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Camping Vienna Neue Donau: Why I Send Cyclists and Pilgrims 30 km Further Out
Camping Vienna Neue Donau or a quiet side valley: my honest assessment
Anyone searching for camping Vienna Neue Donau usually wants two things at once: the city on the doorstep and quiet in the evening. The Neue Donau reliably delivers the first. Water, the underground nearby, quickly in the centre. The second often falls by the wayside, because city noise, leisure crowds and tight gaps between vehicles come with the package.
My counterpoint: 30 to 35 kilometres to the southwest, in Kaumberg in the southern Vienna Woods, you get meadow, mixed woodland, a mountain stream and sheep in the neighbouring field. Vienna still stays within reach, by car or on bus line 169 to Matzleinsdorfer Platz in around 55 minutes.
The facts about our site, so you can compare:
- around 50 pitches for guests, plus long stay camping
- pitches of 90 to over 100 m²
- electricity, drinking water and waste water disposal through the site’s own sewer system at every pitch
- sanitary building from 2005, 5 ADAC stars, ANWB 8.3, plus the EU Ecolabel
This text is written for people who are already comparing and want to decide, not for the first round of inspiration.
What the Neue Donau does well and where it reaches its limits
A city location is a real advantage if you stay two nights and want to work through museums, the opera and the old town. The downside: the bustle does not stop when you close the door. Neighbours at arm’s length, railway and motorway nearby, and evening quiet by the water is more of a suggestion than a state. Fine for a short stop. For recovery over several days it becomes a slog. Why a 90 m² pitch is worth more than any star rating is something I have written up in more detail in the article on motorhome pitches in the Vienna Woods.
What 30 kilometres of driving change
The half hour drive is not a detour but a space of transition. With every kilometre something falls away, and in the end you turn into a side valley where it is simply quiet. All around is a Natura 2000 landscape with calcareous dry grassland and beech forests, and to the north the Vienna Woods as a biosphere reserve. You hear the stream and the wind, not bass and traffic. What that difference feels like I describe in Campsite in the Vienna Woods: 30 km from Vienna, another world.
Who the decision is clear for and who it is not
Clear for you if you are looking for a base camp for several days: 52 kilometres of marked hiking trails in Kaumberg, the Triesting and Gölsen valley cycle route, the Via Sacra right at the site, Vienna as a day trip. Less clear if you are staying one night and want to be standing in the Hofburg at eight in the morning. Then you drive 35 kilometres twice and take little of the quiet with you.
A base camp for hikers and cyclists: 52 km of trails and the Triesting and Gölsen valley cycle route
Anyone searching for camping Vienna Neue Donau usually wants one thing: a place in the green that is quick to reach from Vienna. But the water there lies in the middle of the city, and the paths are asphalt. With us in Kaumberg the tours start right behind the site. The municipality has 52 km of marked hiking trails through meadows, mixed woodland and side valleys. Details are on our page about the campsite with hiking trails in the Vienna Woods.
The best known destination: the Araburg castle ruin at 800 m above sea level, the highest castle ruin in Lower Austria. From the centre of Kaumberg you follow the green markings, around 1.5 hours on foot across meadows and through woodland. The Peilstein is the second destination everyone here knows, popular with nature lovers and climbers alike.
For cyclists, the Triesting and Gölsen valley cycle route runs 62 km from Hirtenberg or Leobersdorf to St. Pölten, mostly along the riverbanks, through small villages, past country inns and parks. It connects to the thermal region route, the Traisen valley route and from there on to the Danube cycle path. If you like, you can ride it as a round trip over several days and come back here each evening.
And this is the point where I have a clear opinion: a place where you can park your bike in the evening, take a hot shower and then sit in peace is worth more than a ten minute shorter trip into the centre. After 60 kilometres in the saddle you do not care about being close to the underground, you care about a pitch with space, electricity and quiet.
Tours from the site, no car needed
- A loop around our own farm, past the sheep in the meadows
- A short forest loop before breakfast, back before the coffee goes cold
- A walk along the mountain stream, good for legs that already had enough yesterday
For motorcyclists
The B18 and the Gerichtsberg deliver what you ride for in the first place: bends without convoy traffic. From here, the Schneeberg (2,076 m) and the Rax (2,007 m) are day destinations. The site is popular with motorcycle travellers because after a stage you do not have to go looking for somewhere to stay.
When the weather does not play along
Then there is Heiligenkreuz Abbey, Mayerling, the pilgrimage church of Klein-Mariazell, the spa town of Baden with its theatre and casino, or the White Zoo with its camel theatre in Kernhof, home to Austria’s only white tigers. Please check opening times and prices on the respective websites, as they change constantly.
