Answers to Your Questions
We have compiled the most important answers to the most frequently asked questions about our cycle tours for you here. If your question remains unanswered, please feel free to contact us. We will get back to you as soon as possible.
Depending on the tour, you are welcome to book one or more additional nights at the beginning, end, or during your trip (subject to availability and logistical feasibility). Please inform us at the time of booking if you would like to use your rental bike on these additional days.
Please note that extended bike use may incur additional costs, as bicycle transport often requires unscheduled deliveries to the start or end hotel due to the prolonged stay.
Our cycling tours generally begin after your individual arrival at the starting point of the tour. This means you organize your journey yourself (except in the case of additionally booked or included train travel packages). With your travel documents, you will receive our recommendations and tips for your arrival. We only arrange train tickets; bus or flight tickets cannot be booked through us.
Parking
As convenient as traveling by car may be, finding suitable parking in many destinations is not always easy. We have made arrangements for you! In Passau and in Nauders on the Adige Cycle Path, we have rented private parking areas. For hub-based cycling tours (star-shaped tours), you can often park free of charge at your booked hotel or in the immediate vicinity.
Parking in Salzburg and Mallnitz is included (also valid for extended nights).
If parking is not included, you will find parking information, including approximate prices, directly in the route description (Day 1) in the catalog or on the respective tour’s website.
Train Tickets
Our Deutsche Bahn (DB) train travel package is available from anywhere in Germany to the destinations Danube, Moselle, Potsdam, and Dresden for only + €106 per person round trip. For some tours, this convenient outward and return journey is already included! The DB train package is valid on selected travel days and trains (long-distance services such as IC, ICE, EC, 2nd class) to the published arrival destination according to the tour, including seat reservation and return journey. Departures from anywhere in Austria to Germany can be added for an additional charge if the train package is already included. All our train tickets include seat reservations.
ÖBB tickets cost €95 per person round trip in 2nd class and are valid on the specified arrival and departure dates. Bringing your own bicycle is possible with advance reservation for a fee of approximately €7 per bike, payable directly to DB/ÖBB. Further details can be found here.
Check-in
Hotel check-in usually takes place between 2:00 pm and 4:00 pm. Please check before departure when arrival is possible at your respective hotel. If you expect to arrive after 6:00 pm on your arrival day or during the cycling tour, please inform your (first) overnight hotel in advance. Depending on the hotel, self check-in may also be available. Detailed information will be provided directly by the hotel or in your travel documents.
For most tours, the return transfer by train or bus to the starting point of a point-to-point cycling tour is included. If it is offered as an optional service, you will find the details in the respective tour description. If you do not require the return transfer, please inform us at the time of booking so that we can take this into account.
Additional Information
Westbahn offers good connections to Saalfelden, Lindau, Bregenz, Innsbruck, Villach, Salzburg, Linz, Stuttgart, and Munich, including bicycle transport.
Flixbus also provides direct connections to many destinations without transfers (bicycles not transported).
On each tour page, you can book your trip online by clicking on “Book trip.” The displayed calendar shows the available dates for the respective tour. When booking via our website, your reservation is transferred directly into our booking system, and we grant a 3% online discount per person.
Booking by Phone
We are happy to take your booking by phone at +43 732 2080 or 0800 100 11 47 (toll-free from Germany).
You can also send your booking with all relevant details by email to info@donautouristik.com or by post to:
Donau Touristik GmbH
Lederergasse 4–12
4010 Linz
Austria
Please provide the following details when making your booking:
Please also inform us of any special requests or requirements at the time of booking, such as separate beds in a double room, food intolerances, wider tires for your own bike, and more. This allows us to coordinate your wishes in advance with the hotels and our partners.
Booking Confirmation
After receiving your booking, we will confirm it within approximately 7 working days by email or via our customer portal and request a 20% deposit. No booking fees apply. The booking confirmation will already include all general travel information. If the requested date, category, room type, rental bike, etc., is not available, we will contact you to clarify any open questions.
Please understand that, due to high demand, processing times may occasionally be slightly longer in exceptional cases.
