Trail Name: Welterbesteig (Section Krems to Stein am Donau/Foerthof)
Trail Type: Long distance hiking trail; varied surfaces (tarmac to grass), mostly maintained, and fairly well-marked.
Length:
Total: (Krems to Melk) 180 km
First Stage (Krems -Duernstein): 12.5 km
My Stage: (Krems to Stein/ Foerthof (Pfaffenbergweg) – circa 6 km
Marking: White circle with a “W” and a stylized river, or yellow rectangle with “Welterbesteig” in black letters
Trail Description: This major trail along the Danube meanders between the hillsides with their wine terraces, and the lovely small towns and villages along the river that process and sell the famous white wines of the Wachau region in Austria. It is a trail of medium difficulty overall, which offers wonderful scenery and interesting cultural and historical sites along the way.
Trailheads:
Start – Krems: Hoher Markt
My End – Stein: Pfaffenbergweg
First Stage End – Duernstein
Last Stage End – Melk
Parking Possibilities:
Krems: Around old town there is plenty of metered parking, except on Saturday afternoons and Sundays.
Stein: Steiner Donaulaende – parking spaces along the road, but watch for time limitations
Public Transportation Options:
Rail: http://www.oebb.at/en/ covers much of Austria
Bus: WL1 covers much of this route. For all options see: http://www.vor.at/willkommen-bei-vor/
Ferries: Private firms such as Brandner, DDSG, etc., control the ferries which conveniently cover the Wachau region.
Suggested Stages: See Comment below
Trail Itinerary-Reference Points:
Krems: Hoher Markt-Piaristengasse (church)-Alauntalstr (up path on stairs), Kreuzbergstr-Koegelweg, vineyards, Alauntalweg-Mazzettistr-Alauntalstr-Philosophensteig; Stein: Steiner Kellergasse, follow train tracks, and cross Reisperbachtalstr, vineyard trail, Pfaffenbergweg. (FYI: From here to Duernstein, the official end of this stage, the trail follows a vineyard lane above Unter- and Ober- Loipen into Duernstein)
Representative Trail Photo:
Restrooms:
Krems: On Taeglicher Markt, in heart of the pedestrian district (open only during business hours)
Attractions on or near Trail:
Lots of quaint streets and great Danube scenes, but the only wine-related attraction would be the Winzer Krems Sandgrube 13 wine cellar tour.
Tasting along the Trail:
Most of the wineries and Heuriger (wine taverns run by the wineries on a rotational basis) are on or near Steiner Kellergasse.
Alternative Options:
Biking: The Donauradweg, the Danube Cycle Route, covers this area (and thousands of kilometers more).
Car: Weinstrasse Kremstal is a self-drive route through this wine region. (See the heavy gray line on the map in the feature photo.)
Additional Information:
Regional:
http://www.donau.com/de/donau-niederoesterreich/ausflug-bewegen/bewegung/karten-touren-finden/
Trail (segment) specific:
Comments:
The beginning stageof this trail covers a part of the Kremstal Wine Region, before continuing through the Wachau Wine Region.
The Krems to Duernstein stage is short enough to complete in about 3 hours. But if you run out of daylight as I did, stopping at Pfaffenbergweg, Foerthof, by the last vineyard in the Kremstal wine region, provides an opportunity to take a convenient bus from the Foerthofstrasse stop back to Krems center.