Via Sacra: a stage stop for pilgrims on the way to Mariazell
The site lies directly on the Via Sacra, Austria’s oldest pilgrim route. From Vienna it runs through the Vienna Woods, on through the Triesting valley, over the Gerichtsberg and eventually to Mariazell. Anyone who has walked this route knows: the stages are manageable, the problem lies elsewhere. Namely in the question of where you sleep and what happens to your car.
That is exactly where we come in. What pilgrims get with us is unspectacular and pretty much exactly what counts after 25 kilometres:
- A hot shower in the sanitary building from 2005, accessible, rated five stars by ADAC
- A socket for phone, power bank and watch
- Free wifi with 1 GB fair use, enough for the weather forecast, maps and a call home
- An affordable tent pitch: 1 tent per person EUR 14.00 per night, tourist tax, waste fee and VAT already included
- By arrangement, your car can stay in our own car park until you return
In our experience, that last point decides more than any list of facilities. Anyone walking part stages always faces the same dilemma: park the car somewhere by the roadside and hope, or build the whole logistics around public transport. With us the car stays on the farm and you set off. That takes away the organisational pressure pilgrimage does not need.
Getting here and back without a car
It also works entirely without your own vehicle. The Mariazell bus, VOR line 552, runs from Wien Mitte directly to Kaumberg. You get off, walk to the site, sleep, and start the next morning. For the return from Mariazell you have two options: by bus back to Kaumberg or straight to Wien Mitte, or on the Mariazellerbahn via St. Pölten. Both work, and the second is the more scenic finish.
Departure times and prices change with the seasons, so please check vor.at, postbus.at or the ÖBB Scotty app before you plan.
Stage planning in practice
- Plan Kaumberg as a stopover between the Vienna Woods and the Gerichtsberg. The side valley is quiet, and at night you really hear nothing but the stream.
- Build in a rest day. The Araburg at 800 metres is the highest castle ruin in Lower Austria, around 1.5 hours from the centre of Kaumberg along the green markings.
- In the evening, home cooking at the inn on site, depending on availability. If in doubt, call ahead: +43 676 4741966.
And yes: payment with us is cash only. Good to know before you set off.
Long stay camping near Vienna: a second home in the green, without illusions
Anyone in Vienna looking for a long stay pitch quickly lands on camping Vienna Neue Donau. It is easy to reach, no question. But a patch of meadow that is yours for years, with a tree, a hedge and a view of wooded hills, you will not find there. In Kaumberg you will. Around 35 kilometres southwest of the city, in a side valley, beside a mountain stream. How quiet it really is here you notice on the first night.
What awaits you here, in concrete terms:
- Pitches of 90 to over 100 m², not a sardine tin
- A fixed electricity and drinking water connection at the pitch
- Waste water through the site’s own sewer system
- A quiet location all year round, because no through traffic runs into the valley
- Dogs are welcome
The farm has been in family ownership for around 200 years and is first recorded in the house chronicle in 1380. The campsite has existed since 1980, the current layout since June 2006. Leopold Grandl tends around 120 old fruit varieties on the grounds, about 70 of which he grafted and planted himself. The guiding principle behind it: living in nature with nature. You notice it in what has not happened here, namely concreting over and cramming in.
How an enquiry works
- Call +43 676 4741966 or email reservierung@camping-noe.at. If no reply comes, check your spam folder.
- Come by and look at the site. A long stay pitch is a decision for years, and you do not make it from photos.
- Go through the pitch and connections together. Where does the caravan stand, where does the power come from, how is it oriented to the sun.
- Clarify the terms directly with Leopold Grandl.
And a clarification that saves time: long stay prices and contract details are not published online as a flat figure. Every pitch is different, and so is every use. Someone staying a year has different requirements from someone setting up a mobile home. That is discussed in conversation, not via a table.
Assessing availability realistically
Alongside the roughly 50 tourist pitches there is only a limited number of long stay pitches. When one becomes free, it usually goes quickly. So ask early, even in winter outside the season from 30 March to 30 September. A call in January is often smarter than one in June.
A mobile home as an option
You will find information at mobilheim.me. Honestly: it pays off if you really come regularly, want to leave your things here and need comfort. If you are here for a weekend three times a year, stick with the caravan or a tourist pitch. Anything else is expensive storage space.
Costs, getting here and booking: what to know before you decide
Let us talk numbers so you do not have to guess. The 2026 season runs from 30 March to 30 September. We accept reservation enquiries by email all year round. A tip from experience: if there is no reply after a day or two, check your spam folder. Unfortunately our confirmations end up there more often than we would like.
