My 22-Year History With the Danube Bike Path

On April 4, 1997, I quit my desk job to start what is now Zephyr Adventures.

My first task was to fly to Europe to find the very first location for our only tour that year, with two possibilities in mind: the northern area of Friesland in The Netherlands or the Danube bike path in Austria.

I spent five days in The Netherlands and then traveled by train down to Austria. I rented a car in Vienna, drove to Passau in Germany, and drove and rode the famous Danube Bicycle Path along the Danube (Donau in German) river.

The Danube Bicycle Path is what I believe to be the most popular bicycle tour location in Europe, which likely makes it the most popular in the world. There is good reason for this:

• The path is almost entirely flat, running the entire way along the river.
• The main part of the path starts in the famous town of Passau (home of the Passion Play) and finishes in the cultural capital of Vienna.
• The scenery is beautiful.
• There are many cute small towns along the way, perfect to break up days of cycling.

I elected not to use the Danube bike path for our first-ever tour, only because of Austrian laws that technically made it illegal to skate on bike paths.

But I have kept this tour in my head for the past 22 years! Finally, in 2020, I’m excited to offer a tour on the Danube bike path via bicycle. It is one of the best bike tour locations in the world – I hope you can join us!