Dürnstein Things to Do

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The old town is wonderful to walk around.
I saw an old Rathaus, old walls that surround the town of Durnstein, narrow cobblestoned streets, beautiful buildings, ruins and interesting shops.
In my opinion, it is the only way to see the town.

From the Esplanade, I had a wonderful view of the exquisite blue and white steeple of the Blue Church.
Blue, I thought an unusual colour, evidently this it what is was originally painted. Blue & white represents heaven, and grey & yellow represents earth. The Abbey, which is situated behind the Church, is painted in these colours.

The church has one of the finest baroque towers in all of Austria, and if you can go inside, there is some unique artwork showing the suffering of Jesus Christ and the tabernacle at the altar with 44 images of the life of Jesus.

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As we were entering Durnstein by car, we were stopped before entering the town by roadworks.
There was quite a hold-up, so I got out the car and walked the esplanade, a paved path into Durnstein.
An easy walk, flat and level, and right beside the Danube. I'm glad I did this walk, as from here I had good views of the ruins above the town, I saw houses painted in many different bright colours, and the tour boats on the Danube.
When I reached the bend of the River, I found the houses were built on top of the cliffs, what a strong foundation they would have.
There were lots of seats along the way which I imagine would be full on a Summer's day.

Even when it is drizzling, like when we were there a few weeks ago, Durnstein is still fun to walk the streets, stopping there for a beer, there for a shot of schnapps, here for some warm strudel, and snapping photos all the while. This is prime walking area, with great views on occasion at the edges---take your time and explore--It's not that big!

I love slightly odd sights around the world---I remember very clearly as a 16 year old seeing St James' finger bone in a church in Northern Spain (or maybe Portugal), and this skeleton inside the Durnstein Abbey Church is amazing---Very Indiana Jones-ish looking through the glass.....

Just kind of a no-brainer, but try and get your camera ready for this shot----an awesome view of the town in all its glory all at once coming in on our Viking Sky cruise ship around 3 in the afternoon.....

The old Castle ruins are free to visit, after the 30 minute hike up.....Take good shoes for this one, folks...On a sunny day this would be well worth the climb for the view of the beautiful Danube and the Wachau Valley....

My son turned 30 this trip, and is an actor/puppeteer/director and poses in front of the Hell plaque in the first courtyard after entering the abbey proper---there are roses in the middle of this courtyard---make sure and look at all the plaques around the outer edge.