Gravel, MTB, and Touring Cycling around Wiener Neustadt – powered by LeParc on EuroVelo 9

"Wiener Neustadt? Why there?"
How often have we been asked this on press trips and product presentations when it came to getting to know people and making connections regarding the headquarters of Nyx GmbH, the company behind Bikeboard. And how often did the concerned and incredulous follow-up question arise: "But can you even ride a bike there?"

You can. After all, Wiener Neustadt is not only within striking distance of the natural and hiking paradises Hohe Wand, Schneeberg, and Rax but also directly on the Eurovelo 9, the European long-distance cycling route from the Baltic Sea to the Adriatic. If there is a bike highway on our continent for globetrotters and at the same time a guarantee for varied discovery tours, it is this north-south axis!
Since June 2024, the second-largest city in Lower Austria also boasts a huge pump track facility. With the Bikepark Semmering and the Wexl Trails, two designated MTB centers are also not far away. Additionally, the Rosalien and Leithagebirge mountains form further elevations—reachable either on paved or unpaved paths—in the immediate vicinity of the district capital, which itself is located in the Steinfeld, the southernmost edge of the largely flat Vienna Basin, just near the border with Burgenland.

From flat plains to hilly and steep terrain, everything is possible here. And whether it's (e-)mountain biking, gravel biking, road cycling, bike touring, or even world travel, the circulating GPS tracks and designated routes are equally diverse.
Apart from that, the statutory city itself has quite a bit to offer; first and foremost, an excellent connection to the rail network, which makes the combination of cycling and train travel almost always possible – but more on that later.

Here and now, we would like to invite you to explore two (and a half) of the many existing routes around Wiener Neustadt with us. However, since the Nyx's headquarters would not be an adequate accommodation option even for the most undemanding of individuals, we recommend the Hotel LeParc as a fitting place to stay before and/or after.
This is, of course, not a random suggestion. Rather, the four-star establishment, located less than 400 meters from the Eurovelo 9, actually a classic business hotel, has already distinguished itself as bike- and cyclist-friendly during the Mr. EIT Bike Days. And this impression has been reinforced during the current collaboration – because no, we wouldn’t even accommodate ourselves in the Bikeboard office – thanks to its many amenities specifically created for cycling guests.

Where there is a home advantage, there are, of course, temptations. After all, we know almost every meter of road or path in this area. What could be more obvious than adding another rewarding extra loop, an additional round, or a special test?
To avoid creating a point-of-no-return tour for the decidedly sporty part of our two (and a half) route tips, we therefore stick to one of the four top cycling routes in the Mittelburgenland-Rosalia region for the following gravel ride – extended only by the approach from and return to Wiener Neustadt, and supplemented by a proper mountain crossing, which doubles the final elevation gain, oops.

This results in a neat 80 km/1,000 meters of elevation gain in the end – but beware: I checked the calendar, and today the wind is blowing!
For those who are satisfied with the original scope of the Rosalia Cycling Trail (59 km/475 meters of elevation gain), the official starting and finishing point in Bad Sauerbrunn, located ten kilometers southeast of Wiener Neustadt, can either be reached within ten minutes by car or in three stops by train. Furthermore, the Mattersburg Railway is available from the halfway point in Schattendorf as a return shuttle, so to speak, at a 7-kilometer interval.

But it is still early morning, and the drivetrain is as fresh as the blue sky. So, there’s no reason to think about shortcuts or public transport reliefs. Especially since we, admittedly, have prepared and packed 55 Nm of Bosch SX power and 650 Wh of tailwind onto our KTM gravel bikes to counter the ever-present headwinds and crosswinds in the Steinfeld.
Secured in this way, there is even room and time at the beginning for a brief journey into the past and present of our starting point. After all, why else do we have a true local in our ranks?

Wiener Neustadt is a former imperial residence, a popular shopping and event center, an important economic and educational city, a notable transportation hub, a garrison town steeped in tradition, and home to almost 50,000 people. The latter is especially evident in the old town, which is exceptionally charming thanks to its vast squares, magnificent townhouses, spacious pedestrian zones, appetizing markets, and the late Romanesque cathedral.
Founded by the Habsburgs in 1192 to secure their duchies against the Hungarian Kingdom and built with the ransom received for Richard the Lionheart, this seat of three barracks, two airports, numerous industrial and research facilities, and Austria’s first university of applied sciences in 1994 still impresses today, especially with its monarchical heritage.
An extremely successful example of its seamless transition into the present day is the Kasematten. Part of the centrally located castle and former city fortifications, these historic vaults were extensively renovated for the Lower Austria State Exhibition in 2019 and transformed into a versatile cultural center.

