Wachau and wineries without a car

We took a train from Vienna to Krems. A great place to stay is Durnstein, a bus or cab ride from Krems. It's a neat small town with wineries all around, the largest we visited was Domaine Wachau. We found it to be much like the larger wineries in Sonoma and Napa. The town has many small wineries as well, in fact we stayed at a great bed and breakfast, Winzerhof Familie Stoger, which is a small guest house and winery. hospitality great and the wine was good. There are several guest house wineries in the area. We bused to Melk Abbey and back to Durnstein easily. I am confident you can do it without a car. Emily, a frequent contributor to Rick's Forum provided me with great suggestions about the area. Hope this helps, Hank, Novato Ca. P. S. we were able to get to Salzburg by train, easily from Krems.

There are rail services to the towns at each end of the Wachau, Krems and Melk. Krems is at the end of a line from Vienna, while Melk is on a through line and easier from Salzburg. There are bus routes along the Wachau on both banks. The WL1 which runs along the more popular north bank of the river runs mostly every hour with occasional two-hour gaps, while the WL2 along the south bank is less frequent.

Thanks so much for the recommendations. I tried to reserve the Winzerhof Guesthouse online but was unable to translate enough German to feel comfortable, so I sent them an e-mail. It looks like they have availability so I hope it works out. Thanks again for the information

Great! Hope you have a wonderful time. Hank

Forgot to mention that on the bus back from Melk on the South side, there is a ferry boat that is included with the bus. It will get you back to Durnstein which is on the North side. I told my wife that the ferry ride was " the cruise" on the Danube that I had always promised her. She didn't buy It ! Hank

The Knoll family runs Loibnerhof, which is a good sized place a short hike from the center of Durnstein. The bus from Krems probably stops close to there. They have a lovely garden which should be open and full of roses in May. Very good food and wine.

http://www.loibnerhof.at/

Thanks again to everyone for the recommendations. We were able to confirm a reservation at Guest House Stoger. The Loibnerhof looks great as well so we'll have to have dinner there.

Forgot this before, but there is also a big Vinothek in Durnstein. They have tastings and sales from the various Wachau producers.

Specific labels I can recommend if you see them on menus or decide to go visit the wineries:

Schloss Gobelsburg
http://www.gobelsburg.at/en/
They have a lovely tasting room in the castle, but you need to drive or cycle there (no transit that I know of). This is in the Kamptal, a valley not far from Krems.

Bründlmayer
http://www.bruendlmayer.at/en
Also in the Kamptal. Pretty famous for their sekt, but they make outstanding still wines as well. Their tasting room is in their levely, upscale heurigen in the center of Langenlois, a gorgeous wine village.

Nigl
https://www.weingutnigl.at/en/
Another lovely tasting room, but limited hours. This is in the Kremstal in the village of Senftenberg.

Leth in the Wagram makes a wide range of wines, with some good reds. They are also 'bringing back' Roter Veltliner, an old native white varietal that mostly got ripped out when Gruner got hip (the two varietals are not related at all). If you see it, give it a try.

These three are easily found in Vienna, if you want to take some home. Try the Merkur on Hohermarkt.

Have fun!

Thanks again for all the information. I just started looking at the train schedule between Vienna to Krems and was surprised to see that many of the trains required a change especially to get back to central station. I also noticed that the prices seem to vary considerably making me think I should try to purchase them in advance instead of just going to the station and getting on the next train. Maybe my initial research is just making it look more difficult than it really is. I don't mind renting a car if it is the better way to do this, but don't want one if it is not needed. Any input getting in and out of Durnstein is appreciated

Are you concerned about the St Pölten transfer? It's not a big deal. Just follow the crowd :-)

But if you take the direct train Krems to Vienna, (probably #2835?) you can get off at Heiligenstadt (U4)or Spittelau (U4 and U6) and transfer to the Vienna U-bahn system without leaving the building. Take a look at the details for the trains and you will see the list of stops in there.

I hope that puts you at ease.

