Krems Guides

Krems

• Lower Austria Travel Guide: The Wachau, Danube Towns and Waldviertel

  Lower Austria wraps Vienna in river valleys, wine terraces, baroque abbeys and old small towns. Here is how the province divides into the Wachau, the Waldviertel, the Weinviertel, the Mostviertel and the Vienna Alps, which abbeys and castles are worth a stop, and how to link them by train, Postbus or car.

• Wachau Valley Guide: Melk, Dürnstein, Spitz and Krems on the Danube

  The Wachau Valley is the UNESCO stretch of the Danube between Melk and Krems, where baroque abbeys sit above vineyards and apricot orchards. Here is how the towns line up along the river, what each one is worth, and how to move between them by boat, train, bike or car.

• Aggstein Castle: Visiting the Wachau Ruin Above the Danube

  Aggstein Castle is a ruined 12th-century fortress on a crag above the right bank of the Danube in the Wachau. Here is what the visit covers, the season, what tickets cost, how to drive up from Melk, and how much time to give it.

• Burg Kreuzenstein: Tour, Tickets and How to Get There

  Burg Kreuzenstein is a 19th-century reconstruction of a medieval castle north of Vienna, visited only on hourly guided tours from April through October. Plan around the tour format, the cash-only ticket desk, the walk up from the train stop and the falconry next door.

• Carnuntum: Austria's Roman City on the Danube

  Carnuntum was the Roman capital of Upper Pannonia, and its ruins lie in fields and vineyards between Petronell-Carnuntum and Bad Deutsch-Altenburg, about 25 miles east of Vienna. Plan on the Heidentor, two amphitheaters, a rebuilt Roman quarter and the site museum, and expect ruins and reconstructions rather than a standing town.

• Danube Cycle Path in Austria: The Wachau Stretch from Melk to Krems

  The Danube Cycle Path is the best-known riverside bike route in Europe, and the Wachau between Melk and Krems is where it looks its best. This guide explains how the Passau to Vienna section works, why you plan crossings rather than maps, and how the abbey, the valley towns and the memorials fit a day on two wheels.

• Dürnstein Castle Ruins: Richard the Lionheart and the Wachau View

  Dürnstein Castle is a roofless medieval ruin on a rocky hill above the Danube town, tied to Richard the Lionheart's captivity. What stands there, why the climb is a climb, and how the ruin slots into a Krems–Melk route through the Wachau.

• Dürnstein, Austria: Blue Abbey Tower, Castle Ruins and Old Town

  Dürnstein packs a blue-and-white baroque abbey tower, a Gothic lane of town houses and a ruined castle above the Danube into a few hundred yards of riverbank. Here is how the town is laid out, what to see first, and how it fits a day in the Wachau.

• Eggenburg, Austria: The Walled Town in the Waldviertel

  Eggenburg is a small town in the Horn district of Lower Austria, in the country's northeast where the Weinviertel landscape rises toward the Waldviertel. Its draw is compact: a historic center with a main square, the Krahuletz Museum, and a parish church with a separate Karner chapel. A half day covers the center on foot.

• Grafenegg Castle: Neo-Gothic Palace, Park and Concert Grounds

  Grafenegg is three places in one: a romantic-historicist castle, a 32-hectare landscape park open all year, and modern concert grounds with the Wolkenturm stage. Here is what to see inside, when the castle opens, and how to fit it into a Lower Austria route.

• Klosterneuburg Monastery: What to See Inside Stift Klosterneuburg

  Stift Klosterneuburg is a 1114 Augustinian abbey on the Danube just north of Vienna, and its appeal is concrete: a medieval gold altar, a three-room treasury holding the Archducal Coronet, an unfinished baroque palace wing and a redone wine cellar. This guide explains what admission includes versus what the guided tours add, outlines the layout in its three parts, and shows how the abbey fits a Lower Austria route.

• Korneuburg, Austria: Old Town, Town Hall and Kreuzenstein

  Korneuburg is a small Danube town north of Vienna with one strong center walk and one big reason to stay longer: Burg Kreuzenstein and its falconry. This guide maps the Hauptplatz, the neo-Gothic Rathaus and the medieval Stadtturm, then sorts out what needs a bus or car and how the town fits a route through the Weinviertel.

• Krems an der Donau: Old Town, Kunstmeile and Wachau Gateway

  Krems an der Donau is a Danube town of about 25,000 people roughly 70 km west of Vienna, with a medieval core around the Steiner Tor and a modern art axis in Stein. Use it as the practical gateway to the Wachau Valley, with the abbey at Melk and the terraced vineyards of Dürnstein as natural extensions of the route.

