We will be taking the train from Salzburg to Vienna in June and I am thinking about stopping in Melk to visit the town and the Abbey en route. Then I thought we could board a boat to cruise to Krems before catching another train from Krems to Vienna. I've been in touch with one of the boat companies and it seems there are many trains/boats available to make this journey. I'm wondering how much time we should allow for our visit in Melk before boarding our boat. I've heard there are lockers at the Melk train station for stowing luggage while we're sightseeing; has anyone done this?
Posted by
NorthCarolina
930 posts
We did a Christmas Market River Cruise on the Danube last year & we had about 4-5hrs in Melk (for the Abbey & town). You could easily do it in 3hrs I think. The Abbey will take you the longest, lots to see & learn about . . . one of the prettiest GOLD chapels we have seen in Europe. The town of Melk is a short down hill walk from the Abbey gift shop. The town is very small with a few shops and bakeries. Melk is known for Apricot liquor (we did buy some small bottles) & chocolate covered apricots. The Abbey dates back to the 1100s and still is a school. We were did have a guided tour through it as it was part of our River Cruise.
Posted by
alameda, ca, usa
2602 posts
I made this as a day trip last August--train from Vienna to Melk, boat trip on the Danube to Krems and then train from Krems back to Vienna--9 am train got to Melk with about 3 hours to tour the Abbey, have a nice lunch and poke around the town--there's a yarn shop I particularly liked. The boat trip was about 2-3 hours and Krems looked lovely but I was having a very bad blister day so didn't get to explore, just caught the bus to the train station and was back in Vienna by 6 pm.
Posted by
Nashville, TN, USA
795 posts
@Christa- Was the yarn shop you like called Frau Wolle's? We used to live in Salzburg and in Vienna and I still go to Frau Wolle's to get yarn for my knitting projects.