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View of the Danube from the vineyards

World Heritage Trail Wachau with Charm

Wine and culture on the blue Danube

Mindful Travel
8 Days / 7 Nights
Walking
Book now
To the online version
View of the Danube from the vineyards

World Heritage Trail Wachau with Charm

Wine and culture on the blue Danube

Mindful Travel
8 Days / 7 Nights
Walking

Itinerary at a glance

The Wachau World Heritage Trail connects the region's history with the here and now. Fragrant vines grow on ancient wine terraces, beautiful views are complemented by lovely villages and historic ruins.
Day
01

Arrival in Krems

Walk up into the vineyards to the tower with view on blue Danube, the city Krems and impressing monastery Göttweig. Cross the hills to the cozy Fesslhütte and reach the Dürnstein ruins on a trail with great views before reaching the banks of the Danube.

Take the ferry from Dürnstein to Rossatz. Continue past the largest apricot growing area of Austria, on old tracks up to Seekopf with stunning views to the Alps. Optional take a walk along Danube through orchards to the ferry.

Surrounded by sunny vineyards and green forests the mighty gothic parish church of Weißenkirchen is a remarkable sight. Wine growing villages such as Joching, Wösendorf and St. Michael form together with Weißenkirchen the biggest wine grower community of the Wachau region. Visit museums, seize beautiful walking trails or take a boat tour on the Danube. Enjoy a glass of Wachauer wine in one of the wine taverns. Or do a short hike on the Achleiten circuit to stop by the winegrower!

The wine trail leads you out of Weißenkirchen, past small cellar alleys and up into the unique wine landscape high above the Danube. On the World Heritage Trail, you hike through the heart of the Wachau. At the landmark of Spitz, the “Red Gate”, you descend into the famous wine village beside the Danube.

Cross the Danube by ferry to Maria Langegg. Here you follow St. Jacob’s trail to ruin Aggsbach. Visit the fortress with scenic views across the Danube valley and stop for a snack. Down you walk to Aggsbach where you catch the coach to Melk.

Visit the impressive monastery with beautiful grounds before you board the Danube boat. During the cruise to Krems you pass the highlights of the week, see all the vineyards as well as Spitz and Durnstein.

Day
08

Departure or extension

Other variations of this tour

Views during a hike
World Heritage Trail Wachau with Charm
5 Days
View to Spitz
World Heritage Trail Wachau, Krems – Spitz
5 Days
grapevine
World Heritage Trail Wachau, Krems – Melk
8 Days
At the Rebentor
Wine accompaniment with dinner
View of Spitz
Peach tree by the path
above the rooftops
Wine bar on the roadside

Difficulty level

Walking

You walk mainly on good trails and some paved vineyard paths. Depending on the route, you can make the stages more comfortable or more challenging. The peaks in the Wachau region are not high, but steep in places. Surefootedness therefore is required in some places. This week offers a perfect blend of nature, culture and culinary delight.

Prices & Dates

Prices per person in EUR

Services & Information

Further details about this tour

Included

  • Accomodation in hotels with charm
  • Breakfast
  • Luggage transfer
  • Boat trip Melk – Krems*
  • Wine tasting (German, English)

 

  • Carefully elaborated route description
  • Detailed travel and tour documents 1x per room (German, English, French)
  • App for Navigation and GPS-data
  • Servicehotline

* Boat cruise is only possible starting from mid-April, bus ride as an alternative.

Arrival / Parking / Departure

  • Train journey from Vienna to Krems and a few minutes walk to the starting hotel.
  • Vienna airport.
  • Parking: Hotel parking garage, approx. EUR 6 to EUR 16 per week. Public parking spaces, approx. EUR 6 per day.

Things to note

  • Tourist tax, if due, is not included in the price
  • 3x ferry crossings Danube, bus fare from Aggsdorf to Melk, approx. EUR 10 per person
  • Further important information according to the package travel law can be found here!

Join us in achieving greater sustainability by choosing our digital route book, rather than the printed version. As a small thank you we will give you a discount of €20 per room.

Services & Information

Further details about this tour

Included

  • Accomodation in hotels with charm
  • Breakfast
  • Luggage transfer
  • 1 Boat trip from Melk to Krems*
  • 1 Wine tasting
  • Digital travel documents incl. navigation app, GPS-data, route book
  • Service hotline
  • * Boat cruise is only possible starting from mid-April, bus ride as an alternative.

