Danube - Sailing Tour - Wachau

Beyond Melk begins what is perhaps the most beautiful section of the Danube trip, the stretch through the romantic Wachau. In the woods on the left bank can be seen the Late Gothic church of Emmersdorf (227m/745ft).

As the boat continues on the Danube past Rossatz there is a beautiful view to the rear, until Dürnstein disappears behind the luxuriant orchards of Loiben. Most visitors are interested in the scene of a bloody battle with the French in 1805 (commemorated by a round tower, tapering towards the top, which is popularly known as the Franzosenmanndl, ("Frenchman").

Dominating the scene, here at the narowest point in the Wachau, is the historic old castle of Aggstein, perched on a crag (300m/985ft) which falls steeply down on three sides. This was once the stronghold of the Kuenringer, a family of robber knights who plundered boats on the river and merchants' wagons passing along the road. The castle was destroyed in 1296, rebuilt by a later robber knight named Jörg Scheck vom Walde in 1429 and again devastated by the Turks a century later.

Just past Spitz, on the right bank of the Danube, the little village of Arnsdorf nestles amid vines and the lighter green of fruit-trees (particularly apricots). On the left bank stands the Late Gothic fortified church of St Michael.

As it flows by Loiben, the Danube veers left in a wide turn. On the right, some distance away from the river on a dark green hill, can be seen the facade of Göttweig Abbey, a Benedictine monastery which is one of the most impressive in Austria. The road to Göttweig goes over the road bridge linking the towns of Mautern and Krems, under which the boat now sails.

Past Willendorf, along the banks of the Danube, on laboriously constructed terraces on the sunny hillsides. To the left can be seen the attractive village of Schwallenbach, to the right the little church of St Johann.

The valley, wooded on both sides, narrows at Schönbühel (214m/702ft), a beautifully situated little market town, with its castle perched on a crag 40m/130ft above the river. Beyond this, on the right, stand a chapel and a Servite monastery.