Most trains from Krems arrive at the minor Franz-Josephs-Bahnhof station instead of the Hauptbahnhof, but it's probably as central as the Hauptbahnhof is and there's no difference if you intend to stay in Vienna. (Although it's less convenient if you're leaving Vienna immediately).

Most trains from Krems arrive at the minor Franz-Josephs-Bahnhof station instead of the Hauptbahnhof, but it's probably as central as the Hauptbahnhof is and there's no difference if you intend to stay in Vienna. (Although it's less convenient if you're leaving Vienna immediately).

Unless w.raley is staying exactly at the Hauptbahnhof, it won't matter in the least. Because even arriving at the Hauptbahnhof would require a transfer (probably to U-bahn) to get to a hotel.

So, if you use a train from Krems that terminates at the Franz-Josephs-Bhf, you simply get off one or two stops before that last station and transfer to the U-bahn.

Even if you are leaving Vienna immediately, if you transfer to the U4 from either Heiligenstadt (2 stops before FJ Bhf) or Spittelau (one stop before FJ Bhf), you then take the U4 to Landstraße/Wien Mitte and then a train to the airport.

As for buying tickets and maybe having trouble getting them on line ahead of time (from seeing your other thread?), here's an alternative strategy. When you first arrive in Vienna, just go directly to the ÖBB ticket office at whatever train station you arrive thru and speak with an agent. They can explain any special tickets or whatnot. If you are one or two days ahead of your travel to the Wachau, I doubt it will be an issue at all. You can also get them from a ticketing machine in a station but be VERY careful to click the right buttons to get a ticket for the day you wish to travel. It's not difficult, but you do have to pay attention.

Note that if you already have your tickets in hand, you can also skip the FJ Bhf on your outbound trip. To do this, take the U4 Ubahn to either Heiligenstadt or Spittelau and then catch the ÖBB train from there to go to Krems.

If you use public to go to Dürnstein, you will take a bus from Krems (rail service to Dürnstein was cancelled some years back). Get the details of the connections from ÖBB by putting Dürnstein into the destination box when you search for your trip. The main bus stop is on the edge of Dürnstein near a parking lot and you walk in to the center (only locals permitted to bring a car in). About 5 minutes. I don't know if the bus ticket can be bought along with the train ticket (I usually take a bike up there). Just ask the ÖBB agent. If not, you will buy it from the driver in Krems.

It really isn't difficult and people will help you along if you ask. :-)

WOW, I really appreciate all the great information and it makes me feel much better. I should have said that we would be taking the train from Vienna to Budapest upon arriving from Durnstein, which is why I wanted to get back to central station. We will be in Vienna for four nights before going to Durnstein, so I am pretty confident we'll be able to figure it out. Since we'll be staying a couple nights in Durnstein we will be carrying luggage so we may consider taking a taxi from Karms to our hotel, is that practical and is it possible to just grab one in front of the train station or do you need to make arrangements.

Hmm . . .
Yes, I do remember taxis at the Krems station. It's a fairly significant train station for the area.

To ease transferring from one train station to the other in Vienna there is traditionally one line (tram, subway, or commuter) which connects directly two train stations whithout having to change in between. This is true for any combination of two major train stations (main [Hbf], west, center [Mitte], north [Praterstern], Meidling, Franz-Josef).

The direct connection is the most comfortable, especially with luggage, not necessarily the fastest, though.

If you arrive from Wachau on the FJ line you have three choices to go to main station (Hbf):
1. Tram line D from FJ to Hbf
2. Fastest transfer: subway U4 from Hütteldorf or Spittelau to Schwedenplatz, then U1 to Hbf
3. Subway U6 from Spittelau to Meidling (in case your train to Budapest stops there, true for every second train)

The possible glitch with using the D tram from FJBhf would be that the first tram that arrives is an old one with steps and narrow seating area. Can be difficult with cargo. You can always wait for the next one, of course, but then the trip gets that much longer. U-bahn stations are fully accessible with elevators and usually escalators and thus easy with rolling bags. Also note that the D doesn't go to the main entrance of the Hauptbahnhof, but to the Quartier Belvedere station stop.