← Wachau Marathon·1 night

Dürnstein: One Night Beneath the Blue Tower

A walled wine village on the Danube with a blue abbey tower, a flat main lane and a ruined castle you are allowed to skip.

Duration1 night
TransitRegional bus or seasonal Wachaubahn rail from Krems; check timetables
DepartsKrems an der Donau

After the Wachau Marathon: Dürnstein

The Route: Krems → Dürnstein → Krems → Vienna Airport (VIE) Logistics: Regional bus along the valley road, or the seasonal Wachaubahn train. One night in the village, back to Krems the next day. Marathon Month: September Duration: 1 night

Krems ──(regional bus or Wachaubahn)──> Dürnstein
                                            │
Vienna Airport (VIE) ◄──(Krems, then rail)──┘

The Wachau Marathon finishes in Krems on a Sunday in late September. You run past Dürnstein on the way, in the last third of the race, and the village is better as a destination than as a blur at the roadside. It is a short hop back up the valley.

September in Dürnstein: this is early harvest time. The vines on the terraces above the village are being picked, and wine taverns put out Sturm, the cloudy, partly fermented grape must that appears for a few weeks. It is warm enough to sit outside in the day and cool by evening. Apricots are a summer crop and finished by now, so the apricot products in the shops are jams and liqueurs.

Take a regional bus along the valley road or, if it is running on your date, the seasonal Wachaubahn from Krems. The Wachaubahn operates in the tourist season, and its timetable should be checked at wachaubahn.at before you plan around it. The village is a few kilometres from Krems, and the road follows the river.

Night One: Dürnstein

Dürnstein is a small walled village on the north bank of the Danube. The main lane, the Hauptstraße, runs along the river side of the village and is cobbled and mostly level. It is short enough to walk end to end in ten minutes, and slow enough with tired legs to fill an hour with stops.

The landmark is the abbey, whose pale blue tower is the best-known silhouette in the valley. Check Stift Dürnstein's visiting hours and step access with the abbey before you go. The ruined castle on the hill above the village is where Richard I of England was held after his arrest in 1192 and 1193, and the climb is a steep path with uneven ground. After a marathon it is not a sensible plan. Look at it from the street and leave it.

Stay at Gartenhotel & Weingut Pfeffel, a four-star family-run spa and wine hotel in the village. Check availability and breakfast times, since the hotel markets a half-marathon package to the race and has no marathon-specific offer. Hotel Schloss Dürnstein and Hotel Richard Löwenherz are also listed as hotels in the village, so compare rates for your date.

For dinner, ask the hotel which wine taverns are open in the village that week, since the harvest-season opening calendar changes. A plate of local cold cuts, a Grüner Veltliner or a Riesling from the valley and, if it is on, a glass of Sturm make a good evening for sore legs.

Getting home

Take the bus or Wachaubahn back to Krems the next morning, and check the last service the night before. From Krems, trains connect towards Vienna and the airport, Vienna Airport (VIE). Check the ÖBB timetable for the journey time and book a seat if your connection is tight.