Kloster Weltenburg

The DB page will show you how to do this.

https://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

Are you starting from Munich? I just got these directions for a weekday trip from Munich... Use Kelheim, Kloster Weltenburg (Tourismus) as your destination. Click on "only local transport" to find these two schedules, one at 7:05 and one at 10:05, which get you there in just over 2 hours including the walk at the end. (10:05 schedule uses the same routing as the 7:05 below.)

Munich Hbf: 7:05

Ingolstadt: 7:52; leave 8:05

Abensberg: 8:33; leave 8:35 on Bus 6018

Arrive 9:02 at bus stop Weltenburg P.-Josef-/Frauenbergstraße, Kelheim
Walk 15 minutes from there to the Kloster.

If you are starting in Munich, are you also returning? Just reverse the to/from stations. You can do this round trip on a BAYERN TICKET if you visit on a weekday and leave on the 10:05; on weekends, the 7:05 journey would also be available to you.

I don't have personal experience with the "ferry" (day cruise boat?) Maybe you'd catch the train + bus sequence on the outbound leg and return by cruise boat + train if the sequence looks convenient?

From May 7 there are 13 boats daily (about every 40 minutes). The boat ride through the narrow Danube breakthrough is the best part of the trip und you shouldn't miss it - unless you are a fan of the Bavarian Asam Baroque then you have an even better one ahead of you with the abbey church. So I would definitely take the combination train (train station Saal) / bus (to Kelheim Wöhrdplatz).

The footpath back to Weltenburg (5km, approx. 1:30) is very steep in the beginning and leads high up on the rocks; you need sturdy shoes, but the view from the top down to the monastery is worth the effort. After the descent the path is flat. On some days one can cross the Danube directly from the monastery to the other side with a tiny boat. If there is none available, you simply walk a few hundred meters upstream and take the historic rope ferry to Stausacker. Don't forget to try the dark beer from the monastery brewery; it has been operating since 1050.

We enjoyed the ferry, maybe the best part of the day (well, the beer was nice too). The Kloster itself is pleasant, interesting but not spectacular; the main draw is adding the place to your beer list.

I know we took the ferry there, but we may have returned on the bus.

If plan to cruise TO the Kloster and you're headed to the Wöhrdplatz ("Wöhrdplatz/Zentrum, Kelheim") for boarding, there's a departure just after 9 am from Munich that should get you there in roughly 2.5 hours using the Bayern Ticket day pass; another one just after 10 is faster at 1 hr. 54 min. Click on "only local transport" to find these. Using the more expensive option (the ICE from Munich) most journeys will require 2 hours, give or take several minutes. Un-click that same box to see these.

Thanks for the replies. I do know HOW to get there, it's just a pain in the butt. I'm coming from Nürnberg, so it's a train to Regensburg or Ingolstadt, and a smaller privately run line to a small town from which I transfer to Kelheim. Which still doesn't get me to Weltenburg but it gets me to the ferry.

The ferry which only runs every two hours. I know that it runs more frequently starting May 7th. I'm arriving before May 6th. So I'm trying to decide if the hassle is worth so many hours in transit.

Sounds like Weltenburg is pretty but more about the beer? Can anyone suggest how long it would take to get from the Kloster, across
the river, then walk back to Kelheim? Is it crazy steep on the north shore, or just somewhat steep?

Thanks,
-- Ethan

I can't answer your latest question, but knowing your interest in food and that you're in Nuremberg and that your Weltenburg choice is a pain whatever your tactics, and still not knowing quite what you're after (beer? monastery life?) I'll make a suggestion that might hit home.

Bad Windsheim: Easy train trip from N'berg, like €22 round trip with a VGN Tagesticket Plus

Brauhaus Dobler
Open air museum (do not miss) and other things to see/do. The museum has its own brewery and some traditional food establishments as well.

Aside from getting to Kloster Weltenburg from Kelheim, ie taking the train, bus and ferry, Kelheim itself is worth the effort if you want to see more evidence of German history.

I went to Kelheim from Regensburg. This was done as a day trip in August of 1989; unfortunately, I did not know about the Kloster Weltenburg then, otherwise I would most likely have gone there by riding the train and bus. Worth the effort. why not?

In 1989 I was focused on getting out to Kelheim by taking the train, was told to then transfer to the bus to its closest stop, and up that hill, ca. 45 minute walk because of the Befreiungsdenkmal (the liberation monument), dedicated to the victory over Napoleon in Germany and the Allied invasion of France.

It's been a few years, but I have taken family here for three different visits (other than my own visits). It's relatively close to me and I take my own car to Kelheim. I've always walked there from Kelheim along the path across the river from the Kloster as already mentioned, and then take one of the small fisher boot across. One exception was with my elderly Uncle and we took the Donau boat both ways. We usually have lunch, a Bier or two, peek in the Kloster church and return by the Donau boat. It's a leisurely half day. You will walk through an old Keltische Oppidum on the way. You can still see traces of the defensive wall. It's worth your time to walk towards the cliffs for a good view of the gorge and Kloister from above. Sometimes you see people climbing the cliffs. The Kloster Biergarten is open until 19:00, but is pretty much closed down by 18:00. I have combined the Kloster visit with a quick tour through Regensburg on a good day.

Weltenburg is a must see if you are interested in Rococo architecture. If not, it's a matter of personal taste whether the monastery's beautiful location at the west entrance to the Danube gorge is worth the effort. Except for the church, the convent buildings are not accessible (unfortunately, the Weltenburg Benedictines do not have as philanthropic an attitude as their counterparts in Ettal or Andechs).

The path over the rocks is steep, but you don't have to climb. I still walk it once or twice every year and I am not an athlete at all. ;) The pure walking time to Kelheim is about 1:30, but you'll want to stop now and then to enjoy the view.

Another good day trip destination and option for me here: taking the ferry from Kelheim since I've not been to this interesting Kloster Weltenburg. Getting there by rental car is not an option. Weltenburg is known for its beer, especially if you're into dark beer .