The Rosalia-Koglberg Nature Park captivates us both visually and acoustically. There are, for one, the gigantic cherry trees. Like gnarled optical illusions, they stand in solitude amidst cultivated grain fields. A relic of a once typical form of mixed orcharding in northern Burgenland, the "Cherries of Pöttsching" are the significant remnants of a formerly widespread multi-use agricultural practice.
The benefits that wildlife derives from such a combination of fruit growing, small-scale agriculture, viticulture, and interspersed hedges and fallow strips are clearly audible. With so much bird song, the chirping of crickets is barely discernible, and vice versa. Sixty-one different bird species, including threatened ones like the hoopoe, stonechat, nightjar, and red-backed shrike, have been recorded in this special area with its abundance of habitats.

Elevated at a vantage point behind Sigleß, the mountains take over the scenery. "Octahedron" is the simple name of the landscape project installed there by artist Heinz Bruckschwaiger, which essentially consists of a double-pyramid-shaped viewing platform.
Information boards inside the platonic structure meticulously list what can be seen outside before the astonished eye: to the west, Schneeberg, Rax, and Hohe Wand, of course, and to the north, the Vienna Basin with some landmarks of the Vienna Woods, such as Hoher Lindkogel and Anninger. To the south, the Forchtenstein Castle adorns the Rosalia Mountains, and the festival and strawberry mecca Wiesen stands out. And to the east, the Leitha Mountains rise, and if the sun's position is just right, even Lake Neusiedl sparkles in the distance.

Next setting. It increasingly feels like Burgenland, with the typical courtyard farms, horse paddocks, wine taverns here and there. The town signs now provide bilingual information about the territorial conditions, implicitly referencing the Burgenland Croats as well. With a view of Sopron, almost within reach, and a former customs house, we approach the border town of Schattendorf.
The gunshots and the scandalous verdict, the protests and the burning of the Palace of Justice, the wave of arrests and the looming civil war. Or, alternatively, the curtain and the picnic, the border gate and the wave of escapes. Suddenly, we find ourselves right in the middle of the final years of the First Republic or the closing days of the Communist Eastern Bloc.
At the same time, we are also transported to childhood memories. Our local, NoSane, naturally leads us to the still-existing café in the square in Schattendorf, where, as the destination of our earliest cycling tours, the ice cream always tasted much better than anywhere else.

Over the only notable gravel section of the entire tour, the route then descends from the highest point of the loop (665 m) on occasionally challenging sections – in this part, we are on an MTB trail – downhill for what feels like an eternity. Only shortly before Lanzenkirchen are we spat out of the forest once again with a magnificent view of Schneeberg.
The curtain falls, applause, encore. Encore? At the latest at this point, one often realizes that the remaining ten kilometers of bike and service roads through the Steinfeld somehow always feel too long, too hot, too windy, or too something – Bosch assistance or not, fast bike or otherwise.

Keyword Hotel. What makes LeParc a recommendable address for cyclists?
First and foremost, its location. At first glance, the location might seem off-putting, as the four-star hotel located at Günser Straße 90 shares its entrance with a gas station, and the Aspangbahn railway line runs alongside it. However, the idyllic garden with a BBQ terrace and future picnic meadow, the 24/7 accessible rooftop terrace offering views of Schneeberg, the Rax plateau, and the Hohe Wand, as well as the immediate proximity to the Akademiepark, make one forget about the traffic arteries instantly. Moreover, the latter ensures that the hotel is just a quick ride (or pedal) away from the Eurovelo 9, which runs directly along the Akademiepark.
Behind the somewhat diminutive name lies a 186-hectare area that once served as an imperial hunting ground and was later used for military exercises by the MilAk cadets. Today, the area, transformed into an English-style park, is considered the most significant recreational area in Wiener Neustadt. With its wide paths, impressive old-growth trees, and artificial features such as a canal, pond, and the Maria Theresa monument, it is also excellent for running.

Additionally, the cozy and stylish LeParc offers its predominantly business-traveling guests an excellent breakfast with good coffee. It boasts a well-regarded restaurant (which we didn’t try due to our indulgence at the sausage stand), spacious rooms, and a fitness room located right next to the sauna, whose equipment could make many high-end sports hotels turn green with envy.
The hotel's commitment to hosting not only business travelers but also cycling tourists from home and abroad is especially evident in the garden. There, you’ll find a high-quality, lockable bike garage equipped with charging stations for e-bikes. Additionally, there's a washing station with a material-friendly Gardena hose connection. A pump and a neatly organized toolbox containing everything from Allen keys to spoke wrenches are also available.

