The first thing I did when we decided to spend two weeks in Austria was look for awesome Airbnb’s throughout the country. One of the first listings that jumped out at me was a treehouse located about an hour from Vienna. From the moment I saw it, I knew we had to stay there. That treehouse inspired this Wachau Valley road trip!
Road trip time!
We rented a car in Vienna and jumped on the road towards the Wachau Valley. To sum it up, the Wachau Valley is pretty much 25 miles of beautiful scenery along the Danube River. It is an area dotted with cute villages and lots of vineyards. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000, and we totally can see why. The first half of the drive was mostly on the highway (and we came to the conclusion that there is no speed limit on certain highways?!). Once we got onto the country roads, we were awe-struck! There were rolling hills in the distance, the leaves on the trees were starting to change color, and we passed tons of vineyards.
What’s better than this?!
Our first stop in the Wachau Valley ended up being our favorite village. Our original plan was to start at the town furthest from the treehouse and then work our our way back, but once we saw Durnstein in the distance, we knew we had to stop and check it out right away. We parked the car and walked along a vineyard to the river. We saw a large ferry – it’s amazing how these giant boats travel through the river past all these small towns. We wandered our way towards Stift Durnstein church – it’s unique because it’s blue and sits right near the river. It was hard to see the church from where we were, but I am sure it is breathtaking when approaching the village on the water. We walked through the village a little more. Almost everything was closed, except for a bar and a shop or too. It was pretty empty, with just a few people around, but it was nice since it was so quiet.
All smiles!
Ferry cruising on by!
Always time for a photo!
Stift Durnstein
Colorful & empty
Next, we headed towards Spitz. It was just a few minutes down the road from Durnstein. It was much smaller and there was practically no one – just a handful of locals. We walked around the main area of the town, and then outside the center a little. We also visited another small village called Weibenkirchen. It had a similar feel – very quiet and quaint. After exploring a little, we headed back to the car – it was time to head to the treehouse!
What a view!
Bike or car?!
Breathtaking streets!
The treehouse was located near Krems an der Donau. We checked into the treehouse and dropped our bags off, and then decided to head to the supermarket and to explore the town. We walked around a little – Krems an der Donau was bigger than the other towns and there were more people. More shops were open, but almost everything closed around 6pm. This was something that we kept noticing while we were in Austria- almost all the shops outside the main cities closed at 6pm!
Much more going on!
Art on the buildings!
The treehouse was so cool! It was awesome seeing it in person after looking at it online so much. The views from the treehouse were amazing. We could see a church and castle ruins in the distance and there were apricot trees and vineyards all around. The hosts left us a jar of homemade apricot jam, grapes, and a few other goodies, which were all delicious. It was nice and cozy inside and had everything we needed. There were even board games and card games for us to play. I wish we had spent more than one night there, but I guess that’s an excuse to come back one day!
Thumbs up for the treehouse!
Looking into the treehouse.. grapes!
This sign in the treehouse has become our new favorite saying!
View from the porch!
Driving around nearby
We had an early start the next day because we had to bring the car back to Vienna by noon. We planned on making scrambled eggs for breakfast in the morning… turns out the eggs we bought from the store were hard boiled eggs, not fresh eggs – so no scrambled eggs for us! After that ordeal, we headed to Melk. The biggest attraction there (no pun intended) is Melk Abbey, a huge monastery up on a hill above the town. We didn’t get to visit it, but just seeing it from below in the town was impressive. We looked around the town a little – it seemed like Melk Abbey was the only thing to see there. Then, we headed back to Vienna.
Melk Abbey, seen from the road
Melk Abbey sitting above the town in the fog!
Our new house?!
All in all, exploring the Wachau Valley was definitely a great choice! We visited in the low season so there wasn’t much going on, but I’d imagine during the warmer months it picks up a bit. We were able to have the towns to ourselves when we visited! In the end, it was nice to get outside of Vienna for a little, exploring the picturesque streets and small villages.
Jumping for joy in the Wachau Valley!
P.S. – If you want to find an awesome place to stay at for your next vacation, like the tree house we stayed in, definitely check out Airbnb! New users can sign up here to get $40 off your first Airbnb trip!
You can view more photos from our time in the Wachau Valley in this slideshow below!
