The River Danube Revisited

This flight follows one of Europe's most scenic river corridors, the Danube (Donau), from the heart of Bavaria in southern Germany to the outskirts of the Austrian capital. Along the route, we will pass through two countries, two distinct cultural landscapes — the Bavarian Gäuboden lowlands and the celebrated Austrian Wachau valley — and encounter nearly two thousand years of continuous human history. The Danube is the second-longest river in Europe after the Volga, running approximately 2,860 kilometres from the Black Forest in Germany to the Black Sea in Romania. We did this flight before.

We depart from Manching Airbase. It is a dual-use airfield, home of the Bundeswehr Technical and Airworthiness Center for Aircraft. The first flights for the Tornado and Eurofighter prototypes took place here.

A couple of miles downstream lies Kelheim, at the confluence of the Altmühl and the Danube — an important archaeological site with Celtic and Roman-era remains. Just across the river and up in the hills to the south is Weltenburg Abbey, a Benedictine monastery believed to be the oldest in Bavaria, founded around 620 AD by Irish and Scottish monks. Weltenburg operates what is often cited as the world's oldest monastery brewery, still producing beer on site today. The surrounding Danube Gorge between Kelheim and Weltenburg is a dramatically narrow limestone canyon, one of the most striking natural features in Bavaria, popular with kayakers and hikers. Shortly after passing Regensburg, the distinctive white marble silhouette of the Walhalla becomes visible high on the Bräuberg hillside. The Walhalla is one of Germany's most extraordinary monuments. Conceived in 1807 by Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria (later King Ludwig I) as a patriotic hall of fame for distinguished figures of the German-speaking world, it was built between 1830 and 1842. The building is a faithful recreation of the Parthenon in Athens, constructed in white marble, sitting on a massive, terraced substructure rising 55 meters above the Danube valley. The colonnade consists of 46 Doric columns, and the structure is 66.7 meters long. Its name comes from Valhalla of Norse mythology, the hall where fallen warriors rested. Inside, the walls are lined with 130 marble busts and 65 memorial plaques honoring notable Germanic figures spanning 2,000 years of history, from Arminius (victor at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD) through modern times. Figures as varied as Charlemagne, Dürer, Gutenberg, Mozart, Beethoven, Kant, and Sophie Scholl are represented. The Bavarian Council of Ministers selects new entrants every few years; the original 96 busts installed in 1842 have since grown considerably.

Our first landing is Straubing Wallmühle (EDMS).  It handles around 27,000 movements per year, with business aviation accounting for more than half of the traffic, and over 100 aircraft are based there across 11 hangars. Deggendorf (EDMW), our next landing, has a single asphalt runway, oriented 09/27. The Danube harbour at Deggendorf is the only trimodal freight centre on the Bavarian Danube and was for many years the only free port on the river in Bavaria. Vilshofen (EDMV) lies directly on the Danube and is noted among pilots for its friendly atmosphere, good facilities, and proximity to the town. Noise abatement procedures along the river are in effect, particularly at weekends. Vilshofen has a remarkable claim to brewing history. A son of the town, Josef Groll (1813–1887), travelled to Pilsen in Bohemia in 1842 and there brewed the world's first pale golden lager, the beer that became Pilsner Urquell and inspired more than two-thirds of all beer styles produced globally today. He is remembered as the father of the Pilsner. Just downstream lies Passau — the three-rivers city where the Inn and Ilz join the Danube — though today's route continues south-east following the river as it enters Austria.

Crossing the German-Austrian border at Passau, the Danube enters the narrow gorge of the Schlögener Schlinge — one of the most dramatic river loops in central Europe, where the Danube cuts through the granite of the Bohemian Massif in a series of tight meanders. Following the river, we approach the city of Linz. Linz Airport (LOWL) is a dual-use facility, sharing the site with the Austrian Air Force's Fliegerhorst Vogler military base. It is Austria's second-largest cargo airport and handles scheduled and charter operations. The city of Linz, Austria's third largest with about 200,000 inhabitants, is the capital of Upper Austria (Oberösterreich).

Continuing downstream into Lower Austria, the route enters the Wachau — a stretch of the Danube valley between Melk and Krems inscribed as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site. The Wachau is famous for its terraced vineyards, apricot orchards, castle ruins, and small wine villages that seem barely changed since the Middle Ages. The first great landmark of the Wachau is Melk Abbey (Stift Melk), visible from many kilometres away as a massive golden-yellow Baroque complex perched on a sheer granite cliff directly above the river. The site was originally a castle-residence of the Babenberg dynasty, Austria's ruling family from 976 to 1246. On 21 March 1089, Margrave Leopold II gave the cliff and its buildings to Benedictine monks, and a monastic community has lived here without interruption ever since — nearly a thousand years of continuous occupation. The magnificent Baroque complex visible today was built between 1702 and 1746, following a fire and reconstruction programme. The great abbey church with its twin towers and magnificent dome, the marble hall, and the library — which holds over 100,000 volumes including priceless medieval manuscripts — represent one of the finest ensembles of Baroque architecture north of the Alps. The library possesses manuscripts more than a thousand years old brought by the founding monks. Melk Abbey managed to survive the dissolution of monasteries under Emperor Joseph II in the 1780s due to its great academic reputation, and it remains an active religious and educational community today, running a secondary school for nearly 900 pupils. In his 1980 novel The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco chose to name his narrator "Adso of Melk" as an homage to the famous abbey.

