Central Europe - Danube Cruising Through Scenic Wachau

Self-Guided Tour of Central Europe, Day 6 of 12
UNESCO World Heritage Site #5 on this tour



Wachau is so lovely that I can't decide where to start, for this picturesque stretch of the Danube represents such a multiplicity of sights and activities -- vineyards, heurigers, legendary castles ruins, charming medieval towns and churches, and of course the glorious Stift Melk. Linking all these together on a river cruise on a fine sunny day would be the perfect day-trip from Vienna. Except it wasn't a fine sunny day, oh well.



The Sights:

Wachau generally refers to a short stretch of the Danube upstream of Vienna, between the towns of Melk and Krems. Most tourists would take the train to either town, then take a river cruise or a bike trip along the river to the opposite end. We did the river cruise from Melk to Durnstein, which was lovely even on a dark, drizzling day.



Our first stop was Melk, a quiet little town that would seem typical of Austria, except for the towering Stift Melk looming behind the narrow medieval town square. It's got this magical rustic charm that my wife even looked at the property asking prices when we passed by a real estate agency.



The Stift Melk is a visually striking Baroque monastery, but it's most famous for having Napolean as a former occupant.



The monastery now houses a museum that displays relics of historical significance as well as evangelizes the Catholic faith. Napolean himself used to unwind and chill out on the spacious balcony overlooking the Danube, though I'm not sure if the beautiful and immense library of religious tomes added to his reading pleasure. It certainly added to my viewing pleasure to see the beautiful frescos and wood carvings.




There are two narrow staircases of superb aesthetical quality. I believe I've seen a photo of these staircases by some famous photographer, so famous that the monastery has since roped off the area and placed a mirror on the ground to let tourists enjoy the view without touching and ruining it. So I also placed my point-and-shoot camera on the ground to emulate that photo...hah!



And then, there's the best moment of the tour, the entry into the chapel. My only word to describe it is...



Gold. Golden altars. Golden statues. Golden reliefs. Golden pillars and railings and window sills. Virtually everything was either covered in gold leaves or carved out of red marble. You have to see that opulence to believe it.






From Melk we boarded a DDSG boat and cruised down the Danube. The weather turned even gloomier and colder and we didn't bring enough clothing (it was close to 30 degrees Celcius in Vienna the previous day). For most of the cruise we stayed inside the cabin to hide from the wind and light rain, while rushing back to the deck everytime a photo-worthy village or castle or church drew near. Yes, crazy but fun.





It was the landscape of fairytales, with charming little villages encroaching on the waterfront and narrow cascading terraces full of vineyards behind them, complete with romantic castle ruins on the hilltop in the background. Even a rainy day couldn't hide its beauty.




We chose to forego the last 20 minutes of the cruise and alighted at Dürnstein, the second last stop. Its slender blue Baroque church is THE quintessential Wachau representation -- we could hardly go into a souvenir store and not see a picture of it.




The small town of Dürnstein has only a few winding cobblestone streets with funny-looking houses and is even less commercialized than Melk. That whole rustic charm thing keeps getting better and better...maybe we should just move here and learn to speak German.





Dürnstein is also famous for its castle ruin, where England's King Richard the Lionhearted was once imprisoned on his way back from the Crusades. It was raining lightly but my wife said don't be a wuss! and so we hiked a good 20 minutes uphill to the ruin. Turned out we weren't the only ones as we ran into a small group of Americans on the way down. For all the trouble of huddling under a small umbrella and watching out for the slippery cobblestone stairs, the view was worth ten times it.






The Food:

Stockingerhof
Dürnstein 240
http://www.stockingerhof.com



Cold, slightly soaked and hungry after clambering down from the castle, we walked to the edge of the small town towards the vineyards with one sole purpose. It was our last day in Austria and we wouldn't leave without experiencing the 200-year-old Austrian tradition of the heuriger.



The heuriger, or wine tavern, is an Austrian institution initiated by an old edict from the emperor, where citizens were permitted to grow and sell their own wines. Vintners can open heurigers and sell their new wines (ie. less than a year old) at a much reduced tax rate, with the condition that full restaurant meals cannot be served. Nowadays heurigers are generally concentrated in wine-producing regions such as Grinzing, Krems, Dürnstein etc, often situating right beside the vineyards where a patron can see grapes producing the same wine he is enjoying.



