Must see attractions in Lower Austria

Top Choice

Of the many abbeys in Austria, Stift Melk is the most famous. Possibly Lower Austria's finest, the monastery church dominates the complex with its twin…

Top Choice

From one side it looks like a squashed cube, from the other as though it's about to topple over – welcome to the latest addition to Krems' Kunstmeile: a…

Top Choice

Part of Krems' Kunsthalle network, this contemporary white cube is named after the artist Adolf Frohner and is housed in the former Minorite monastery. It…

Founded in 1083, the abbey was devastated by fire in the early 18th century and so sports an impressive baroque interior. It's still a working monastery…

Nationalpark Donau-Auen is a thin strip of natural flood plain on either side of the Danube, running from Vienna to the Slovak border. Established as a…

If you're intent on tasting the best of what the Wachau has to offer, it's a good idea to do a broad range of vineyards, from the innovative family-run…

The Egon Schiele Museum, housed in a former jail near the Danube, vividly presents the story of the life of the Tulln-born artist. It presents around 100…

Reached by a covered stairway (Piaristenstiege) from Pfarrplatz, Krems' most impressive church has a wonderful webbed Gothic ceiling and huge, austerely…

One of the main attractions on Krems' Kunstmeile, the Kunsthalle has a program of changing exhibitions. These might be mid-19th-century landscapes or hard…

This Benedictine abbey can trace its foundations back to 1144. The library, which has ceiling frescos by Paul Troger, and the crypt, with frescos by…

Kuenringerburg, the castle high on the hill above the town, is where Richard the Lionheart was incarcerated from 1192 to 1193. His crime was insulting…

Built from the ruins of a 13th-century medieval castle and tinkered with for 700 years, Artstetten castle gained fame and glory after passing into the…

This cathedral runs an architectural gamut from the Romanesque (it dates from the late 13th century) to the Gothic and beyond to the baroque. The…

This medieval monastery is one of the country’s most beautiful and is not only the second-oldest Cistercian monastery in the world but the oldest…

The Rathausplatz is a pretty town square lined with cafes and eye-catching pastel-coloured buildings. It is dominated by the Rathaus (town hall) on its…

This palace is famous not only for its stunning architecture but also for the innovative exhibitions it houses, along with its lovely gardens. A wonderful…

Known as the ‘Cathedral of the Wachau’, the large baroque parish church boasts colourful frescos by Martin Johann Schmidt, an 18th-century local artist…

The open-air museum is the major attraction in Petronell-Carnuntum itself and lies on the site of the old civilian town. It includes ruins of the public…

About 6km south of Diendorf is this historicist castle with the look and feel of an ornate Tudor mansion set in English woods, although look a little…

The town's main piazza is closed off on one side by the Rathaus, which is something of a hybrid of styles. It began life as a Gothic building, was given…