Linz Austria

Travelled: 173km
Stay:Ybbs an der Donau. Free parking, no facilities. GPS N48°10.8078' E15°4.9950'
Visited: Gmunden, Wels, Linz, Ybbs

We left nice and early before the Sunday crowds. We drove along Traunsee and through the small village of Traunkirchen 

before stopping in Gmunden. Being a Sunday morning we managed to find a free parking spot. The town was a salt trading post but now it is a health resort. It is also known for its fine ceramics of which there are numerous displays around the town. There is even a sanitaryware museum!

 The Gisela steamboat is the oldest still running in Austria. 

A salt carter.

We then left the lakes and made our way through farming country to Wels. Again being Sunday all the shops are closed, making parking easy and free. We walked to the main square with its lovely facades and colourfull buildings and then through the Baroque gates. 

Then it was off to Linz and our first glimpse of the Danube River. 

Its strategic position on the river means it has been an important and wealthy city with major industry. We strolled along Landstrasse to Hauptplatz, one of Austria's finest squares with beautiful architecture and the Plague Column built in 1723 to give thanks that Linz was spared from three deadly disasters: war, fire and the Black Death plague.

We looked in a couple of churches and the Landhause as well as the Neo-Gothic cathederal completed in 1924. It is Austria's largest sacred structure and had some beautiful stained-glass windows.

Our next stop was Mauthausen on the Danube. A quaint village that has an important memorial of a former WWII concentration camp. We had just missed the English tour and 2 hours was recommended for the visit. So we didn't go but the camps original buildings, the "ash dump" and quarry have been preserved.
We rejoined the Danube near Grein and followed it to Ybbs, 

we were able to park overnight right on the bank of the Danube and spent the evening watching many cruise boats and barges go past. After dinner we did go for a stroll in the village which has numerous bars/cafes and even a bike museum (as this is a major pastime here). We were surprised at the elaborate décor in the church and the flood heights that they have endured.