Thus cared for and pampered, we are perfectly equipped for the second day.
Once again, we saddle up on e-bikes, but this time on ones with flat handlebars, suspension, and significantly wider tires. The plan is an e-MTB tour with an outbound journey by bike and a return trip by train – though this time, it’s not about maximum fun on the trails but rather the greatest possible comfort on the bike path.

Because if it was initially claimed that the Bikeboard crew knows almost every meter of road and trail around Wiener Neustadt, this might be true for sporty cycling with MTB, gravel bikes, or road bikes. However, it’s not necessarily the case for bike touring and trekking; for more or less extended excursions on those routes that tourism associations like to label as classic cycling tours.
So why not use this story as an opportunity to broaden our own horizons as well?

We had selected two options beforehand: On the one hand, the Piestingtal Cycle Path in the northwest of Wiener Neustadt, a maximum of 78 kilometers long leisurely tour through the valley of poets, musicians, and historical painters with a core section from Markt Piesting to Gutenstein (22 km). Fully paved and partly guided over characteristic wooden bridges along the Piesting River, this route offers insights into the Biedermeier period from 1815 to 1848 through corresponding informational pavilions.
The Piestingtal Railway connects the valley with Wiener Neustadt and runs parallel to the cycle path. There are connection or extension options with Sollenau (Eurovelo 9) in the east and – for sporty riders – the Haselrast/Rohr in Gebirge in the west at both ends of the route.

On the other hand, the Schwarzatal Cycle Route, stretching southwest from Lanzenkirchen to Reichenau an der Rax. At 40 kilometers long and accessible via the Southern Railway to/from Wiener Neustadt, it promises scenic variety, ranging from the plains of the Steinfeld to riverbanks, pine forests, and well-known summer resorts such as Ternitz, Gloggnitz, or Payerbach, all the way to the alpine landscape at the foot of the Rax.
Whether it's because we’ve already often shared impressions from the Piestingtal here, or because we were intrigued by the prospect of a journey through the region's history—from the roots of industrialization to the historic landscape of the Semmering Railway World Heritage Site—we ultimately decided on the Schwarzatal Cycle Route.

Once again, thanks to LeParc's suburban location, we quickly find ourselves out of the worst infrastructural density.
The official starting point, Lanzenkirchen, is located just ten kilometers south of Wiener Neustadt and, like our accommodation for one night, directly on the Eurovelo 9. Naturally, we decide to rely on our legs for this journey instead of taking the train.

Especially since this allows us to experience a geological and biological rarity: the Leitha floodplain near Katzelsdorf. Together with the so-called "Feuchte Ebene" (Wet Plains) European protected area, river landscapes like this have become rare in the Pannonian east of Austria. "The water does what it wants here," explains local NoSane. Sometimes it seeps into the ground for kilometers, sometimes it shifts entire gravel banks, creating entirely new conditions for swimmers and bathers from season to season; other times, it emerges as groundwater over wide areas.
Due to low rainfall, minimal snowmelt, and presumably excessive water extraction at the upstream weirs, which supply industrial canals and their small hydropower plants, this fauna-flora habitat has made headlines in recent years. At least during our visit, the Leitha—which forms a few kilometers upstream from the confluence of the Pitten and Schwarza rivers—does have water in some places once again.

On we go, in the exemplary interplay of a well-prepared digital roadbook and an analog signposted route. With a constant view of the conical Semmering and the plateau-like mountain personalities of the Viennese Alps, we cycle through meadows and fields, settlements, and small forests.
The Schwarza has been our increasingly steady companion since the Linsberg golf course. It treats us to old water wheels, new businesses, small riverbank groves, large bridges, pleasant resting places, and massive gravel and sawmills.

The route isn't always idyllic. Alongside motorways, railway tracks, or high-voltage power lines, despite all the industrial romance, there is sometimes a lack of charm and flair.
But overall, the impression of scenic views and variety prevails, and the deeper we venture into the land of summer retreats and the first tourism hotspots of the Habsburg reign, the more lasting the impression of ride & relax becomes.

At the destination of the Schwarzatal Cycle Route, in the well-maintained spa park of Reichenau with its old trees, the picturesque ornamental pond, and the ornate music pavilion, the spirit of these summer societies becomes almost tangible. One can almost imagine seeing famous personalities like Nathaniel Rothschild, Helene von Vetsera, Arthur Schnitzler, Bertha von Suttner, or Theodor Herzl strolling and discussing here.

After a delicious pizza at Ristorante L'attore, we do as the refined society of the past once did and board the train in Payerbach-Reichenau for the return trip to Vienna or Wiener Neustadt.
From the most frequented train station of the monarchy, the journey along the Southern Railway back is effortless and swift - enriched with many impressions and one certainty: cycling in and around Wiener Neustadt is possible with any type of bike and any fitness level.