Our cancellation conditions can be found in our General Terms and Conditions of Travel under point 7.
Donau Touristik offers liability coverage/cancellation protection. This includes the following services: Assumption of cancellation fees before the start of the trip as compensation for Donau Touristik cancellation costs if the trip is not taken up to the booked travel price without deductible. Cancellations can be made up to 30 days before departure at the latest and are only possible per room. An application can only be made less than 30 days before arrival together with your booking.
Reimbursement of cancellation costs in the event of non-commencement of a long-distance tour:
Reimbursement of cancellation costs in the event of non-commencement of a star bike tour or the above-mentioned bike cruises with reasons given*:
* Reasons: due to illness with presentation of a medical certificate, in the event of death of relatives in the direct line and second degree; benefit up to a maximum of the booked travel price.
Cancellation cover cannot be booked for trips with the MS-Primadonna, Islandhopping Croatia and partner tours.
We recommend that you take out travel insurance for these types of trip. Information on this can be found under "Travel insurance".
In the event of changes regarding participants, arrival point, accommodation, transportation, itinerary, or booked services, a rebooking fee of €35 per person will be charged; from 10 days before arrival, the fee increases to €70 per person. Changes to arrival dates are excluded from this policy; in such cases, the stated cancellation conditions apply.
If a train arrival/departure package is included in your tour, ticket changes are only possible upon request. A change of participant is permitted provided that the replacement person meets all participation requirements and the change is made no later than 5 working days before the start of the tour.
You can find our contact details here.
We upload all important documents for a trip, such as your booking confirmation/invoice or your travel documents booklet, to the customer portal for you. When new documents are available for you in the customer portal, you will receive an e-mail with a link that takes you directly to the portal. If you register in the customer portal, you can view all documents from previous trips in addition to the documents for your currently booked trip.
You can also access the customer portal here without a link.
Our MS Primadonna is a river cruise ship, which is why the minimum stay on the ship is 1 night. We do not offer day trips or harbour tours.
Here you will find an overview of all the discounts we can offer you. From group discounts, early booking and internet discounts to discounts for children.
HERE you can find the discounts
You can get power for your e-bike either from the socket at the hotel you have booked or at one of our replacement bike stations (= contract hotels/partner businesses). We recommend that you always charge your e-bikes overnight at the hotel you have booked. Then, as a rule, no intermediate charging is necessary for your next stage.
Our aim is to constantly improve the quality of our travel products. Your opinion is therefore very important to us. Please take the time to give us feedback on your holiday.
The fitness levels and the quality of the cycle paths and local signposting are indicated for each tour.
Fitness levels 1 - 5:
1 = Easy to cycle, suitable for everyone
2 = Easy routes, can be mastered with little effort
3 = For "leisure cyclists" with normal fitness, occasional stages with inclines
4 = Slightly more challenging routes, for cyclists with average fitness
5 = For active cyclists with several hilly stages. Basic fitness required!
Quality of cycle paths and signposting 1 - 5:
1 = route often runs on public roads, in short sections also with somewhat heavier traffic
2 = partly on car traffic routes, route is partly hilly
3 = Standard cycle path with good markings, often separated from the road, flat throughout; junctions with many cycle routes to choose from, orientation can be difficult
4 = mostly car-free, beautiful route through great landscapes, very good signposting
5 = excellent, almost completely car-free, excellent signposting, unique landscape experiences
Hire bikes (including e-bikes) can also break down.
On our distance tours, there are stations along the route at intervals of around 10-15 km where we have replacement bikes (only 7-speed bikes, 28‘’ - no e-bikes!) for emergencies. You hand in your defective bike there and simply ‘change saddles’. Our bikes are generally equipped with thick-walled tyres and, if necessary, you can ‘pedal’ a kilometre or two to the nearest exchange station. You will find the spare tyre stations in your travel documents.
For star bike tours outside a distance tour destination, it is possible to change to an intact bike at the same hotel, subject to availability (small wheel bearing available).
Please note that we are therefore unable to accept any workshop invoices, etc.
If you get stuck, please contact our service hotline, which is available seven days a week. You will find the telephone number in your travel documents!
