Day trip to Melk & Krems

There is a better way to see the Wachau. Krems is nice, but definitely not the highlight and not where you want to spend a few hours.

Take the train to Melk from Vienna. Explore Melk for a bit. Get on the boat (either Brandner or DDSG), buying tickets right there on the spot. Get off the boat in Spitz, Weissenkirchen or Durnstein. Durnstein has the most to do/see (climb to the castle ruins where Richard Lionheart was held captive; have an apricot dumpling at this namesake hotel's terrace). Spitz and Weissenkirchen, however, are more "real" and have better dining options. Whatever town you choose (maybe two, even), take the WL1 bus back to the Krems train station when you are done. These are small towns and the bus stops are obvious. You buy the ticket from the driver and it takes about 15 minutes from Durnstein to the Krems train station. It is a lovely day out when the weather is nice.

I prefer, however, to rent bikes instead of the boat. Nextbike has locations in all these villages where you can rent, if that is your thing. If you are in Vienna in April/May, it is very nice to see the blooming apricot trees. See can do this best from the bank opposite of Durnstein in the village of Rossatz. To get there, you take the WL2 bus from Melk.

I like Emily's suggestion but if you want to do the round trip that RS suggests it's easy. Just get your ticket at the Vienna train station for all three (it's a package) - 1) train ticket from Vienna to Melk good on any train that day; 2) entry ticket to the Melk Abbey; 3) boat ticket to Krems (I believe on DDSG) good on any boat that day (check schedule); and 4) train ticket from Krems to Vienna good on any train that day. You can take the boat only as far as Durnstein if that's what you want to do and then catch a bus to Krems train station but that bus is not included in the package. As Emily said it's easy, just buy the ticket from the bus driver.

I second Nancy's suggestion--I did this trip in August 2014 and it was quite easy--I enjoyed exploring a bit of Melk before touring the Abbey, afterwards I had an excellent lunch outdoors before catching the boat to Krems. I'd have explored much more there (or exited at Durnstein for a bit) but I was having an epic blistered foot day :(

I would add that if you take the boat to Krems, it is a very long walk from the boat dock to the train station (over a mile). Also not a particularly scenic walk. That's another reason to stop in Durnstein and take the WL1 bus directly to the Krems train station.

We did this last fall. Bought tickets at the rail station (this was the hardest part, the refugee crisis meant the main stations had lines for tickets literally hours long -- we finally found an information agent who suggested an out of the way train station without international links where lines would be short and so we took local transport there and got tickets -- I know, small problem compared to having no home and being a refugee)

We took the train to Melk, toured the Abbey (this is part of the train package), had lunch and then caught the boat and got off in Durnstein. In Durnstein which is a classic tourist town filled with souvenir shops and kitch, we hiked up to the ruins of the old fortification where Richard the Lion Hearted was held captive. This is a long steep climb and sucked up all the time we had. The views are gorgeous from there. We then found the bus stop for the trip to the Krem train station. It was not obvious but we found someone who could direct us; it is a few blocks out of town. This got us to the train station in time for the train back to Vienna.

If we had it to do over we would not have lunch in Melk and would eat on the boat; nothing fancy but they have sandwiches and sausages and such. We did not have enough time in Durnstein. The cruise is pleasant. It is not as scenic as I expected. We had done the cruise on the Rhine in the stretch near Alsace with many castles and I remembered it as stunning. The Wacchau trip was not that scenic although there were a number of picturesque castles; the towns are less so.

It is very easy to do. We didn't linger in Krem because of advice we got here and what I saw of Krem made me glad we opted for the Durnstein hike rather than going to Krem. We wish we had had more time and could have hopped off and seen another town or two. If I were young I would probably have done this by bicycle.

Our River Boat cruise has a one day stop in Krems, Austria. Would like to know what is the quickest and best way to go from Krems to Melk and come back to Krems by evening i.e 6:00 PM just in time to board the ship departing at 7:00 PM. Any suggestion will be appreciated.
Thanks,
Arun.