The best bike tours through Vienna
Once you've explored the city by bike, you'll want to do so again and again. It offers you speed, mobility and independence. With so many bike paths and opportunities for discovering Vienna's best spots, choosing the best tour is difficult. Here's a selection of the best bike tours through Vienna:
Tip: If you don't have your own bike, you're sure to find a suitable bike for your city trip at a bike rental outlet.
The classic: Right around the Ringstrasse boulevard
- Start: Stadtpark
- Length: approx. 5.5 km
- Tip: Only here will you find so many magnificent buildings all at once.
The name says it all: The Ringstrasse encircles Vienna's old city. The tour starts and ends wherever you like – for example, at the golden Johann Strauss monument in the Stadtpark. Along the Ringstrasse, you'll ride past magnificent symbols of Vienna: State Opera, Imperial Palace, Volksgarten, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Naturhistorisches Museum, Parliament, City Hall, Burgtheater and University.
Caution: Things can get fast here! Because where you see the Votive Church a little way off the bike path, the Ringstrasse makes a slight bend and you soon reach the Danube Canal. At the Danube Canal, you can either continue along to the Old City until you bend to the right at the Urania and close the loop of the Ringstrasse, or cycle along the promenade down by the canal.
View in Google Maps.
Prater main avenue: The green heart of the city
- Start: Praterstern / Kaiserwiese
- Length: approx. 9 km
- Tip: A convivial snack in the Lusthaus and a ride on the Giant Ferris Wheel in the Prater
The Prater main avenue is the city's meeting point for sports: Here, you can ride a bicycle in the shade of the trees – no car traffic and just around the corner from the city center. From the Praterstern, this straight route runs four kilometers to the turnaround point at the Lusthaus.
There are many places to branch off to: The Jesuitenwiese, the Ernst Happl Stadium – Austria's biggest stadium, many waterways and places to watch nature, the architecturally exciting campus of the Vienna University of Economics and Business and of the Viertel Zwei district, the Stadionbad pool for cooling off in on a hot day, and, of course, the legendary Wurstelprater amusement park.
View in Google Maps.
Danube-Canale Grande for cyclists
- Start: Spittelau
- Length: approx. 7 km
- Tip: Vienna's biggest graffiti scene on the banks of the Danube Canal will make the kilometers fly by
There's something relaxing about cycling by the water. A car-free ride is often possible on the promenades. On the Danube Canal bike path, you'll ride right through Vienna. Start at the artistically designed waste incineration facility in Spittelau and, in summer, be seduced by refreshments and a snack in one of the beach bars half-way along the Danube Canal promenade.
View in Google Maps.
Following the water on the Danube Cycle Path
- Start: Klosterneuburg
- Length: approx. 50 km
- Tip: Take binoculars with you and keep an eye open for wild animals in the Lobau.
All cycle paths lead to Vienna — at least the Danube Cycle Path does, one of the most beautiful bicycle routes in Europe. It begins in Passau and, on its journey to the mouth of the Danube at the Black Sea, passes Linz, the Wachau, Klosterneuburg and, of course, through Vienna. From the west of the city, it's off to the east via Danube Island into the Donau-Auen National Park. The Lobau is a unique habitat for beavers, kingfishers and even sea eagles. It numbers amongst the biggest intact wetland landscapes in Central Europe.
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Free ride through the Wiental
- Start: The Wien river/Hofjägerstrasse
- End: Ringstrasse
- Length: approx. 13 km
- Tip: Remember your bicycle lock! The Klimt Villa isn't far off this route and a detour is worthwhile.
The Wiental bike path is perfectly suited for an almost traffic-free bike tour. The entrance to the Lainz Game Reserve, a unique conservation area, is located right on the bike path. Apart from cycling past Schönbrunn Palace, you can also marvel at Otto Wagner’s city rail architecture, the Hofpavillon Hietzing and the Otto Wagner bridge. The bike path leads you to the Ringstrasse.
View in Google Maps.
Idyllic Liesingbach route
- Start: Riegermühle Atzgersdorf
- End: Liesingbachbrücke Kledering
- Length: approx. 11 km
- Tip: Relax your tired muscles afterwards at Therme Wien, Vienna's thermal baths.
A little further out, and all the more idyllic for it, is the Liesingbach route, which lets you cycle right across the south side of Vienna. At its start, the iconic social housing buildings of Alterlaa soar skyward next to the cycle path. The cycle path mostly runs in the shade near the water through the recreational area by the Liesing. At the end, you'll roll gently past fields and small settlements at the city limits. If you've still got the energy, you can follow the route all the way to Schwechat and then follow the river of the same name as far as the Danube. Relaxation is provided by the Therme Wien, Vienna's thermal baths, shortly before the end of the route.
View in Google Maps.
Tip: Cycling safely through Vienna
Read here to find out what you have to watch out for when cycling in Vienna.
With the free bicycle app for Vienna, you can navigate your way along the tour and also download the navigation pack for the whole of Vienna. Download additional GPX and KML files at www.bikemap.net.
