting dinner at the Treffpunkt Wildnis restaurant. Claudia and I both had a pizza and a couple of drinks before returning to the bed and breakfast.