Stockingerhof is one such typical heuriger located a two-minute-walk south of the Dürnstein-Oberloiben train station. The simple village house multifunctions as a heuriger, a cellar, and a small bed-and-breakfast operation, accompanied by its own vineyard stretching all the way to the riverside. We quickly ducked into the warm cellar and ordered their house Steinfeder and Federspiel. Too bad I'm not knowledgeble enough to appreciate the subtle qualities of a supposedly world-renown white, but I did enjoy the good wine at a discounted price.



For food we ordered their jause (snack) plate, which was certainly not snack-sized. It was a platter of tasty home cured ham, bacon, headcheese, tongue sausage, eggs, cheese and other cured meats I've never tasted before. Didn't look very filling on first glance, but with all the wine and cheese and tasty bread rolls, it was enough for a light dinner for two.



We wanted to order more wine and asked Peter the owner about the various wines on his menu, and he would just casually smile and point at some of the items and say, "oh, this is a wine I made myself." We ended up ordering more wine and spritzer, plus a poppyseed roll for dessert. At the end we walked out with full stomachs, but woozy heads.



Cafe Rathaus
Rathausplatz 4, Melk



We had lunch at Melk prior to boarding the cruise. The restaurant was right in front of the fountain at the centre of the medieval town square, and aptly named Rathaus Restaurant after the town hall. A chalk board at the door showed the set 3-course lunch of the day and the price -- a measly 6.5 Euros.



My wife had the set lunch, which was a clear broth with dumplings, a thin steak in hollandaise, and a dessert I've forgotten. I had a dish of ham shavings and dumplings baked in a cheese sauce, which also cost around 6.5 Euros and was quite good and filling.





Transportation:

For years, ÖBB and the two major ship companies (DDSG and Brandner) operating in Wachau have combined to promote a "Schiff-Bahn-Kombiticket" which offers return train tickets from Vienna to Melk or Krems, a one-way cruise between Melk and Krems in either direction, and admission to one of four museum attractions (eg. Stift Melk) in the region. It's not cheap though, selling for 42.5 Euros during our visit, and offers only a slight saving.



But at the time of writing, ÖBB is offering a special "Einfach-Raus Ticket" for a total of 28 Euros which allows a group of 2 to 5 travellers to travel together for one entire day (09:00-24:00 for weekdays, or 00:00-24:00 on weekends). We bought one of these, plus two tickets for the DDSG cruise (17.5 Euros each), plus two admission tickets to the Stift Melk (7 Euros each). The total price of 77 Euros for two people is still 8 Euros cheaper than two Schiff-Bahn-Kombitickets. For 5 people travelling together, the price would drop to 30.1 Euros per person. Plus, this way we could travel from Dürnstein to Krems in this small one-car train, instead of having to arrive at Krems by boat and then walk 20 minutes to the train station.




River cruises from Krems to Melk and vice versa run three times a day, and the two cruise companies have competing, almost identical schedules. The ships also stop at Spitz and Dürnstein in the middle, so it's quite possible to get off at either town and do a three hour excursion, then catch the next ship to the final destination with the same ticket. The trip downstream takes 1 hour 50 minutes, while going upstream takes about 3 hours.

There are also scheduled ships going downstream to Vienna, or upstream to Linz and even Passau at the German border. Check DDSG's site for details.



Accommodation:

We didn't stay there. But if we did, we would probably have chosen Stockingerhof in Dürnstein, just because Peter was friendly and spending the night atop a heuriger would probably be a memorable experience. Melk is bigger and offers more choices, and walking around the town we saw at least a couple of small hotels and pensions. For links, see the links section below.



Miscellaneous Comments:

We should have brought warmer clothes, as we were unpleasantly surprised by the temperature difference from one day to the next. From close to 30 degrees celcius in Vienna the previous day, it dropped to about 10 while we shivered outside the locked waiting room at the Dürnstein station waiting for our train to Krems. We huddled and slept almost all the way back to Vienna.



