East of Linz, the Danube becomes the working line of the stage again: flat, direct and rarely far from view. The route first heads towards Enns, one of Austria’s oldest towns, before Mauthausen appears with its market centre, riverfront and difficult history. From there, the road stays close to the river, passing villages, floodplain sections and broad valley stretches on the way east. Grein brings the clearest change of place: old town, Schloss Greinburg and the narrower river scenery of the Strudengau. Beyond Ybbs and Persenbeug, the Danube corridor settles into a quieter rhythm, with villages, fields and low slopes along the banks. Pöchlarn closes the day on the edge of the Nibelungengau.