A short distance downstream from Melk, the white walls of Schönbühel Castle appear on the right bank of the Danube, rising from a rocky outcrop about 40 metres above the river — precisely where the Wachau valley begins. The castle is known as the "Keeper of the Wachau." The site has been occupied since at least the 12th century, when it was first built by Marchwardus de Schoenbuchele as a defensive structure, possibly on the footprint of an earlier Roman fortification. Originally the property of the Bishop of Passau, it passed through many hands over the centuries, including a long tenure under the powerful Starhemberg family from 1419 until 1819. After falling into disrepair, the castle was purchased by Count Franz von Beroldingen in 1819 and substantially renovated, making it habitable again by 1821. The Seilern-Aspang family, who acquired it in 1930, remains its owner today. Though not open to the public, Schönbühel is one of the most photographed castles in Austria and a defining image of the Wachau from the river. Further downstream, on the north bank of the Danube high above the river on a rocky spur of the Dunkelsteinerwald forest, stand the dramatic ruins of Aggstein Castle — arguably the most atmospheric castle ruin along the entire Austrian Danube. The castle was probably begun at the start of the 12th century and came into the possession of the Kuenring family in 1181. The Kuenringers became notorious robber barons. The castle withstood every direct assault; it was never taken by force.  About 55,000 visitors come each year to explore the hidden stairways, dungeons, knight's hall, and chapel, and to enjoy one of the finest panoramic views of the Wachau. The castle ruins regularly host medieval festivals and theatrical events.

We land at Langenlois (LOAG), also known as Krems-Langenlois. The town of Langenlois is Austria's largest wine-producing municipality. The Kamptal wine region, named after the River Kamp that flows southward through it before joining the Danube east of Krems, is one of the most prestigious wine districts in the country. With around 3,600 hectares under vine, it is renowned above all for Grüner Veltliner and Riesling.

Langenlebarn (LOXT) is a military airfield of the Austrian Air Force. The airfield has a history that mirrors the turbulence of the 20th century with particular vividness. The Austrian First Republic planned a military airfield here in the 1930s; the German Luftwaffe took up those plans after the Anschluss in 1938 and built the base with local labour, completing it by March 1939. During World War II, its primary function was pilot training. In a remarkable postwar moment, Pan American World Airways operated scheduled passenger service from New York to Langenlebarn from June 1946 — one of the first transatlantic air links into central Europe after the war. When the Austrian State Treaty was signed in 1955, US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles arrived here. The airfield was handed over to the reborn Austrian Air Force on 30 September 1955. For motor racing fans, the airfield hosted Formula Two Championship rounds from 1967 to 1971 on a 2.9-kilometre circuit laid out on the runways. The Austrian driver Jochen Rindt won the inaugural race here in 1967 before future world champions Jack Brabham and Jim Clark also competed on the circuit.

Our next POI is Kreuzenstein Castle. The lords of the castle were not only ruling over large parts of the Tulln field and the Korneuburg basin, but also surveyed the nearby city of Vienna, as well as vast areas of Lower Austria. The first medieval castle was presumably constructed here at the beginning of the 12th century. During the final years of the Thirty Years' War, the Swedes largely destroyed it by demolition charges during their retreat. During the following decades, the ruins were used by the surrounding inhabitants as a quarry for construction materials. The castle's current appearance owes everything to one remarkable man. It was Austrian nobleman Johann Nepomuk Count Wilczek who decided to rebuild the castle in the 19th century, inspired by the Romantic ideal of the Middle Ages. Between 1874 and 1906, an ambitious restoration project was carried out using original elements from medieval ruins and materials collected throughout Europe. The castle remains in the Wilczek family's possession today. It has also become a popular film location — scenes from the Netflix series The Witcher were shot here in 2019, and in 2023 it served as a backdrop for the Disney+ series Shardlake.

Before landing at Schwechat, the route passes over the city of Vienna (Wien), the Austrian capital and one of the great imperial cities of European history. Vienna International Airport (LOWW) is Austria's largest airport and the hub of Austrian Airlines, as well as a major base for Ryanair and Condor. The airport handles over 31 million passengers per year and connects Vienna to 195 destinations in 68 countries, operated by 65 airlines. The 109-metre-high ATC tower, completed in 2006, is the tallest control tower in Europe.

The flight is 265 miles long and has 6 landings. Any GA airplane is suitable. I will be in the A2A Comanche. Please fly what you like.

The flight plan is here.

Recommended scenery:

Manching – ETSI (dependency: Lossiemouth EGQS, KXTA Homey Airport, and Turtle Tanks library)

Straubing – EDMS

Deggendorf – EDMW

Vilshofen – EDMV

Linz – LOWL

Krems – LOAG

Langenlebarn – LOXT

Vienna – LOWW is available as Payware

The package is available here. You may have downloaded some of the airports before.

We try real weather. Please set your simulator for an 11:00 am local departure.

Multiplayer Particulars:

Date and time: Sunday, May 10, 2026. 16:00 UTC

Microsoft Flight Simulator Multiplayer: United States East server

These flights are events posted at DigitalThemePark. For these Sunday flights, we use DTP’s Discord Server for communication.

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