Cycling Around Lake Neusiedl

As an enthusiastic landlord of charming lakeside cottages, I know that most of my guests spend the majority of their time by or on the water, and I completely understand that. Nevertheless, Burgenland and the picturesque Lake Neusiedl are also great places to explore by bike—after all, the terrain is very flat. You don’t necessarily need an e-bike here (although the headwind can be challenging).

Today I’d like to highlight the beauty and diversity of the bike paths around the lake, starting with Part 1 of the series, which focuses on the eastern side. The region around Rust and Mörbisch, stretching across the border to near Sopron or northward to Oggau, Purbach, Breitenbrunn, Jois, and Neusiedl, offers a unique experience for cycling enthusiasts of all skill levels.

This article is part of a series that is continuously updated. The best thing to do is to follow my Facebook pageat https://www.facebook.com/PfahlbauNeusiedlersee/; I always post there when a new blog article is published.

A Journey of Discovery on Two Wheels

The eastern shore of Lake Neusiedl is a paradise for cyclists seeking a combination of nature, culture, and excellent cuisine. The well-maintained bike paths wind through picturesque vineyards, past historic sites, and through charming villages that invite you to linger.

From Mörbisch to Rust – A Drive Through the Vineyards

Let’s start our tour in Rust at the stilt houses toward Mörbisch and the Hungarian border. This raises a fundamental question: if we’re heading closer to the lake, we’d have to go straight ahead at the Seehotel—before reaching the town center—instead of taking the 90-degree right turn into town. The route through the town, across Rathausplatz, and through the old city wall takes you to the road to Mörbisch. But to avoid riding on the main road, you can turn right up into the vineyards just before the town limits toward Mörbisch—roughly near Hotel Am Greiner. There, you can enjoy a pleasant ride up through the vineyards and actually see more of the lake with great views than if you were cycling down below along the reed line. On the other hand, there are a few more animals to see down below—from white Baroque donkeys to woolly pigs, there’s plenty of wildlife that the kids will enjoy. But as mentioned, the climb up Vogelsangweg to the right is more challenging. Mörbisch is known for the Mörbisch Lake Festival, and if you want to extend your tour a bit, you could cycle to the lake stage and back—that adds 2 km to the tour.

The Road to Sopron – A Cross-Border Adventure

For the more adventurous cyclists, the route to Sopron in Hungary offers a fascinating opportunity to continue the tour across the border. The historic city of Sopron, with its charming downtown and cozy cafés, is the perfect destination for a day trip. You can easily spend half a day there, but you can also just pop in quickly to say, “I’ve been there, too,” and then continue on your tour so as not to lose any time—after all, the bike path actually goes all the way around the lake, if time and your legs allow it.

In any case, after passing through Mörbisch and the border crossing, you first arrive at the site where the Pan-European Picnic took place in 1989:https://www.burgenland.info/dc/detail/POI/paneuropaeische-picknick

Depending on the season, fruit, storm-damaged produce, and other items are sold along the bike path. The next town is Fertörakos, where picturesque little houses in the Pannonian style line the road. There are a few good, authentic restaurants (I’ll write a blog post about them later), but the question is, of course, do you want to approach the tour from a culinary or a athletic perspective? Continuing the ride after such an early break takes more effort than just riding right past it. At least that’s true for me. So, on we go:

The next town isBalf. The bike path passes by a healing spring that’s incredibly healthy—if the stench and disgusting taste of rotten eggs are any indication of health 😉. The water is very popular with the locals, who bottle it up, so it can’t be unhealthy. It’s definitely gross, though. But I always drink some whenever I cycle by.

One of the next towns is Fertöd, where you can visit another Esterhazy castle and its park.

http://www.eszterhaza.hu/de

I can already see that I’ll probably have to offer several different bike tour options, because whether you ride all the way around the lake (about 6 hours of vigorous cycling) or just go halfway around and take the ferry back—or even take the ferry to the other side first thing in the morning—there are so many questions. This goes beyond the scope I had in mind for Part 1 of my cycling series. That means I’ll have to make some updates sooner than planned. Here, I’d like to recommend once again that you follow my Facebook page; that’s where I’ll announce it when I make significant updates to the blog. And I definitely will.

In the meantime, here's a link to the Burgenland Bike Trail that goes all the way around the lake. I've already done it—it was a breeze for me.

https://www.burgenland.info/dc/detail/Tour/neusiedler-see-radweg-6

But you can also easily do just half of the route, for example, and then take the ferry back from Illmitz to Mörbisch—for example, this ferry.

https://www.schifffahrt-gangl.at/fahrradfaehre

It’s a good idea to have a plan in mind beforehand for how you want to approach the day (cycle almost until dark, or find a cozy spot to sit in the early evening? For example, some ferries only run until 5:45 p.m.; if you miss one and suddenly find yourself having to cycle around the lake after all, it can get tedious.
Or you could spread it out over several days—for example, on the second day, take the ferry from Rust to Podersdorf first thing in the morning, and then cycle from Podersdorf via Neusiedl and Purbach back to Rust.