Grien – Krems

With another 95 km day ahead of us we were up early and out the door just after 8 AM. Today had several landmark destinations on the itinerary, the Melk Abbey, Durnstein and the Wachau valley. We enjoyed some very scenic views today mixed with several parts next to busy roads. The scenic views made up for the not so pleasant parts along the roads. As you can see in the video shots the cycle path is often just a sidewalk next to a busy road. The roads here have no shoulder so it’s a bit unnerving to have cars traveling 80 km/h right at you within 2 feet of you.

I took a lot of video today so today’s video is a bit longer. I hope you enjoy the scenery. I’m pretty sure you can’t miss me in the video wearing my bright green/yellow cycle shirt.

Both the Melk and Durtstein Abbys required a ticket to get in to view anything, and given we didn’t have a lot of extra time today, we opted for just visiting the outside courtyards. Still both were beautiful and worth seeing. Perhaps on another trip…

We stopped in Melk for a coffee and a slice of Tortehaus cake which is famous in this region.

As we left Melk we entered the Wachau Valley which is famous for vineyards and apricots. We passed by apricot orchards – which were picked clean as the harvest was a few weeks ago. The vineyards were full of grapes and I could not resist the opportunity to taste one that was next to the road. The grapes were very sweet.

We ended our day in Krems on a rooftop outdoor restaurant where to gulped down some cool sparkling water and enjoyed a meat and cheese charcuterie boards filled with local meats and cheeses.

Tomorrow we ride to Vienna where we will have a few days off to rest and explore the city.