This year, we are offering a very flexible and cost-effective rebooking option. Up to 5 days before arrival (hub-based cycling tours: 17 days, MSPD/island-hopping tours: 8 weeks), you may reschedule your trip to another date — even to the following year — for only €35 per person (excluding Croatia island-hopping tours). The deposit must have been received in order to take advantage of this offer. We are happy to advise you on the details.
If you rebook without selecting a new date, you will receive a voucher (no cash redemption possible) valid until December 31, 2026.
The FRED App is the digital complement to the printed travel documents for Donaureisen cycling tours. It serves as your personal cycling guide on your smartphone, displaying your individually planned route with all stages, destinations, and important details. With the app, you can easily navigate along the way, discover interesting sights and recommended places to stop for refreshments, and stay well informed thanks to helpful reminders — such as bicycle return times.
Use of the FRED App is optional and available for €10 per booking in addition to the regular travel documents. This digital version also allows you to keep track of all booked services, such as accommodations and board, directly within the app and have your digital route book available at all times — ideal for a relaxed and well-organized cycling holiday.
Further information can be found here.
Click here for the system requirements.
For our point-to-point cycling tours, GPS data is automatically sent to you together with your route book (RUL booklet) approximately 21 days before arrival. Optionally, you can book a customized tour via the app (€10 per booking). In this case, the GPS data tailored precisely to your individual itinerary is stored directly in the app. The app also includes the digital route book and allows you to navigate easily to popular sights along your way to the daily destination.
For our hub-based cycling tours (star-shaped tours), we provide GPS data in GPX format. You will automatically receive the data by email approximately 21 days before arrival. We recommend downloading the GPS data to your PC/laptop before departure and uploading it to the platform www.komoot.de. Step-by-step instructions will be sent to you together with the GPS data. On site, you can then access the routes on your smartphone via the Komoot app (in some cases subject to a fee) or through another GPS-enabled platform/app.
If GPS data is available for your booked tour, this will always be clearly listed under the included services for the respective tour.
We rate our hotel partners using our own sun system. Our categorisation with suns ☼ is based on our experience and the stars of the national hotel classification. If named hotels are fully booked for distance tours, we will make a reservation of equal value if possible and refund € 5 per person per night. If only a lower category or the neighbouring town (maximum 10 km) is possible, we offer a discount of € 10 per person per night. For distance tours, you will receive the digital travel documents including the hotels reserved for you approximately 21 days before arrival.
On our point-to-point cycling tours, we transport up to two pieces of luggage per person (each weighing a maximum of approx. 20 kg) from hotel to hotel. With your travel documents, you will receive luggage tags that must be attached to your bags, similar to airline baggage tags. Our luggage drivers will then transfer your bags from one hotel to the next while you enjoy a relaxed day of cycling.
Please note the following important information regarding luggage transfer:
Luggage collection: from 9:00 am
Latest delivery time: by 6:30 pm
Did you like the trip or are you a new customer and don't want to miss any more special offers? Then register now for our Donau Touristik newsletter:
Click HERE to register!
A deposit of 20% of the total tour price must be paid after the booking has been finalised. Final payments must be made at the earliest 20 days before the start of the holiday without further request.
In the euro zone, please use the account specified on your invoice, in the name of Donau Touristik GesmbH. For payments from outside the euro zone, please note that payment must be made in euros (€) and any charges will be charged to the customer. Payments from Switzerland CHF (SFR) are excluded: These can be made in euros (€) to the Swiss bank account specified on your invoice.
You are welcome to pay for your booked holiday by credit card. You can enter your credit card details as follows:
If you have successfully entered your credit card details, we will automatically debit the amounts stated on the invoice from your card on the due dates for the down payment and final payment.
Customers from the surrounding area can pay in cash or by EC or credit card directly at our customer service centre in Linz an der Donau.
A high-quality bicycle is essential for a successful cycling holiday. That is why we rely on solid, premium-quality bikes equipped with reliable components. According to our precise specifications, renowned German and Austrian manufacturers such as Schauff, Kalkhoff, KTM, Focus, and Velo de Ville produce our 7/8-speed coaster brake bikes, 21/24-speed freewheel bikes, and e-bikes in various frame sizes. When booking a rental bike, please always state your height so that we can prepare the right bike for you.
