Biking from Melk to Krem

thank you so much for the info!

Dear Karen,

Steve is absolutely right! Take the train to Krems, make sure to call ahead for the bike rentals! They can be picked up right at the train station, or you can take delivery right at the ship station down by the Danube, if you decide to take the ship up to Melk, which I would highly recommend! Then bike across the bridge in Melk towards Emmersdorf and down the Danube to Krems through the entire stretch of the Wachau. You could also bike on the Melk side to Aggstein, then cross over on the ferry to Spitz, and bike the rest of the way on that side.
It's the most beautiful way to see the Wachau valley!

http://www.tiscover.com/at/guide/5,de,SCH1/objectId,RTL696407at,parentId,RGN147at,season,at2,selectedEntry,rental/intern.html

Karen,
from Vienna, take the U4 subway (direction Heiligenstadt) to the Heiligenstadt station, then the train to Krems from there. The trains to Krems usually leave on platform 1, about three minutes to the hour, almost every hour, but make sure to check the ÖBB website for any changes:
http://www.oebb.at/pv/en/index.jsp
Make sure you put in Wien Heiligenstadt as your point of beginning, and Krems/Donau as your destination. Choose trains where you don't have to change trains, the ride takes about 1 hr from vienna.
The ship (take the Brandner line, the ship is gorgeous!) leaves Krems at 10:10, and arrives in Melk at 13:00 (1pm).
http://www.brandner.at/partner/brandner/

It is about a 20 minute walk from the train station to the ship station (there also is a bus, but it only goes every hour, Line 1), but a cheap alternative is to take a cab (cab stand is right outside the train station) down to the ship station, as the walk is not especially scenic.

Corinna,
Thank you so much for the invaluable information. I am amazed that you took the time to give me such specific information! It is truly appreciated and we will definitely use your suggestions.
Karen

Karen,
you are most welcome! And September is a wonderful time to visit the Wachau, the wine harvest will be beginning, and the weather is still gorgeous.

Have a wonderful time!
Btw, the trains from Krems to Vienna/Heiligenstadt also leave shortly before, or shortly after the full hour, the last train is at 9:03pm.
Don't forget to sample a glass of effervescent Grüner Veltliner in one of the many wine taverns along the way! :-))

Karen- I did the same bike trip in September of 2008...a highlight of my trip. You will love it.

Connie,
I would love to hear your highlights as well! Thanks to both of you for your feedback.
Karen

Hi Connie,
thanks for your positive input :-))

When you have a moment to write, I would love to hear some of your highlights of the Wachau part of your trip! I would be very grateful for the feedback, also if you could tell me the places you enjoyed especially, and if you stopped somewhere to eat or have a glass of wine.

with many thanks!

Just a little background: Our plan in 2008 was to spend the first part of our trip doing a hut to hut hike in Austria. It was all planned, reserved, etc. However, the day we were to leave, we had to cancel it due to an early snowfall (Corinna-you may remember that in Sept. of 2008, there was some very cold, wintery weather for about a week) It was very disappointing and left us with 4 days to fill. After thinking through a lot of our options, we drove to Melk. Our first full day there, we rented bikes and did the ride. It was a sunny, but cool, day-perfect for biking. The first part of the trail is not memorable. (You could be biking on a trail anywhere), but as you approach the first village, you begin to realize that your ride is going to be something special. All along the way are small signs advertising B&B’s and places you can stop for food. This is a popular bike ride and we began to pass groups large and small. Some looked like day trippers like us, and others looked like they were going to ride for days. My husband had a flat tire just outside of Spitz. We walked into town and were directed to the only bike shop. It was closed for lunch, but someone who knew the owner called him and he came right down. He told us to return in an hour, so we went for lunch. (don’t remember where we ate, but we sat outside and overlooked the Danube) Then we began the best part of the ride. The vineyards between Spitz and Krems were beautiful. We took a lot of pictures of us in the vineyards and passed many people working on the harvest. The towns are all picturesque with places to stop and shop, eat, and drink. We stopped in one town and went into a wine tasting shop. You could buy a wine by the glass to try. It is very hard to capture the experience in words. I just remember thinking “this bike ride saved our trip” and we began getting over our disappointment with the hiking trip. Krems was larger than I thought it would be (I pictured it about the size of Melk)

