Tim Dawe cycles along the Danube River to Vienna in this final story from his four-part series on Austria.
I’ve just spent six delightful days cycling along the Danube River, peddling through spectacular scenery of forest and valley, punctuated by quaint villages and scrumptious cakes. But what really impresses is cycling around my destination – Vienna. Many Europeans cycle sedately around their cities, commuting to work, the market, or just getting around – millions of them, every day. And in Austria’s capital, with 1,200km of bike paths, they cycle because it’s convenient – and they can.
The first thing I notice in central Vienna is that cyclists, are legitimate road-users using legitimate vehicles, ride on meandering inner-city roads that once were goat tracks. The second thing is the bike path is a bike road. It’s raised above the street’s edge, paved and kerbed, with marked lanes and even bike traffic lights. It runs in-between the street and the footpath, safely separated from pedestrians by a fence or vegetation, and often flows into special pathways at roundabouts and bridges. When pedestrians cross the bike path, little synchronised lights operate at handlebar level to control bike traffic. Cyclists have freedom, and ownership. For example: from my hotel I ride through busy central Vienna to the University (about 6km) on my little velo-bahn, stress-free and unhindered. I only have to stop twice.
My third observation puts Vienna in a world of its own – its remarkable Ringstraße encircling old Vienna. It’s not one street but several, named for adjacent, important buildings such as Hofburg Palace (Burgring) and the Opera House (Opernring). In 1857 Emperor Franz Joseph declared: “It is my will” … that the ancient city walls and moat be demolished and replaced with broad boulevards, grand buildings and beautiful parks. The long-reigning reformer bulldozed his way through – so to speak.
It’s cycling heaven. On a wide, tree-lined path I easily circumnavigate a large, touristic city, trams and all, and without a care in the world. Vienna’s imperial might and its architectural treasures breeze past. I take excursions off the Ringstraße losing myself in the winding back streets, popping up in unexpected places like the Naschmarkt or Karlsplatz/Karlskirche. It takes me some hours to ‘cycle-the-circle’ (Ring Cycle?) yet I want to do it again.
While my bicycle was hired 350km away in Passau, Bavaria, there are many local options. You can hire a variety of bikes, including electric, from Citybike Vienna, picking up/returning at 120 participating train stations, or use commercial rentals. Some of the famous Viennese highlights seen from my saddle include: the Hundertwasser Haus, Kunsthaus (museum) and the Prater, Vienna’s landmark recreational area where at night, by that famous Ferris wheel, I can become Harry Lime.
There’s also the Opera House, St Stephens (a medieval cathedral dominating the cityscape), Mozart’s monument, Heldenplatz, City Hall, Schottenkirche, Johann Strauss’s monument in Stadtpark, and the Danube Canal. Riders arrive at these must-see places ‘up close and personal’. The splendiferous Schönbrunn Palace is just a 10km ride – or, like me, take your bike on Vienna’s cycle-friendly train.
Indeed, Vienna is a world-leading velo-city, continuing to plan and innovate. The city recently built Bike City – a block of 100 flats for middle-income people. It’s designed with wide communal hallways and lifts, a bike rack outside each door, and bike storage on every floor. Bike City residents cycle 25 per cent of all their trips compared with six per cent for other residents.
A world away, I consider Australia’s capital cities regarding inner-city cycling. We seem to be streets away from Vienna’s urban cycling network. Generally, we live in low density suburbia; they live in high density urbanity. We build straight streets for fast cars, buses, trucks… rarely for cyclists; they separate space for differing road users while weaving streets around historic monuments. We let loose lycra lads/ladies on high-speed, expensive racers for aimless weekend circuits; they mount old-fashioned bikes in street clothes for daily, purposeful journeys to … somewhere.
Yes, there are major differences, but perhaps we should look to places like Vienna to improve our cycle infrastructure – and culture.