Links to Transportation and Sights:

ÖBB (Austrian Rail) - http://www.oebb.at
DDSG (cruise company) - http://www.ddsg-blue-danube.at
Brandner (cruise company) - http://www.brandner.at
Donau Schiffahrt (another smaller cruise company) - http://www.donauschiffahrt.com
Stift Melk - http://www.stiftmelk.at
Town of Dürnstein - http://www.duernstein.at/
Stift Dürnstein - http://stiftduernstein.nmd1.at/
Heuriger Stockingerhof - http://www.stockingerhof.com/
Heuriger Alter Klosterkeller - http://alter-klosterkeller.at/



Cheap Accommodation Links:
(Double Room with Private Bathroom)

http://www.stockingerhof.com
http://www.schloss.at
http://www.pension-weisses-lamm-melk.at/
http://www.sternmelk.at
http://www.bedandbreakfastaustria.at

Central Europe - Majestic Vienna

Self-Guided Tour of Central Europe, Days 4 to 6 of 12
UNESCO World Heritage Sites #3 and #4 on this tour



Vienna needs no introduction. Mozart. The palaces of Hapsburg Austria. Heurigers. Everyone has his/her own favorite aspect of Vienna, and we would find our own.


The Sights:



We started with Schloss Schönbrunn, the old summer residence of the Austrian royalty and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in itself. And it was HUGE! I just can't imagine any royalty walking around without a parade of carriages to transport them. The afternoon sun turned torturous and it took us a weary thirty minutes dragging our feet to the fountain and back. Certainly a sun stroke would have been waiting for me had I purchased a ticket to walk up to the Gloriette.



The interior of the palace was impressive, though no photos were allowed. The most breathtaking sight was the 15-feet-tall, gold embroidered bed of Empress Maria Theresa presented in a dark room with blue spotlights. Words can't describe that jaw-dropping opulence. I tried to buy a postcard of that bed at the giftshop, but none could capture a tenth of that magnificence. As always, the most beautiful sight is captured in the heart.



The other World Heritage Site, the historic city centre of Vienna, is of course even bigger. In the evening we went for a "Tram D" tour around the Ringstrasse, just hopping on and off the tram at each major sight. The first stop was the Votivkirche, closed at the time for restoration. Some parts of the white marble wall became so sooted that we wondered for a while whether the church caught fire at some point.




The University of Vienna was just across the street. Further along the street was the tall Neo-Gothic spires of the Rathaus (city hall), with the Burgtheater standing across the Ringstrasse.



The next stop on Tram D brought us to the parliament, in typical neo-classical style.



We didn't go as far as the Opera that night, but instead walked inside the ring towards the Hofburg, the imperial palace of the Austrian royalty. Hofburg at night was romantic from a distance, but the streets smelled of horse manure from the carriages roaming the palace grounds.



We then followed the Kohlmarkt and the Graben, two of the busiest pedestrian streets in Vienna, towards the Stephansdom. All the Prada and LV stores were already closed, which was great for window shopping.




The next day we visited three museums in the Hofburg - the Imperial Apartments, Sisi Museum, and the Imperial Silver Collection, all of which were included in the "Sisi" combo ticket purchased at the Schönbrunn the previous day. A handheld audioguide was provided, but after about 45 minutes in the Silver Collection it became long and tiring and we just wanted to rush through the rooms and finally get to the Imperial Apartments. Not as impressive as the previous day, but 22.9 Euros (CAD$35) to see the Schönbrunn plus these three museums is not a bad deal.



In comparison, the Schatzkammer (Imperial Treasury) was a STEAL at 10 Euros (CAD$15), and the greatest thing was that cameras were allowed! It was a dazzling display of crowns and scepters and necklaces, many with incredible details and pebble-sized diamonds and other jewels. There was a 1700-carat emerald, a fiery opal larger than an egg, all kinds of embroidered gowns and even a horn from a "unicorn" (actually a narwhal). It was every lady's dream.






The Graben is no doubt the busiest place in Vienna, making the cafes under the Pestaule a great place to people-watch.



After lunch we went to the Stephansdom. Access is free and the elevator to the bell tower cost 1.8 Euros. Tall, Gothic and solemn, but not the most impressive church in Lower Austria (hint: see my Wachau page).





We had tickets to see Wagner's Der Fliegende Hollander at the opera house that evening, which we booked a month in advance in order to avoid lining up for hours. Seats at the Staatsoper can be selected and booked at http://www.wiener-staatsoper.at/ starting at one month before the performance date. Actually, I used the "advance ticket" option to book more than a month in advance and allowed the computer to select 2 tickets for me. The important thing was to NOT select the "Accept Seats with Obstruction" option (many cheaper seats had varying degrees of sight obstruction and can't see the stage)!



