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Cycling in Vienna

Posted: 20 May 2014, 10:47am
by nickodemia
Does anyone have any experience of cycling in Vienna and do they have any decent cycle ways ? We have to ride from the east of the Danube to Westbahnhof in the city. Would be glad of any advice.

Re: Cycling in Vienna

Posted: 20 May 2014, 10:56am
by Tigerbiten
Yes.
I just passed through Vienna on the first of May following the Danube cycle path.
My trick was to check the route out on the OMScycle map.
That will show if any of the cycle paths go where you are going.

Luck ......' :D

Re: Cycling in Vienna

Posted: 20 May 2014, 1:23pm
by jamesgilbert
We got onto a sort of "bicycle motorway" when we cycled from the Danube to the city centre, it was good but there weren't many signs and not many places to get off it.

Re: Cycling in Vienna

Posted: 20 May 2014, 8:19pm
by vernon
I didn't find any. The locals were very helpful in directing me but were rather anxious about the busy roads that I'd have to use. Their definition of busy is a tad optimistic.

Try using Google maps. I would have done but my battery was flat in my phone and my riding partner was unwilling to use 3G services on his because it was a 'school phone' and it would 'cpomplicate things' if he used it.

Re: Cycling in Vienna

Posted: 20 May 2014, 9:42pm
by Vorpal
I use https://anachb.vor.at/bin/query.exe/dn?L=vs_voranachb to plan routes in Austria. It's not the most user friendly site in the universe, but you can get a pdf download of your route and the output seems pretty good. I have used it a few times, and found the routes to be reasonable, though it seems to prioritise by routes with cycle facilities.

Re: Cycling in Vienna

Posted: 20 May 2014, 10:52pm
by monxton
I cycled through Vienna on the Donauradweg last year. It is a very cycle-friendly city, but it's always challenging navigating a strange city. It does have some trams, so be careful to avoid the peril of getting your wheel stuck in a tramline - always cross them as close to perpendicular as you can.

I was travelling with a GPS device and pre-planned routes. You don't say if you generally use a GPS, so that may or may not be helpful. Google maps would be a last resort when the cycle paths are so much better documented on OpenStreetMap. Have a look at this view: http://cycling.waymarkedtrails.org/en/? ... 59&hill=0#

I don't quite understand "from the east of the Danube to Westbahnhof". Do you mean you are travelling upriver from the Slovakia direction? The hotel we stayed in was just one street away from the Westbahnhof, but we entered the city downriver.

Re: Cycling in Vienna

Posted: 21 May 2014, 7:38am
by nickodemia
Many thanks everyone, will check out your ideas.

Re: Cycling in Vienna

Posted: 21 May 2014, 11:53am
by johnonhisbike
A cautionary tale. Leaving Vienna following the radweg along the North bank of the river going Eastwards, it is very easy to miss a left turn and a short distance later find yourself cycling through a quite extensive nudist area. Image If you keep going, hoping you'll just get to the end and once more pick up the radweg, you just reach a dead end and have to cycle all the way back Image... absolutely proving to the disgruntled nudists that you really are just a voyeur out to disturb their peace !! On the plus side though, if you do have to stop for any reason ... there's always somewhere to park your bike!

Re: Cycling in Vienna

Posted: 21 May 2014, 2:41pm
by nickodemia
Thanks for that johnonhisbike. A cautionary tale indeed :?

Re: Cycling in Vienna

Posted: 21 May 2014, 5:59pm
by jamesgilbert
I can confirm Johnonhisbike's information, even at 9am it was quite a sight.

Re: Cycling in Vienna

Posted: 22 May 2014, 3:24pm
by Nigelrojo
I did the Danube Route as far as Vienna 2 years ago. I stayed in a hotel near the Rathaus and cycled around town for a couple of days before leaving for home from the Westbahnhof. It is indeed a very bike-friendly city. Not many of the side streets have cycle lanes but the main ones do. Generally it was much less stressful than cycling around London for example. I used my Garmin to navigate, but the main Ringstrasse is pretty obvious, you keep on hitting that or the canal, so it is difficult to get lost unless you are outside the Ring somewhere.

Re: Cycling in Vienna

Posted: 2 Jun 2014, 10:36pm
by DaveFY7
I have cycled along the northern bank of the Danube through Vienna and it was an interesting experience. From what I can remember, the path was decent and straightforward. Very busy with pedestrians. We seemed to go through a variety of cultures as we cycled along. One section was full of romany people and one large group were busy spit roasting a large pig. Further along we passed through a nudist section full of middle aged people with portly figures.

Re: Cycling in Vienna

Posted: 3 Jun 2014, 12:10pm
by Peter Molog
And be prepared for the traffic lights. :D

Image
Image

Re: Cycling in Vienna

Posted: 5 Jun 2014, 5:05pm
by nickodemia
Interesting lights Peter, thank you. We set off tomorrow.

Re: Cycling in Vienna

Posted: 6 Jun 2014, 9:44pm
by vinyl_theif
Definitely a city with cyclist's in mind, cycle lanes galore!! I cycled through it last week, and also last year. I just used a country map, a trusty compass head for the 'Zentrum' (Centre), once there obtain a tourist information city map.