Krems was larger than I thought it would be (I pictured it about the size of Melk). We did not have as much time there as I would have liked, since we had to catch the last ferry back to Melk. We did have some time to walk in the pedestrian shopping area. I wish you could see the pictures. It was just a lot of fun. We love to bike and ride here at home all the time. We always try to do a couple of bike rides when we travel and this was a good one. A couple of things: I felt pressured by the boat times. If I did it again, I would rent in Melk, ride the boat to Krems, and bike back. I know it would be a little elevation gain, but the trail is pretty flat. Also, the boat from Melk to Krems goes down river and takes ½ the time. That would have allowed us extra time to enjoy the sights. Also, we did not realize that you could purchase food and drink on the boat. It is basically a “floating restaurant” with waiters who come around and take your order. We had stopped at a coop and thrown some snacks into our backpack, but if we had known we would have waited. Hope this helps. I tried not to be too effusive, since I don’t want to build up Karen’s expectations to the point where they cannot be met, if you know what I mean. But it was a fun day and unique day and I do recommend it to people who are heading to Austria.

PS, I wish we had had time to hike up to one of the castles. next trip for sure

Dear all,
how much time to take a bike ride from Melk to Krems?

Igor- I consulted my journal. We left Melk at 10 and arrived in Krems about 2;30. We had a flat tire and it took about an hour to get if fixed in Spitz. We also made many, many stops for pictures and and stopped into a place where you could taste wine. I hope you are able to take the bike trip. It was a lot of fun. (My husband and I bike quite a bit, so once we are on the bikes, we make pretty good time. On this trip, we kept getting off the bike to enjoy our surroundings)

Thank you for the answer. Biking is not a problem, just for time plan.
As i understand, nobody has found out hire of bicycles in Melk?

Connie, thank you so much for your feedback, it is much appreciated!

Igor,
here is the contact information for Bernhardt Bike Rental. It seems their webpage is not done yet, but I am sure an email is fine.

bike rental Melk

We also rented bikes at the Hotel Zur Post (we were not staying there, they rent to anybody.) We paid 12 euors a day per bike in 2008. We did have the flat, (the tires looked good though so it was just one of those things that sometimes happen) They did reimburse us for the money we spent getting it fixed.

After week of correspondence with tour offices i've got some needful info about rent a bike in this region. I hope to use it before long.

Upon arriving at Melk  we found the bikes just outside the station. The company is "nextbike". The registration is by phone. We used the phone booth next to the train station. The English selection was not working so we called the normal German line and waited through a lot of what we could not understand. Finally a German speaking person answered and knew just enough English to take our credit card and give us the bike lock code. Each bike was locked to the bike stand and after unlocking you take the lock with you. The process is supposed to be automated, and actually was upon return at the Krems station. The phone number is 0043 2742 22 99 01 or you can do it on-line at www.nextbike.at to register give them your phone number starting with your country code. ( 001) is the United States. The bikes are heavy and only have three gears but are in good condition. However the ride between Melk and Krems is almost all level with only a few small hills.  Upon arriving at the Krems station we found the bike racks just outside and to the right facing the station. To return the bike, lock the bike in the rack and call the number. De-register by reporting the location of the bike to the automated system. Note, the English worked at the time of return. Note that there were probably only 10 bike stations available at the Melk station and we got the last 2 bikes. But there were twice that number at the Krems. So arrive early to be sure and get a bike or use the website to pre-register. 
Hope this helps, it was a memorable day. Happy trails!