• Melk Abbey: What to See Inside Austria's Great Baroque Monastery

  Melk Abbey is a working Benedictine monastery above the Danube and one of Europe's largest, most uniform baroque ensembles. Your ticket covers the imperial rooms and museum, the Marble Hall, the library balcony and the abbey church, with the garden as a separate option; this guide covers what to see, ticket prices, the season and how to arrive by train, bus or car.

• Melk, Austria: The Town Below the Abbey, Square by Square

  Melk is a compact Wachau town at the foot of Stift Melk: a main square with a baroque fountain, narrow lanes, a late-Gothic parish church and a Danube landing, all within a short walk of the abbey gate.

• Retz, Austria: Windmill, Old Town Square and Wine Cellars

  Retz packs a working hilltop windmill, one of Austria's finest market squares and a vast cellar labyrinth into a small Weinviertel town. Here is what to see, when the windmill runs tours, what tickets cost in euros, and how the town slots into a Lower Austria route by train or car.

• Rosenburg Castle: Austria's Renaissance Schloss in the Kamp Valley

  Schloss Rosenburg is the Renaissance castle on a rock above the Kamp valley in the Waldviertel, not Copenhagen's Rosenborg. Here is how its grounds, museums and falconry fit together, how to arrive car-free from Rosenburg station, and how to build it into a Lower Austria route.

• Schallaburg Castle: What to See Inside Austria's Renaissance Schloss

  Schallaburg is a Renaissance castle above the Mostviertel near Melk, built around a terracotta arcaded courtyard and used for a different large exhibition each season. Here is what stays the same, what changes, and how to reach it by bus, car or bike.

• Schloss Hof: Prince Eugene's Baroque Palace and Gardens in the Marchfeld

  Schloss Hof is Prince Eugene of Savoy's baroque country estate in the Marchfeld, with a terraced garden, an estate farm and a separate display in nearby Schloss Niederweiden. Here is what the palace, garden and farm each take, the park's daily hours, ticket prices in euros, dining on site, and how the estate fits a Lower Austria route near the Slovak border.

• Semmering Railway: Riding Austria's UNESCO Mountain Line

  The Semmering Railway is the world's first mountain railway, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and still an ordinary working line on the Südbahn. Here is what UNESCO listed, how Carl Ghega's tunnels and viaducts were built, and how to ride the mountain section on a regular train.

• Spitz an der Donau: A Wachau Village Guide to the Thousand-Bucket Hill

  Spitz an der Donau is a compact Wachau wine village on the north bank of the Danube, backed by the steep Tausend-Eimerberg vineyard hill. Two hours covers the old center and a look at the river; a half-day adds the terraces and waterfront. This guide explains the layout, how trains and boats reach it, and how it fits a route between Krems an der Donau and Melk.

• Tulln an der Donau: Schiele's Birthplace, Old Town and Danube Promenade

  Tulln an der Donau is a small Danube town west of Vienna with a walkable old center, a Roman fort under its streets and the Egon Schiele story at its core. Plan a half day for the center and one museum, longer if you add the gardens and a second collection.

• Wachau Cruise on the Danube: Melk to Krems by Boat

  A Wachau cruise is a scheduled river boat linking Melk, Spitz, Dürnstein and Krems, not a loop tour. Here is how to pick a direction, what passes on deck, and how the train brings you back.

• Weissenkirchen in der Wachau: Fortified Church, Square and Danube

  Weissenkirchen in der Wachau is a compact riverside village built around a white fortified Gothic church, with the Teisenhoferhof, a small Wachau museum, a Danube ferry and a local train stop linking it to the rest of the valley.

• Wiener Neustadt: Old Town, Cathedral and Military Academy Guide

  Wiener Neustadt rewards a half day: a walkable medieval grid, the Hauptplatz, the Military Academy with St. Georgs-Kathedrale, Stift Neukloster and the Kasematten. Here is how the town is laid out, what to see and how it fits a Lower Austria route toward Graz or the Semmering.

• Ybbs an der Donau: The Old Town, Danube Views and the Bicycle Museum

  Ybbs an der Donau is a quiet Lower Austrian Danube town where the Strudengau meets the Nibelungengau. Come for the riverside old town, the bicycle museum in historic vaults, the abbey and church at Säusenstein, and named walking loops that let a group split up. It works best as a half-day stop on a Krems–Melk route.