5 Ancient castles. Gravel bike adventure. Private tour

2. Our bike tour starts in the small town of Mödling (15 minutes by train from Vienna). And from the very first minutes we begin our adventure with a visit to the historical center and the local castle with an interesting history.

Thallern

3. After spending about 30 minutes on a cup of coffee, a short bike tour in the surrounding area, we begin to move on to the next place with a unique history – Thallern.
The Freigut Thallern is one of the oldest and most traditional wineries in Austria, built in the style of the now world-famous Clos de Vougeot in Burgundy. In October 1141, the then wine-growing village of Thallern was donated by Margrave Leopold IV to the Heiligenkreuz Abbey, and has been cultivated without interruption since then.

4. Our next stop will be in a tiny town called Gumpoldskirchen. This is another iconic place known for its wine history and beautiful landscapes around. If you want, we can taste local wine in the small central square and continue our cycling adventure.

Baden

5. From Gumpoldskirchen we get to Baden via an interesting dirt road that runs under the foot of the Anninger mountain range. This is an ideal singletrack for both gravel bikes and mountain bikes. Along the way between these two towns we will encounter many local national wineries, which are located on hiking trails and are called Heurigen.

6. Having reached Baden our main task will be to climb one of the two castles that guarded the western direction of the city in ancient times. These are the castles of Rauchenstein and Raucheneck. Having reached Baden, our main task will be to climb one of the 2 castles that guarded the western direction of the city in ancient times. These are the castles of Rauchenstein and Raucheneck. Here we will find exceptionally beautiful views and the amazing history of these 2 places.

Merkenstein

7. Our next and perhaps most interesting place to visit is the remains of the Merkenstein Castle. Let it take about 15 kilometers from Baden along interesting and picturesque gravel roads. Here you will have to put in enough effort to climb from 200 to 400 meters. In principle, this is not a difficult task and what we will see there will be worth the effort.

After this, we begin our journey back, but at the same time we will try to diversify it with a couple more interesting places.

And one of these places will be the castle in Kottingbrunn. It is a perfectly preserved fortress with beautiful nature around.
After that we will ride to the finish along the ideal Eurovelo 9 bike path, which runs through vineyards and small villages along the canal that stretches all the way to Vienna.