This is the view from our seat at the balcony prior to the performance (no pics during performance of course). My seat cost 9 Euros (CAD$14), which was cheaper than a movie and a coke at my local cinema. The standing room at the back cost only 3.5 Euros, but for me wasting several hours to stand in line then standing for the two-hours-plus performance wasn't worth the savings.







The Food:

Most people would probably think of frankfurters, schnitzels, and heurigers. So did we. (But we would save the heuriger for our day trip to the Wachau, where the actual grapes are grown.)

Schnellimbiss Europaplatz
Europaplatz 2 (Just outside Westbahnhof train station)



It was noon when we arrived at Westbahnhof by train, which was perfect timing to visit this Viennese institution, a favorite of backpackers and students, the würstelstand.



European hot dogs are so much better than North American ones, both in taste and in design. The 10-inch-long sausage is inserted into a semi-hollowed French baguette along with the mustand and ketchup, and it's just much less messy to carry. My wife had the käsekrainer (cheese sausage...mmmm) while I had the regular frankfurter. A tasty, authentically Austrian and very filling meal at about 3 Euros each.



Centimeter
1080 Wien, Lenaugasse 11 (U-Bahn Rathaus station)
http://www.centimeter.at/

Monster portions, cheap prices, good beers. I suspect every Viennese college student knows this place. Almost everything was 6.5 Euros (CAD$10) or less and would feed two of me, so ordering a soup and two entrees for two was a mistake.



We started with a large Paulaner wheat beer (3.3 Euros) for me, and a Stiegl (2.9 Euros) for my wife.



The kartoffelsuppe (4.5 Euros) came in a bread bowl as big as my head, which set our expectations for the entrees to come. And the taste was pretty good too.



My wife's Berner wuerstels (6.5 Euros). Three 10-inches-long cheese sausages wrapped in bacon. The waiter said in English "good appetite"...well...



Finally, my schweinschnitzel (6.5 Euros). A devastating meal for cholesterol conscious people with two gigantic pork schnitzels, each piece as big as my face. After helping my wife finish her wuerstels, I couldn't even finish these schnitzels. Neither of us touched the fries. Burp.



Trzesniewski
1010 Wien, Dorotheergasse 1 (U-Bahn Stephansplatz station)
http://www.trzesniewski.at



Great open-face sandwiches at the absolute centre of Vienna, in fact just down the street from the Gucci's and Swarovski's. At less than 1 Euro a piece. Interested?



Well, I can't pronouce it but I can tell you where it is. It's on a narrow side street off Graben between the plague column and the Stephansdom church. Little 10cm x 5cm open-face sandwiches at 0.9 Euros each. Ordering 12 kept the two of us very well fed. And a large beer (Ottakringer) cost less than 3 Euros.



There were probably 20 flavors, and I just randomly pointed at 12, at which point the server thought I was nuts. Definitely try the sardine, and the salmon and cream cheese. It was quality way beyond its price.



It was so good we even took a pic of the menu, once again proving that authentic food at the heart of the tourist district doesn't need to be expensive.



Demel
1010 Wien, Kohlmarkt 14 (U-Bahn Stephansplatz station)
http://www.demel.at



Last but not least, we couldn't leave Vienna without having a Sacher Torte at one of its famous cafes. So we went to Demel, the former imperial confectionery and one of two cafes claiming to serve the "original" Sacher Torte. It was just more convenient for us than walking to Hotel Sacher.



Having cake at Demel is a cultural experience, a prestige thing, but I found the cake itself nothing too spectacular. Though it was a fine chocolate cake, very rich and moist, but not much different from its competitors'. My melange coffee though, was excellent, as was my wife's hot chocolate with vanilla. Total bill cost around 16 Euros.



Transportation:



There are two major train stations. Our EC24 train from Budapest arrived at Westbahnhof, as would most international trains from Germany. On our way out, our train to the Czech border at Retz would depart from Sudbahnhof (though we boarded the train at the suburban stop of Floridsdorf). So it's important to ask the ticket office where you train departs. For example, on our day trip to Wachau we boarded our train to Melk at Westbahnhof, but the return train from Krems would terminate at Franz-Josefs Bahnhof.