The prices per night:
- Caravan or motorhome with 2 people: 33.00 euro
- Tent with 2 people: 28.00 euro
- Each additional person: 14.00 euro
- Child aged 5 to 13: 6.00 euro per day
Tourist tax (2.50 euro) and waste fee (1.50 euro) are already included, as are water, sewer use and VAT. The only addition is electricity at 0.50 euro per kW by meter reading. Payment with us is cash only, cards do not work. The current list is at camping-noe.at price list.
Getting here by car and motorcycle
From Vienna: A21 to the Mayerling exit, towards Hafnerberg onto the B11, on along the B18 to Altenmarkt, straight through Altenmarkt, one kilometre after Thenneberg turn left, then another 400 metres. From the south: A2 exit Leobersdorf, via Berndorf onto the B18, same turning after Thenneberg. From the west: A1 exit St. Pölten Süd, B20 to Traisen, at the roundabout onto the B18 towards Hainfeld and Kaumberg.
For your satnav: Höfnergraben 2, 2572 Kaumberg, GPS 48.01972 / 15.9425. The last kilometres are winding, which for motorcyclists is more of an argument than a problem.
A day in Vienna without a car
Bus line 169 runs from the stops near Kaumberg straight to Matzleinsdorfer Platz, around 55 minutes, with about two to three departures a day. The ticket costs roughly 7 to 11 euro. At Matzleinsdorfer Platz the underground, suburban railway and tram are right in front of you. If what you really have in mind with camping Vienna Neue Donau is a day by the water, with swimming, cycling and city air, you can get there from here without a car and still sleep between meadow and forest in the evening rather than beside an arterial road. Why this model works so well for city dwellers is explained in Camping Vienna: 30 km from the stress, your digital detox starts here. Please check departure times beforehand on vor.at or in ÖBB Scotty, as they change by day of the week.
The next step
- Email reservierung@camping-noe.at or call Leopold Grandl on +43 676 4741966.
- Give your preferred dates and pitch size; the pitches are around 90 to over 100 m².
- For long stay camping, it is best to arrange a viewing straight away. We discuss the terms in person, because every pitch lies differently.
Frequently asked questions
Is there camping directly on the Neue Donau in Vienna?
Yes, in Vienna’s Donaustadt district there is a city campsite near the Neue Donau, with an underground connection and right on the Danube cycle path. For a short visit focused on the city centre, that is practical. If you want to stay several days and have quiet in the evening, you are better served by the surrounding countryside. Camping Paradise Garden lies in Kaumberg, around 30 to 35 km southwest of Vienna, in a quiet side valley beside a mountain stream.
How do I get from Kaumberg to Vienna and the Danube without a car?
Bus line 169 (VOR) runs from the stops near Kaumberg straight to Matzleinsdorfer Platz, a journey of about 55 minutes, ticket approx. 7 to 11 euro. There you change to the underground, suburban railway or tram and are quickly at the Danube Island. There are only around two to three departures a day, so plan ahead. Current times are on vor.at, postbus.at or in ÖBB Scotty.
What does a night cost and how do I pay?
A caravan or motorhome with 2 people costs 33.00 euro per night, a tent with 2 people 28.00 euro, children aged 5 to 13 6.00 euro per day. Tourist tax, waste fee, water, sewer use and VAT are included, and electricity is charged by meter reading at 0.50 euro per kW. Payment is cash only, cards do not work with us. The full list is on our price list page.
How big are the pitches and what connections are there?
The pitches are generously sized at approx. 90 to over 100 m², and the site is long and mostly level, with individual trees and hedges. Every pitch has an electricity connection, drinking water and waste water disposal through our own sewer system. The sanitary building from 2005 is accessible and was rated five stars by ADAC, and ANWB gives 8.3. Wifi with 1 GB fair use is free.
How does long stay camping work and what does it cost?
Long stay camping is possible with us, on the same large pitches with fixed electricity, water and sewer connections. We clarify terms, available pitches and the process in person, because every pitch and every situation is different. Just call Leopold Grandl on +43 676 4741966 or write to reservierung@camping-noe.at. For mobile homes there is additional information at mobilheim.me.
Is the site a good base for hiking, cycling and the Via Sacra?
Kaumberg has 52 km of marked hiking trails, and the Araburg at 800 m is the highest castle ruin in Lower Austria, reachable in around 1.5 hours from the village centre. The 62 km Triesting and Gölsen valley cycle route runs through the valley and connects all the way to the Danube cycle path. We lie directly on the Via Sacra: shower, phone charging, free wifi, and by arrangement your car can stay at the site until you return. Season 2026: 30 March to 30 September.
