If you’re in Vienna and looking for that perfectly easy and short getaway from the city’s hustle and bustle, set your sights (and the GPS in your car) to Alte Donau . The “Old Danube” (which is the English translation of its name) is a landlocked body of water separated from the Danube River by a dam and is a favorite leisure area among the locals. It spans about 1.6 square kilometers divided into two sections by the Kagraner Brucke: the Obere Alte Donau to the northwest, and the Untere Alte Donau to the southeast.
It also has two major islands: the Grosses Gansehaufel and the Kleines Gansehaufel (which basically means big pile and little pile of goose droppings). The Alte Donau has been somewhat referred to in the past as the “sea of the Viennese labourers” with lidos or bathing complexes run by working unions. These lidos are open during the summer months of May to September and are popular holiday destinations – the biggest and most frequented is the Strandbad Gansehaufel, also known for its nudist area. Other lidos include the Angelibad, the Eisenbahnerbad, the Strandbad Alte Donau and the Polizeibad.
There is a number of enjoyable leisure activities that can be done in Alte Donau and among these are sailing, swimming, fishing, cycling and boating. During the winter, some areas are also open for ice skating. Most of the residential areas in Alte Donau are permanently inhabited but there are also plenty of accommodations for tourists and families on vacation.