Optional Extras

  • Printed route book, per room EUR 20

Arrival / Parking / Departure

  • Arrival by train to Krems (www.oebb.at)
  • Vienna airport and by train to Krems, duration approx. 2 hours (www.oebb.at)
  • Linz airport and by bus to the train station and by train to Krems, duration 2 hours (www.oebb.at)
  • Parking: hotel garage, costs approx. EUR 40 to EUR 160 per week, public parking space, costs approx. EUR 5 to EUR 10 per week

Things to note

  • Tourist tax, if due, is not included in the price.
  • 3x ferry trips Danube**, bus ride from Aggsdorf to Melk, approx. EUR 12 per person **Dürnstein – Weißenkirchen: Boat only runs on weekends during the off-season (March, April, October); alternative hiking option for Day 3
  • Further important information according to the package travel law can be found here!

In the Mindful Travel category, we offer a selection of hiking tours that meet specific sustainability standards.

Our focus is on the following:

  • Family-run partner accommodations with deep-rooted traditions that emphasize regional foods, avoid plastics, and embrace additional eco-friendly practices.
  • Easy, comfortable, and climate-friendly arrivals made possible by good public transportation connections.
  • Minimized guest transfers and shorter luggage transport routes to reduce unnecessary travel.
  • Our routes avoid crowded tourist areas, guiding you instead through tranquil regions and charming locations where you can truly experience the unique character of your hiking destination.
     

Discover all the details about Mindful Travel here!

Our hotels

Relax in our charming accommodations along your walking tour

From our hiking blog

Vineyard in the Wachau
Team on Tour
Travel story: In the vineyards above the Danube
In the last two years, I have explored beautiful Italy on two walking holidays: plesaure walking in Piedmont and on the east coast of Sardinia. After these walking holidays in Italy, this year's holiday is in my home territory, along the beautiful Wachau World Heritage Trail. With my sister, I drive along the “Romantic Road” on the northern bank of the Danube to Krems, the starting point of our walking holiday "World Heritage Trail Wachau, Krems - Spitz". Now, there will be three walking days along the Danube and right through the vineyards to Spitz. Alternatively, this tour is also offered as a longer variant over eight days, up to Melk. We are really looking forward to the next few days and raise a toast at our first dinner in Krems’ old town with homemade Austrian apricot iced tea. (Fun fact: in Austria, we call apricots “Marillen”, but in Germany, they are known as “Aprikose”!)
Hikers on the World Heritage Trail
Team on Tour
Helene en route along the World Heritage Trail Wachau
Vineyards, apricot orchards and cultural assets of all kinds characterise the World Heritage Region Wachau. Considering all of this it was an easy choice for a suitable hiking holiday. Our holiday along the World Heritage Trail Wachau started in the town of Krems and led us all the way to Spitz on the river Danube. As a crowning finale this hiking holiday contains a boat trip from Spitz back to Krems, taking you past the places of the Wachau, which you got to know and love during your hiking holiday.
Hiker with a view of the Danube
Autumnal Hiking in the Wachau
It wasn’t merely the golden October colours, the pleasant walking temperatures or the newly harvested wine that lured me to come walking in the Autumnal Wachau. It was mainly the newly signposted route along the World Heritage Trail here! Some of the best signposted footpaths on both sides of the Danube were simply waiting to be explored. Every variant of the walk, every panoramic viewpoint, every summit and every view view tower was needing to be discovered, checked and hiked to. That meant that I wasn’t leisurely walking one stage at a time but was trekking from dawn til dusk and upstream as well as downstream. The sheer diversity in this region meant that I never got tired. Sometimes I was going along panoramic paths through vineyards via cosy forest tracks and other times up steep ascents where at the top great views were awaiting me… I could even climb some small peaks here.
Sophia Altenberger

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Sophia Altenberger
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Sustainably on the go

Our contribution to climate protection

  • Active vacations are among the most environmentally friendly and healthiest ways to travel. Traveling on foot means moving in a climate-conscious way while conserving resources.

  • Our carefully selected accommodations, like us, are committed to lived sustainability. They are deeply rooted in their regions, work with local suppliers, provide attractive employment opportunities for local residents, and thereby strengthen local value creation.

  • With the Eurohike On Tour app, we offer a digital version of our travel documents, allowing you to navigate confidently while on the road. By moving to digital formats, we help conserve valuable natural resources.

  • Eurohike has been certified as a sustainable tour operator with the internationally recognized Travelife certification. To achieve this, more than 261 requirements were carefully met.

  • Even though hiking vacations (and cycling vacations with Eurobike) are among the most climate-friendly forms of travel, they still generate CO₂ emissions. These are carefully measured using the “Carmacal” calculator. Through our commitment to selected climate protection projects, we aim to give something back to the environment.

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