Vienna's transit system is simple. Tickets are valid for trams, buses, U-Bahn (underground) and S-Bahn (suburban rail), within a certain boundary large enough for most tourists. 24-hour ticket and 72-hour tickets are excellent deals; you simply buy one from a vending machine or from a tobacconist, and validate it on your first trip. The only surprise was that U-Bahn trains' doors do not automatically open at the stop; you're supposed to give it a sharp sideway pull before it opens. I've been to other cities where you're supposed to press a button, but this would be my first time encountering a system requiring physical force!



Accommodation:

We stayed at Wombats-The Lounge (http://www.wombats.at). A double room with private bathroom cost 50 Euros per night - the most expensive on our trip - at a hostel! But when we arrived, we realized it was quite worth its price.



Spotless clean room with laminate flooring and Ikea furniture. Clean bathroom with almost brand-new fixtures. An electronic key-card for entering the hostel, the floor, and the room. Two minute walking distance to the U-Bahn and four to the Westbahnhof train station. Two excellent supermarkets almost next door. It was better than some 2.5 - 3 star hotels I've stayed in. Most importantly, it was close enough to the centre for us to return at any time and take an afternoon nap, a real luxury on a backpacking trip.





Our Ideas for Day Trips:

1) We chose Wachau, a UNESCO World Heritage site only 75 minutes away from Vienna by train. Our day in the Wachau consisted of a cruise on the Danube, wine and light dinner at a heuriger, hiking to a castle ruin, and visiting the glorious Stift Melk and a couple of small medieval towns in Lower Austria. Please see our Wachau page for details.

2) Amazingly, Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, is almost at commuting distance (an hour by train). You can even take a cruise there on the Danube. You can find lots of info on Wikitravel (http://wikitravel.org/en/bratislava).

3) The Vienna Woods provided inspirations to many famous composers and writers, and is just a bus ride away. It is possible to combine this with a visit to the heurigers at Grinzing. There's even a private train/bus called Heuriger Express (http://www.heurigenexpress.at) that transports tourists from Nussdorf (terminus of Tram D) to Grinzing and Kahlenberg.

4) The Neusiedler See (http://www.neusiedlersee.com/) on the Austrian-Hungarian border is another World Heritage site a little over an hour away. It's a large shallow lake of ecological value and I hear it is beautiful in the summertime.



Miscellaneous Comments:



Sausages everywhere! I love Viennese supermarkets and their high quality organic food at reasonable prices. We were even able to buy some excellent Prosciutto di Parma for breakfast on the train.



Links for Transportation and Sights:

Address Search. Very very useful - http://www.wien.gv.at/stadtplan/suche.asp?lang=en
Vienna's Public Transit - http://www.wienerlinien.at
OEBB (Austrian Rail) - http://www.oebb.at
Schloss Schönbrunn - http://www.schoenbrunn.at
The Hofburg - http://www.hofburg-wien.at
Schatzkammer (Imperial Treasury) and the Art History Museum - http://www.khm.at
Opera tickets - http://www.wiener-staatsoper.at
Musikverein (home of the Wiener Philharmonika) - http://www.musikverein.at
Belvedere - http://www.belvedere.at/en/index.htm
Albertina - http://www.albertina.at
Spanish Riding School - http://www.spanische-reitschule.com/
Imperial Crypt - http://www.kaisergruft.at/
The Prater - http://www.prater.wien.info/



Other Interesting Restaurants We Didn't Try:

Duran - http://www.duransandwiches.at
Gasthaus Reinthaler - http://info.wien.at/article.asp?IDArticle=12752
Schnitzlplatz'l - http://www.schnitzlplatzl.at/Filialen/
Zum Bettelstudent - http://www.bettelstudent.at/Deutsch/bettelstudent.html



Accommodation Links:
(Double Room with Private Bathroom)

http://www.wombats.at
http://www.dostepinn.at
http://www.apartment.at
http://www.viennacityflats.at
http://www.netland.at/wien/apartment-vienna.htm
http://www.ari.co.at/privatappartements
http://www.accorhotels.com/accorhotels/fichehotel/gb/etp/3706/fiche_hotel.shtml
http://www.hostelruthensteiner.com/index.htm
http://www.gally.biz
http://www.pension5haus.at