On the heels of our very first (and successful) tandem tour in 2016, we were ready to try again.   We had an embarrassment of choices right around us, but for some forgotten reason we started looking into riding along the Danube river.  

We had last traveled in that area in 1975 when we were college students on a summer backpacking trip through Europe.  Our student rail passes were also good on the Danube river boats, so we spent some time on the river in unaccustomed (for us at the time) luxury.   We had fond memories of the river, scenery, and little villages along the way.  And there was that white wine we drank...was it as good as we remembered?

While starting the planning, we discovered that there were several bike touring companies that specialized in organizing tours like the one we were planning.  This was appealing since they would handle bookings (my old college German is pretty rusty), and we could have someone carry our bags for us!   All we had to do was pedal and enjoy ourselves

We settled on a company called Austria Radreisen.  At our request, they made some small modifications to one of their standard trips.  We rode from Passau to Vienna over 7 days.   (Actually the trip started at their offices in Schärding, a few km up the Inn river from Passau).

While this might seem like a wimpy solution to some hard-core cycle tourists, it worked well for us.  We were able to focus on what we like best: History and art, food and wine, and just general sightseeing.   We wouldn't necessarily chose it again for every trip, but for this trip it was a good decision for us.

A few weeks before the trip, we got a satisfyingly big packet in the mail.  It contained detailed maps for each day, along with details on each hotel reservation.  It was very impressive and gave us a lot of confidence that this trip would work out very well.

Our equipment for this tour was unchanged from our previous tour:  Our Bike Friday Tandem Two'sDay, Schwalbe Marathon tires, and Cardo helmet-based bluetooth communication system.