Detailed information and photos of all our rental bikes can be found here.
Our 24-speed touring bikes with excellent riding performance from Schauff (Remagen, Germany) as well as 7-speed touring bikes from Kalkhoff (Germany) or Schauff are available for €154 per week.
Our e-bikes (minimum range 70 km, usually around 100 km) with 3 or 4 assistance levels and 6 or 7 gears from Velo de Ville (Altenberge, Germany), Kalkhoff (Germany), and partly KTM (Austria) are available for €301 per week. On hub-based cycling tours, KTM e-bikes with a range of approximately 50 km are sometimes offered for €245 per stay.
Please provide your height at the time of booking so that we can supply a suitable bicycle.
Double-sided panniers are included in the rental price.
Children’s bikes are available in sizes 16, 18, 20, and 24 inches (26 inches is already adult size). Please indicate the child’s age and height. Child trailers (Kiddy-Van) for 1–2 children up to a maximum of 40 kg are available for €100 rental.
Dog trailers are available for dogs up to 20 kg at a rental price of €100, plus a €25 cleaning fee. Along the Lake Constance Cycle Path, we cooperate with many dog-friendly establishments. Please contact our travel specialists for details.
Special equipment (such as child seats, Kiddy-Vans, or children’s bikes) is available on request and subject to an additional charge.
The rental fee for a bike is not included in the standard tour package price. Therefore, a surcharge of €154 per rental bike and €301 per e-bike generally applies unless otherwise stated in the specific offer. Please refer to the respective tour page for details.
We kindly ask you to always lock our rental bikes. For insurance reasons, it is also necessary to secure the bike to a fixed object. Otherwise, in the event of theft, the customer may be held partially liable. Should your rental bike be stolen, please inform us immediately by phone. Please note that not every hotel offers covered bicycle storage facilities.
For long-distance tours, we offer a return transfer back to the starting point of the tour in all destinations. Depending on the destination, this takes place by bus or train. A transfer for your own bikes to the start of the tour is also possible on certain days of the week. Please also note that you can take advantage of a return transfer at the start of the tour. This allows you to travel home directly at the end of the trip.
For the return transfer by bus, you will be picked up in the morning from your last overnight hotel or a meeting point. Please arrive at the meeting point approximately 10 minutes BEFORE departure and hand in your voucher to the bus driver. Depending on the traffic situation, the bus may be delayed. You will find the details (departure time, meeting point and other information) in your travel documents.
For return transfers by train, a ticket number with a description of the process or the return ticket itself is enclosed with your documents. The journey from the last overnight hotel to the railway station and from the railway station to the car is not included. You will also find the details in your travel documents.
With the bus return transfer, we transport your own bikes back to the starting point of the tour at a reasonable price using a bike trailer. With the return rail transfer, the transfer takes place overnight by dropping off your bikes at the hotel by around 5 pm on the day before your return journey. Your bike will be waiting for you the following day from around 11 am at your destination. The ticket for the bike transport is the bike return transfer loop, which you will receive with your travel documents and which must be attached to your bike BEFORE the transfer. The return transfer of customer-owned e-bikes/tandems/kiddy vans/fat bikes/bikes with tyres wider than 5 cm etc. is only possible on request.
If you have not booked a return transfer for your own bikes, you must transport your own bike back by train on your own.
If you have any questions during your trip or are unsure about anything, please contact our service hotline. It is available daily, so you are never left on your own if assistance is needed.
Service Hotline: +43 732 2080
Further information can be found on our contact page.
For tours organized directly by us, the included services are clearly defined and include, among other things, the “transport flat rate.” This covers our luggage transfer service from hotel to hotel up to the final destination of your cycling tour (e.g., from Passau to Vienna on the Danube Cycle Path). Luggage collection takes place at the hotel from 9:00 am, with delivery by 6:30 pm by our on-site staff. Liability for accepted luggage is covered up to €1,000 per person.
