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It began more than a year ago. For a whole summer Martha Tretter rode the routes: checking whether a way was really worth it, noting every turning, and stopping wherever it was worth stopping. The longest part, by the way, was not the cycling but the exploring: which Heuriger, which coffee house, which ice cream parlour really lies on the route. And whether the cake there is as good as it looks.
After the summer in the saddle came the winter at the desk. Notes, distances and rather a lot of photographs turned into twelve routes, and together they show how varied this city is. „Mit dem Rad durch Wien” (By Bike Through Vienna) was published on 11 September 2026 by Droste Verlag, in German, with GPS data to download so that nobody has to stand at a junction guessing.
To the masterpieces of Viennese Modernism, past facades you only really see from the saddle.
Through quiet lanes and courtyards, walking the bike where it gets narrow.
Out to the edge of the city, where the vines grow and the Heuriger lies on the way.
For a swim, to the boathouse, to the Danube Island. Vienna on the water, loveliest in summer.
Plus baroque palaces, neighbourhood cafés, viewpoints and places where Vienna tells its story very quietly. Together they add up to 218 kilometres, most routes between 11 and 24 kilometres, and each one fits comfortably into half a day. The twelve routes at a glance:
1 Durch das Herz der Stadt
Through the heart of the city · 11.6 km · easy
2 Vielfältige Leopoldstadt
Many-sided Leopoldstadt · 20.0 km · easy
3 Der dritte Bezirk im Fokus
The third district in focus · 14.3 km · easy
4 Naschmarkt und Neubau
Naschmarkt and Neubau · 13.3 km · easy
5 Josefstadt und Alsergrund
Josefstadt and Alsergrund · 11.1 km · easy
6 Favoriten ist legendär
Favoriten is legendary · 22.8 km · moderate
7 Quer durch Simmering
Across Simmering · 24.2 km · easy
8 Von Schönbrunn nach Liesing
From Schönbrunn to Liesing · 24.2 km · moderate, 290 m climb
9 Ottakring und Penzing
Ottakring and Penzing · 16.5 km · moderate, 190 m climb
10 Währing und Neustift
Währing and Neustift · 18.7 km · moderate, 340 m climb
11 Cobenzl und Kahlenberg
Cobenzl and Kahlenberg · 20.0 km · moderate, 400 m climb
12 Donau und Seestadt
Danube and Seestadt · 21.3 km · easy
The climbs give it away: ten routes are flat and meant for everyone, and the two outings to the Kahlenberg and to Neustift reward the ascent with vineyards and views. If you like, take an e-bike for those.
One principle runs through the whole book: it is not about covering kilometres. You get off for the view, for a look inside a church or a quiet courtyard, for a glass of wine, for a slice of cake. Anyone who finishes one of these routes in two hours has missed something along the way.
That is why every route tells you not only where to go but why: the story behind a facade, the name on a stone, the confectioner who left the city a park. The bike is the means of transport. The city is the destination.
Martha Tretter grew up in Kirchdorf an der Krems in Upper Austria and studied Comparative Literature and Portuguese in Vienna. After years in Brazil and Portugal, Vienna became her home, and since 2001 she has been showing the city as a state-certified Austria Guide. In 2009 she founded artemezzo because she wanted to do city tours differently: more personal, with more stories, and with time to linger.
For more than two decades she has been guiding guests through Vienna on foot. At some point the bike came along, and with it a new view of the city: suddenly the vineyards, the Old Danube and the neighbourhoods beyond the Gürtel were within reach of an afternoon. Today Martha explores Vienna by bike all year round, across every district and out into the surroundings. Her first book, „Grüne Glücksorte in Wien”, appeared in 2024 with the same publisher.
Anyone who walks with her soon notices: she knows not only the facts but the people behind them. The confectioner who left the city a park. The poet who dedicated a poem to a staircase. The Viennese who turn their courtyards green. That is what turns a walk into a story.
The routes are in the book. But the stories that go with them Martha prefers to tell in person, on the spot. Two tours that go with the book:
You choose one of the twelve routes from the book and Martha rides it with you: around four hours, with your own bike or a WienMobil rental, with sightseeing stops and a break at a coffee house, Heuriger or ice cream parlour. Up to eight people with one guide, larger groups with two.
If you prefer to walk: Martha’s favourite green places in the old town, from the Burggarten via hidden courtyards to the Stadtpark, with the stories from her first book. Meeting point at the Goethe monument on the Opernring.
Martha reads from her book, tells of the summer in the saddle and the winter at the desk, shows pictures from the routes and is happy to answer questions. A talk lasts between 45 and 90 minutes and takes place at your venue, in Vienna and the surrounding area, or online via Zoom for anyone who lives further away or is no longer so steady on their feet. Readings are in German; talks can be given in English.
A talk with route tips, gladly combined with a ride together on one of the twelve routes.
A reading with conversation and book signing, also as an evening event.
An illustrated talk on Vienna from the saddle, with tips for your own tours.
An afternoon of Vienna stories and pictures, in house or online via Zoom.
Exploring the Danube metropolis up close. Twelve tours for modern sightseeing on two wheels, with maps, tips for stops and GPS data to download.
Droste Verlag, 11 September 2026, German
168 pages, paperback with flaps
ISBN 978-3-7700-2791-0
Or order it from your local bookshop, from Thalia or Morawa, or directly from Droste Verlag. The book is in German.
Yes. On the Cycling Tour through Vienna you choose one of the twelve routes and Martha rides it with you: around four hours, with a break and sightseeing stops.
No. In Vienna the easiest way to rent is WienMobil Rad via the nextbike app: 0.80 euros per 30 minutes, at most 20 euros a day, e-bike 3.30 euros per 30 minutes. We are happy to start at a station and help with the rental.
Yes. Up to eight people ride with Martha alone; larger groups, such as cycling clubs, associations or companies, are split between two guides.
The book is published in German. The tour is in English as well, and Martha tells the stories from the book in English along the way.
In any bookshop in Austria and Germany, from Thalia and Morawa, directly from Droste Verlag or online from Amazon. The GPS data for the routes comes as a download with the book.
Write to office@artemezzo.com and we will get back to you personally: for a cycling tour, a talk, or with a recommendation for the route that suits the season.
