Day 44 Austria 1/11/2010 Ybbs–Pöchlarn–Spitz–Krems–Vienna. 42.61miles/69.02km, 4hrs15minutes, Av 10mph.

Another morning waking up in a warm bed. If it wasn't for the additional cost we could seriously get used to guest-housing!

Leaving Ybbs we followed the southern bank of the Danube as far as Pöchlarn and then crossed over to the northern side. The wind had got up during the morning and as we crossed the Danube we were faced with a strong head wind. With Debs tucked in behind me we slowly made our way along.

The scenery on this section of the river was beautiful as we had entered a narrow valley and were coming into the wine region of Wachau. The small villages of the region were beautiful with painted houses, narrow cobbled streets and many wineries. The town of Dürnstein is especially pretty and on a warm November bank holiday was quite crowded with tourists.

We arrived in Krems through the pretty Stein a.d. Donau at about 1pm and stopped to plan our next move. Franz had told us that the last section into Vienna was not particularly interesting and that we should probably put the bikes on a train on the outskirts to avoid the busy roads.

Faced with an expensive guest-house in Krems we inquired at the train station as to the cost of getting us and our bikes the 79km to Vienna. As it was possible to get our bikes on the train we decided to head for Vienna a day early where there was the promise of a cheaper hostel. Getting the bikes on the train turned out to be not too much of a chore as we could leave them fully loaded. The only slight difficulty we had was getting the bikes from one platform to the other at the station. Going down the provided cycle slope was easy but pushing them back up required both of us on one bike. After we got over the feeling that we were cheating, the one hour train ride to Vienna was a pleasant diversion.

Arriving at Franz Josef station we pushed our bikes off the train and straight out of the station. It took us a while to orientate ourselves as to what direction we should be heading in. Vienna certainly seemed like the busiest city we have cycled through so far. Fortunately the main road that we thought we would have to ride along, had a central cycle lane that went almost all the way to our destination. Nevertheless we were still glad when we located the hostel.

Hostel Ruthensteiner is really nice, the laundry is reasonable and they have a kitchen so we could self cater. Plus the bar and barmen are great, as I found out rather excessively that night!

Off to the Spanish riding school tomorrow and the sights of Vienna.