wein & wachau

Touring Austria, ready to leave the hustle and bustle of Vienna? If you're looking for a picturesque Austria village you have found it. Captured in a time long ago; quaint shops yet modern touches, local foods with some gourmet touches, quiet cobblestone streets shadowed by the Abbey on the hill - ahh.Take your time exploring the small community. For us it was the high point of our visit to the Danube Valley. We visited during Christmas Market time, you will be disappointed if that's your primary reason for exploring this region - a last you won't find the traditional markets. While your in the region a must is the Melk Abbey. During our visit it was impossible to know that approximately 900 students were in residence. A must see for the region.

After visiting the Abbey, high up on the hill we walked through and around the lovely small town of Melk on the way back to our cruise ship. There are many interesting small shops selling what looked like good quality items. In addition there are many small cafes and bars with outdoor seating just to sit and people watch. If you are on a river cruise take advantage of walking through this small town to return to the ship. The walk is about twenty minutes but you will not be disappointed!

Crusing down the Danube River offers beautiful views of the Wachau area, and a stop at Melk makes it all the more wonderful. We did this in the fall as the leaves were turning, adding even more beauty to the scenery.

This is an area of outstanding beauty and to see all the castles and vineyards on a glorious sunny day from your cruise ship is wonderful. Go and enjoy.

We loved the Danube cruise to the Monestary at Melk and the Wachau area. We had a beautiful day-the only non rainy day of our time in Vienna. Cruise had great food and drinks, awesome views and a chance to talk to other travelers from different places. Worth the $.

I made a day trip from vienna, got the combo ticket from westbahnhof station (49 euros for train to Melk, entrance to the abbey , boat trip to krems & train back to Wien (not westbahnhof) . all was great, especially the abbey, Krems wasn't special , but can stay in the park near the train station, till the time of departure of train... worth a visit if the weather is good.....

A wonderful trip from Melk to Krems. Do not waste it looking to try the wines in the Dömane Wachau wine shop. The treatment of employees is rude, unacceptable.

Brilliant! Grapes hanging on the vine, friendly locals, perfectly scenery... what more could a girl ask for?

We organised this wonderful trip via the tourist information centre in Wien which is a really great place for day trips. We also organised going to Hungry but that is another story!!The Wachau is the stretch of narrow valley between Melk and Krems through which the Danube flows.We went to the Opera House and caught the bus to Krems where the boat departed down the Danube and it was a fantastic voyage through the Vienna woods. I took heaps of photos but have only put in a few to give you an idea of what to expect. The scenery was awe inspiring and as I say if you are in Vienna it is a must. The river was very full when we travelled in middle of June 2013. Once at Melk and entering the monastery church is was just breath taking and the amount of work gone into the inside beggers belief. I was left without words and that is really saying something!! The Library has some of the oldest books in all of Austria -no photos of course but something you need to experience. We also went in to the Stiftsrestaruant Melk and had coffee, soup and Crispy roast pork knuckle and it was beautiful. I must admit that it was also very windy and quite cool, but not too bad. On the way back we caught the bus and again different views of the countryside was very beautiful. So very glad we did this trip.

Nicolette was an awesome tour guide. Have going to see the scenery and the lunch was really awesome.

Absolutely loved the Wachau region. We decided to take the train from Vienna to Melk, bike to Krems, and take train back. From everything I had read the bike ride wasn't supposed to last more than 2-3 hours. Wrong! It took us 3 hrs or so (with a couple stops along the way) just to get to Spitz. By that time the last ferry had left for the day and the train was not running. Lucky for us a kind woman drove us to Krems train station! She was a saint! Just a warning for those who intend to bike the path...it's gorgeous but not necessarily effortless, as the bikes we rented were only 3 speed and some of the inclines were pretty steep. Tiring, but overall an amazing time! Loved the town of Melk...came across local festival with orchestra playing in the town square. Grab a bottle of wine from the Abbey and stow it in the bike basket for the ride! Wonderful route past apple and wine vineyards, castles and cute towns. Go on a nice day and enjoy the area!

Apricot candles, candies, liquor, schnapps, brandy, jam, wine, juices, anything apricot is here. It is worth an hour of shopping and an hour for lunch in this basically one street town. Loved the steep stone paved street coming down from the Abby. The Abby plus the town is a nice 3-4 hour visit.

The second thing I will tell you about is that we did the trip to the Wachau Valley with the fantastic help of the TA experts. It works like clockwork just like they tell you. One thing - when you go to the train station at 06:15 there are very few people to ask where to buy the tickets. It is on the level just below the platforms on the back wall. Not really marked to stand out. We had a bit of a problem finding it but finally asked a EOBB train person and were able to get there in time. We bought the Combi tickets - train tickets, Abbey voucher and boat voucher. We took the 06:50 train to Melk. Arrived there at 08:04. We walked around a bit on the way up to the Abbey. Got to the Abbey around 08:35 and knew that we had to exchange our voucher for a ticket. As we walked through the courtyard there were already several LARGE groups waiting to get in. They do not open until 09:00. We exchanged our voucher and they told us we could go on in and get started (since we were individuals). We were shocked as this meant we were the first ones in, before the opening time, before the groups, and we had the Abbey all to ourselves! It was fantastic! Can you imagine going through everything (it is all in English) including the library and cathedral with NO ONE there except you? Maybe it is just because we are not a big crowd people but it just made the day all that more special.After we did the Abbey we got a cup of coffee at one of the quaint cafes and relaxed for about 20 minutes and wandered on down to the boat dock, doing some shopping along the way. Got to the boat dock and again exchanged our vouchers for tickets and got on the boat. It was a beautiful sunny day. Not too hot, just right. We had a nice glass of wine while sailing down the Danube. We got off at Durnstein and had lunch, did some more shopping, and found the bus stop to ride the short ride to Krems. We did have to ask directions to get to the right stop (we were on the wrong side of the street). Got to Krems around 15:00 and wandered the streets a bit. Had a wonderful ice cream sundae and then took the train back to Vienna in time to freshen up and go to the Musikverian for that nights concert.We were afraid that all of this might be too much for semi-old people like us, but it was just perfect. Loved Vienna and the people that live there.

We took the advice of excellent and experienced tripadvisor contributors like Vertical and others and did the the trip on our own; its cheaper and more relaxed; no rushing from one place to the other. We took an early train from Westbahnhof to Melk, a pleasant 1.h 15m trip.We spent the whole morning in Melk. We went on purpose on October 13 the feast day of their patron saint. The main street was very lively full of stalls selling a bit of everything with music all around.(Maybe it would have made more sense if we had stayed the night there; a good excuse to do the trip again in the future!) The Abbey in Melk is a gem. The church was packed with all the school children of the area singing. Then we took the 13.15 boat down the Danube, an enjoyable one hour+ boat trip enjoying the marvelluous views with commentary in different languages while enjoying our apple strudel and hot chocolate. We got off at Durmstein, a very small town with only one narrow main street but really charming and relaxing.Then we took the bus to Krems train station and back to Vienna. I cannot recommend this trip enough, its a Must do if you're in Vienna. You won't regret it.

Austria is stunningly beautiful and this particular area is more so with deep valleys, quaint villages and towering castles. It appears to be the most beautiful part of the Danube River. We enjoyed the library at the Abbey at Melk, but if you've seen an abbey before, you could probably take a pass, although the view from on top is quite nice.