For your Danube Valley Tour from Vienna you will be picked up from your hotel in the morning in an air-conditioned mini-coach. Accompanied by your guide you will depart from Südtiroler Platz in Vienna at 0945h (09:45am).
You will drive through the beautiful Wachau Valley, which has the magnificent Danube River winding through it. You will pass neat vineyards, attractive red-roofed villages and imposing castles. The castles reflect the importance of the river and valley as a trading route in the Middle Ages.
Through this romantic scenery full of history and legends the Danube winds its way past charming old villages and steep vineyards. The old castles tell us about the former importance of this trade- and trafficway, one of them Dürnstein especially famous, because here King Richard Lionheart was imprisoned, while waiting for his ransom to arrive from England, raised by his faithful Minstrel Blondel.
During a romantic boat-trip the history comes alive. The heart of the Wachau is the old wine-merchants’ town Krems. The highlight of this excursion will be the visit of the Benedictine abbey of Melk, one of Austria´s most famous Baroque buildings, which together with the Wachau area, won the award for "Best Historic Destination of the World" in 2008.
In summer (13 April - 28 October) you will board a boat at the town of Spitz for a 1 hour 30 minute cruise on the River Danube to Melk. At 1315h (01:15pm) you disembark at Melk where a vehicle will meet you and take you to the glorious Benedictine Abbey.
In winter (01 November - 07 April), the Danube cruise is omitted and instead you will be taken to Emmersdorf for lunch at the Zum Schwarzen Bären restaurant.
You will board your vehicle for the return to Vienna. At the end of your tour you will be dropped back at the State Opera House.