Additionally, transport in our VW support van is possible in case of adverse weather conditions (e.g., extreme heat), provided this was requested at the time of booking and confirmed by us.
This “service package” includes an information kit with a cycling map, a detailed description of the pre-ridden and carefully tested daily stages, as well as the possibility to travel in our support transport bus, provided this was requested at the time of booking and confirmed by us. Liability for accepted items is covered up to €1,000 per person.
For point-to-point tours, you will receive your travel documents booklet approximately 21 days before arrival, including a list of the booked hotels and included services. The FRED App can be added optionally for a surcharge of €10 per booking. The booklet does not need to be printed and primarily serves for your personal travel preparation. Upon arrival, you will receive one printed travel documents booklet per booking as well as an information package per room containing the route book, original tickets (if required), luggage tags, and (if booked) return transfer tags for transporting your own bicycle back.
For hub-based cycling tours (star tours), you will also receive the travel documents booklet approximately 21 days before arrival (since 2026), along with GPS data for the daily stages, if available. The important travel information does not need to be printed and is intended mainly for your personal preparation. Upon arrival, you will receive a summary of included services per booking, as well as an information package per room containing the route description, important travel information, and a cycling map.
For all hotel stays, a hotel voucher is no longer required. Simply stating your name upon arrival at the hotel is sufficient.
For cycling holidays, we recommend taking out the BusBahnAuto Complete Cover from European Travel Insurance (Europäische Reiseversicherung).
The insurance includes, among other benefits (excerpt):
The BusBahnAuto Complete Cover is valid for bus, train, and car travel (including ferry and motorcycle travel) within Europe for trips of up to 31 days. It does not apply to air or cruise travel. Full details are available from our travel advisors.
For cruise holidays, we recommend the Complete Cover from European Travel Insurance. The covered benefits are the same as those listed above.
The Complete Cover applies to air or cruise travel within Europe or worldwide for trips of up to 31 days. Full details are available directly from our travel advisors.
The European Travel Insurance Conditions ERV-RVB 2023 apply. Click here for travel insurance information.
On our point-to-point cycling tours, you cycle from place to place, covering approximately 30–70 km per day, depending on the tour. You travel individually rather than in a group, allowing you to set your own pace according to your fitness level and enjoy a relaxed riding experience without major strain. In a short time, you will discover a variety of towns, sights, and cities. A particular highlight is the convenient luggage transfer service, with your bags collected daily and delivered to your next hotel.
Exploring a holiday region by bike from a single hotel base is both comfortable and varied. You travel individually and stay in the same comfortable accommodation throughout your stay, saving you the hassle of packing your suitcase every day. The daily stages are carefully planned, enabling you to explore the region on well-designed cycling routes without lengthy route searches. This travel style also offers flexibility: depending on the weather or your fitness level, you can take a rest day, enjoy the hotel’s facilities (often including a wellness area), or explore the surroundings by car.
On a Danube river cruise aboard the 4****Superior MS Primadonna, you not only enjoy relaxing time on board but also take part in exciting shore excursions, including diverse city tours, concerts, and much more. While cruising, you can indulge in the many amenities and comforts offered on the ship.
Cycle leisurely through unique natural landscapes during the day and enjoy first-class comfort on board in the evening. A bike and boat tour perfectly combines river cruising with cycling, with the ship serving as your floating hotel. This type of travel offers flexibility regardless of weather or fitness level — you may also choose to take a day off from cycling and relax on board. Along the way, you gather countless impressions of some of Europe’s most beautiful holiday regions — and your hotel travels with you.
The hiking tours offered by Donaureisen combine close-to-nature experiences with careful organization — ideal for those who wish to explore Europe’s mountains and landscapes on foot. These individually planned hiking trips lead you through impressive Alpine scenery, to idyllic mountain huts and along historic trails, while your luggage is conveniently transported from one accommodation to the next. Detailed route descriptions, maps, and GPS data ensure you always stay on track and can shape your hiking day according to your preferences. For leisure hikers, hub-based hiking tours are also available, allowing you to stay in the same accommodation while still enjoying varied daily stages.
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