Day 1: BARCELONA - VIENNA - KREMS - THE DANUBE VALLEY - MELK
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Our holidays begin and this has been noticed especially in the hour in which our alarm clock rang, 4 in the morning. Today we have a most complete day, not only taking a plane, but for things to see in Austria, a country we will arrive in just a few hours.
We have been planning this trip for several months and the truth is that we have done a fairly complete planning ... we hope to have time to complete it and if possible, add things. We will start in the Danube Valley from Vienna to go through as much of Austria as possible.
We have arrived in Barcelona 2 hours before the departure of the flight, so we go to the long stay parking and we go in search of the bus that takes us to the T2.
We haven't been to T2 for almost a year and we see that many of the stores are disappearing ...
This time, we flew with the company Niki (we have to say that in the forums we have found opinions of all types about this company, but in the end, for adjustments of days and prices, we decided to book with them.
More practical information to prepare your trip to Austria
- 10 essential tips for traveling to Austria
- 10 amazing places to see in Austria
At the moment we are happy, we can carry 20kg of luggage and hand luggage. This is already a lot, as companies are lately.
We have just seen that our boarding has been delayed 25 minutes, but the flight continues with the same time.
Hopefully we will not be late, tonight, when I write again, I can say how the flight went.
Well in the end we have arrived in Vienna with 2 hours late !!
The plane has left an hour late and part of it has changed a little the direction it had and in the end it has taken us to reach Vienna 3 hours, not the 2 hours 15 minutes that marked the ticket.
After seeing that our bags, healthy and safe, arrived, we went directly to the office, to pick up our rental car in Austria, which will allow us to make the route we have planned for this trip. A Fiat Bravo, with only 40 km and suitcases fit perfectly in the trunk, so we can not ask for more.
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It is 3.30pm and after having breakfast very well at the Barcelona airport and the sandwich that we have been given on the plane, we decided to head to Krems, which is our first stop on the route today in the Danube Valley from Vienna and wait to get there for a drink.
We thought that as soon as we took the car we were going to start seeing story castles, but nothing could be further from the truth, since until we have entered the area of Wachau in the Danube Valley, we have not begun to see a beautiful landscape, dotted with vineyards on one side of the Danube and on the other the hills.
If you do not have a good car from Vienna to visit this valley and the Melk Abbey is with a bus tour with a guide in Spanish. One of the best tours and excursions in Vienna.
Danube Valley
All this dotted with small towns that seem out of story, where we began to see several cruises touring the Danube. Who knows, maybe one day we'll come back and be on a river cruise.
Danube Valley
We arrived to Krems in the Danube Valley After 1 hour and a half and we go directly to a square, away from the center, to rest for a while on a terrace and take some crêpes.
After this stop, we go to the center, to stroll through the streets of the town.
We start at Körnermarkt square, then continue on Obere Landstrasse street, passing through the impressive Steiner Tor.
We have a good time walking through its streets and decide that as we go ahead, we will make a section of the circuit along the Danube that we have in our guide.
We begin to follow the river, to stop in Dürnstein, about 15 minutes from Krems, where from a distance, you can see Kuenringerburg Castle, where Ricardo Corazon de León was imprisoned.
It is a tiny town, where cobbled streets appear in every corner.
We continue our way to Melk in the Danube Valley, stopping at various points along the way, to take pictures, see the landscape and buy some “supplies” to take in the car.
Book the best rated tours and excursions in Vienna from Vienna by travelers:
- Guided tour of Vienna and Schönbrunn Palace
- Excursion to Salzburg
- Excursion through the Danube Valley and Wachau
- Excursion to Budapest
- Vienna Forest Excursion
- More excursions and tours here
We planted in Melk about 7 in the afternoon and go directly to the Hotel Wachauerhof, but not before seeing the abbey in the distance from the car, causing us an incredible desire to visit it.
We leave our bags and check that the room is large and clean. The only bad thing is that we don't have an internet connection, but hey, everything can't be had.
Without resting even a few minutes, we will go through Melk, walking along the main street and crossing the river, from where there are very good views of the Melk Abbey.
Melk Abbey in the Danube Valley
Our stomach starts to sound and we decided to stop at an Italian restaurant to eat a pizza, the bill has been about 20 euros, quite cheap, considering the popularity of the town and that we were in a very central street.
From here we go directly to rest, which tomorrow will play first hour visit Melk Abbey and then we have a most complete day on this trip to Austria in 11 days.
Day 2MELK - MAUTHAUSEN - SALZBURBO
