Lower Austria . . . . . . . 116The Danube Valley . . . 116Waldviertel & Weinviertel . . . . . . . . . 127St Pölten . . . . . . . . . . .128Süd-Alpin . . . . . . . . . . . 137Burgenland . . . . . . . . .140Eisenstadt . . . . . . . . . . 141Burg Forchtenstein . .144Neusiedler See . . . . . .144

Lower Austria & Burgenland

Why Go?Surrounding Vienna on all sides, Lower Austria is a cradle of Austrian civilisation and a region offering visitors one of the country’s most lively cultural landscapes. Outdoor activities, some great museums, wine, food and a glimpse into the age of the Romans at Carnuntum make leaving the capital for a day or longer an attractive prospect.

And naturally everyone’s heard of the Danube River which cuts a picturesque valley, the Wachau, through the region’s northwest. A place of magnificent natural beauty, this is truly a European highlight for its vineyards, castles, abbeys and medieval villages.

To the south of the capital, undervisited Burgenland is all but the typical Austria of the holiday brochures; you won’t find soaring mountains, glacial lakes and bombastic architecture here, just bucolic flatlands spread like a well-tenderised schnitzel around the jewel in its crown – Neus-iedler See – a shallow mecca for extreme-water-sports fans and paddling toddlers alike.

When to Go¨¨ Vist Burgenland, especially the Neusiedler See region in

the north, between April and October.

¨¨ From November to March Burgenland goes into low-season hibernation and its prime attraction – the outdoors – becomes cold, grey and windswept.

¨¨ Visit Lower Austria during the April to October warm season, when the Wachau is often bathed in a soft light and you can make the most of the Danube River and its sights and activities.

¨¨ Autumn is the best time to enjoy wine in the Wachau, and from 11 November (St Martin’s Day) each year young wine is sold.

Best Places to Eat¨¨ Weingut Gabriel (p145)

¨¨ Zur Dankbarkeit (p148)

¨¨ Zum Kaiser von Österreich (p120)

¨¨ Mörwald Kloster Und (p120)

¨¨ Restaurant Loibnerhof (p122)

Best Places to Stay¨¨ Weingut & Weingasthof

Kloster am Spitz (p146)

¨¨ St Martins Therme & Lodge (p148)

¨¨ Restaurant & Hotel Schloss Grafenegg (p121)

¨¨ Hotel Schloss Dürnstein (p121)

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Austria & Burgenland Highlights1 Wandering the cultural landscape of the Wachau in the Danube Valley (p116) .

2 Sipping wines in one of the pretty Heurigen (wine taverns) in towns like Rust (p144) .

3 going baroque at Stift Melk, a magnificent monastery in Melk (p124), on the banks of the Danube .

4 Making a splash in the Neusiedler See (p144), Austria’s slurping steppe lake .

5 riding the footplate of the Semmeringbahn, a remarkable engineering feat in Semmering (p139) .

6 Twitching at your leisure at Neusiedler See-Seewinkel National Park, a haven for bird life in Seewinkel (p148) .

7 Taking in the thermal waters in Frauenkirchen (p148) at St Martins Therme & Lodge .

8 Scrambling through the cobbled streets of Krems an der Donau (p116) .

9 Hiking or catching the train up Schneeberg (p140), Lower Austria’s highest peak .