As your river cruise sails you along the Danube, you’ll most probably find your way to Melk, a town in Austria by the banks of the Danube River, not too far from Wachau Valley. Though small, with a population of just under 6,000, Melk is not to be missed.
It’ll only take you 15 minutes to walk from one side of Melk to the other. The Old Town is full of gems - one of which is Rathausplatz, the Town Hall Square. While you find yourself capturing the beauty of Rathausplatz, keep an eye out for the House for Itinerants built in 1657 with its beautifully painted windows. Continue your walk down the Haputplatz, Main Square, to discover the small but dazzling streets Kremser Strasse, where you can visit Nibelungen-Gedanktafel and Linzer Strasse where you’ll find the old Post Office of Melk, built in 1792 which has been turned into a lovely local museum.
It would be a crime to visit Melk and skip its monastery. Benediktinerstift lies high atop a hill and offers breathtaking views of the Old Town and Danube River. Built by Abbot Bertghold Dietmayr and his architects, Jakob Prandtauer and Joseph Munggenast, between 1701 and 1736, the monastery features a library with over 80,000 individual volumes some of them extremely valuable and the library itself has a ceiling fresco by Paul Troger. The abbey here will leave you speechless. As you walk down the corridors, you’ll come across the 196-metre-long Kaisergang, which is filled with portraits of Austria’s rulers so take some time to dive into the country’s political history and admire the paintings.
Which cruise lines sail to Melk?
