3 days Vienna. Is Melk Worth it?
 

hi! we only have 3 days in Vienna. we would like to use the last day to do the Melk-Krems tour. it this worth it or is it better for us to just stay in the city?

Let me try again, but it's for you to decide. We enjoyed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melk_Abbey P.S. On our second trip there, we enjoyed walking thru the old town.

On our river cruise last September we saw many, many churches and cathedrals. So many that I caught the ABC syndrome but there is nothing in the world like the Abbey at Melk. It's beauty is indescribable and it's history is worth the trip. As you can tell I really enjoyed my visit to Melk Abbey.

Check out youtube. There is a Burt Wolff on Travel video about the Danube.

It goes into excruciating detail about the Melk Abbey.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phlDJpLr22s

There is a lot to see in Vienna.
We took the trip...enjoyed it, but we were in Vinna for more than a week.

We visited Melk/Krems while doing a bike trip, so we didn't head out of Vienna and I have no idea of how much time it would take away from your time in Vienna.

Even so, I should tell you that Melk Abbey blew us away. Like OzJohnno, there is a point after so many trips to Europe where all the cathedrals begin to merge in memory, but we have no problem remembering Melk Abbey at all.

where are you going to be before and after Vienna? do you have 3 FULL days there? what else do you want to see while you are in Vienna?

you could take a day seeing the centre - the Hofburg and some of the museums -

a 1/2 day plus at the Schoebrunn [buy a "Sissi" ticket at the Hofburg and get into the Schoenbrunn for free without queuing] followed by late afternoon evening at a Heurige [wine tavern] or two

a third day at Melk or...

we loved Melk too, but you need to think about what else you have in mind to do in Vienna before you can decide.

Is there a way to get to the Abbey from the train station without the uphill climb? I don't think we can make that uphill climb.

topping

I am not yet seeing a confirmed public bus route online, but I'm searching, BillT, because there seems to be a rumor of one :).

There ARE buses right to the abbey included as part of one-day bus or boat trips from Vienna though. There seem to be a variety of options there, too.

I think the average tourist would call the Melk/Danube/Wachau Valley boat day as their top memory of the Vienna area - big huge cities are nice but are so so tiring at times - just relax on this jaunt thru what is often called the most gorgeous part of the whole Danube River, from the Black Forest origins to the Black Sea depot.

For info on the whole day - Melk Abbey, boat cruise - Durnstein, the popular stopping off point and trains check these sites for lots of details: www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuopetravel.com and search Fodor's for mokka (molka?), an Austrian who has posted lots of great info on the Wachau Valley boat rides (and castigated me for some errors of fact I've made!)

Buy an all-inclusive ticket at the Vienna train station - take the about 45-minute train ride to Melk - tour the abbey right near the station - get to the right Danube boat dock (the closest one to the abbey and town center not the long-distance dock out in the middle of the river) - take the boat to Durnstein...


visit the ruined castle there where Richard-the-Lion-Hearted was once held for ransom and then take a bus or another boat to Krems - a larger town but still nice and then take a train back from there to Vienna (Frnz-Josefs Bahnhof - different station than you leave from I think).

I think it's a good idea to spend 2 days in Vienna, and a day on the Danube. But it also depends on how many cities you are doing in your entire trip.

Thanks for all your input. I'm planning a trip to Vienna next year and was going to nix Melk or any day trips and just stay in vienna, but now I think I will add it in. :)

PalenQ, please elaborate on the all-inclusive ticket you mentioned. What is the official name of this ticket (so I can google it)? I'm going to be in Vienna for six days over New Year's and taking a day trip to Melk Abbey also. Thanks.

The combi ticket is issued by the train operator.
http://kombitickets.railtours.at/com...au-ticket.html

The suggested timing, 9:00am Vienna departure matches the 11am English tour http://www.stiftmelk.at/englisch/ just in time. However, I took an earlier train, requiring a simple across the platform change at St. Pölten Hbf, which allowed me to visit the garden before the tour, which in turn allowed me to eat leisurely lunch in Melk to take the 13:50 boat from the Melk dock.

Oh, I just noticed <i>New Year</i>. No, this is only up to October.

Yes, Melk is certainly worth a day! It is stunning!

For most the third day doing the Melk/Wachau excursion will be more exciting than anything they could do on that third day in Vienna itself - does notmean Vienna ain't great but that Melk and the Wachau Valley are tremendous - something besides big cities.

Just found out about this and want to point out that in the winter when the boat is not running, there is another combination pass available:
http://kombitickets.railtours.at/kom...bbey-melk.html
We went to Melk Abbey on New Year's Day, and it looked beautiful after a dusting of snow.
Also check out the other combination passes offered by OBB; they make great day trips from Salzburg or Vienna.