Our little day trip to the outskirts of Vienna took us to three quaint little towns in and around the area, and the way that they have preserved their history had been both remarkable, yet seemingly effortless. Life just went on within the city like it has done for hundreds of years.
Krems/Donau
Our journey to the outskirts began here, at the town of Krems. We got off the train after an hour train ride from Vienna, and to our pleasant surprise, there was a tourist map with all the main attractions dotted out.
We followed the map to a quaint little town that was very pleasant to be in. This was not a place that was bustling with tourists so we just walked around and felt like true foreigners amongst all the locals. The main street was a pedestrian walkway paved in cobblestone and with little cafes and fashion boutiques lining the streets. The churches here were smaller but no less grand, and there were no annoying people walking around trying to sell stuff to unsuspecting tourists.
The main street that ran through this small town.
The town was not suitable for heavy vehicles, and a lot of alleyways and paths were narrow and only suitable for people to walk on. It had a sort of countryside feel that Vienna lacked.
Narrow alleyways were one of the highlights of the trip.
As we were trying to leave for our next destination we got onto a random bus full of school children that studied around the area, and they gave us curious stares, as if we were the first tourists (or even Asians) to ever cross their paths. Some smiled and waved at us and really made it clear that this wasn’t the usual tourist attraction, and in some way made for a novel experience.
Durnstein
We took a bus that followed the Danube River, a beautiful river that winds through Austria. The sky was cloudy without a hint of sun and that made the entire setting seem unusually calm and still, as if all life forms went to sleep and the currents grinded to a halt due to the gloom. We could see vineyards and farmland carved along the foothills, evidence of the first attempts at hillside farming in the area since hundreds of years ago, making the hills around Durnstein a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The view of the Danube River from the plantation we stumbled upon!
When we arrived on the hourly bus, what first caught our eye was the bunch of ancient ruins on the top of the hill. Being the adventurous types, we tightened our shoelaces and started climbing a small path uphill towards those ruins. The climb took our breaths away and helped us warm up in the cold, and the view of the entire Durnstein presented itself to us. We got lost and walked straight into a farmhouse and hurriedly left. We later realized that farm might have just been one of the few centuries-old plantations that made this place so unique. We looked around the hills for a while longer before finding the foot of the ruins, a small guardhouse. It overlooked most of the city, and we could only wonder who used to inhabit such a run down place hundreds of years ago.
The ancient ruins above Durnstein.
We then walked down to explore the small town and boy was it small. There was only one major street that ran through it and just like Krems, no cars ran down that street. There were a few souvenir shops selling nice cups with heraldic emblems which caught Jaspers’ eye. Every column, tile, pavement stone and street sign seemed to emanate with hundreds of years, and on first sight this town seemed totally untouched by time. We would walk down streets and observe pindrop silence, something we couldn’t quite get used to. We walked down to the famous Durnstein Church and admired its blue and white spire. In the church was a museum, foretelling the role of this church in the last few centuries. A few American tourists were passing through this museum and so made us aware that this place wasn’t totally tourist free. After this, we found a small narrow walkway that led to the Danube River below.
This was where we could see the town from ground level, and in my opinion this view was much more spectacular; you could see the church rise up from the smaller houses, and see waters lick the adjoining shore which the entire town rose from. On both sides you see the old plantations and vineyards that continues the town’s legacy as a world heritage site.
Melk
When we arrived at Melk Abbey, it was already five in the afternoon, and so we had to rush through the small town if we were going to catch the train at half-past six.
It was so late that the tourist information center had already closed so, we took a quick picture of the map displayed on the information board and looked through it for the attractions.
Our quick tour of the city depended on the picture of this tourist information board.
We had our own little tour of the town using the stars on the map that pointed out information plaques, and soon realized what a great job the tourism board had done. Some buildings had no signs on them and looked very ordinary, but the information plaques would hint at its rich history. One building could be the old post center, the other the former residence of a famous artist. There was no shortage of surprises on our little improvised tour of the town. We walked up narrow alleyways and deserted street corners, all the way up to the main attraction of the town, the Melk Stift, which seemed to be a royal residence of sorts. It was huge when viewed from far and had a square courtyard with a fountain in the center. The walls were a golden-yellow with red-tiles roofs and the main dome at the front of the complex was green. Unfortunately, when we went up, the place had already closed for the day, and so we missed our chance to have a tour inside the complex.
The quaint little town of Melk.
The Royal Residences of Melk Abbey.
After a few pictures, we walked down, briskly, back to the station and caught our train back to the city. It was a tiring day, but one where we were able to explore three different small towns around the area, and see an example of UNESCO world heritage, one that need not be magnificent like the Great Wall of China. The farmers on the hills over the Danube River had managed to define their own historical value in a much more subtle and consistent manner, and they still do so to this day.
The Shallow Traveller 