4 hours ago
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October 24, 2025 — 5:00am
Twenty years ago, I fell in love with an Austrian girl at a bus stop in Darlinghurst and flew away with her to live in a winery on the Danube, in a valley called the Wachau.
The Wachau was the antithesis of the tiny, airless apartment off George Street in Sydney’s CBD I lived in then. Despite its World Heritage listing – and the fact it’s only 60 minutes’ drive from Austria’s capital, Vienna – the Wachau was barely known to visitors outside Austria. Even today, it’s really only known to wine aficionados.
I arrived in the dusk in late summer as the sun set across terraced vineyards, which seemed to slope right into the Danube. I stared at old castles and monasteries built along granite-topped, forested hills and mountains. In between, locals lived in tiny medieval villages which appeared to be connected only by bike paths and walkways.
The Danube, the longest river in the European Union, runs through the entire length of the valley. If you’ve ever taken a cruise through western Europe you’ll remember this valley, even if its name doesn’t ring a bell.
I’d visited Australia’s oldest wine region, the Hunter Valley, where grapes were first planted in the 1820s. But wine was first made in the Wachau Valley by Celtic tribes around the first century BC. I’d be staying at a winery that had been owned by the same family for 300 years. Imagine, 300 years and never once breaking the link?
There’s a pace to life in the Wachau that’s instantly agreeable. Where Vienna can heave with visitors during summer, the Wachau feels sleepy, most of the time – except at the height of European school holidays. You can drive around it but that’s to miss the point. It’s best to ride, or walk. There’s a bike trail that follows the Danube, called the Donauradweg. The tiny medieval villages of the valley are easy to reach by bike, and their narrow often cobbled streets weren’t built for modern transport.
I’d walk too. There are hiking trails throughout, part of the 180-kilometre-long Welterbesteig network. Or try a boat ride – there are day-long boat tours from Vienna, but it’s best to book a localised Wachau Valley cruise, to maximise your time in the valley. The Wachau Valley stretches for 30 kilometres between Melk to the west with its World Heritage-listed, 1000-year-old abbey, and Krems to the east.
Durnstein Castle, where the English king Richard The Lionheart was imprisoned in 1192, is still standing. Churches in each village are mostly fortified as they acted as defensive positions during attacks in the Middle Ages. Every village in the Wachau feels like people should have stopped living there around about the 17th century.
But don’t forget the wine: it’s why you should come. The Wachau is best known for Austria’s iconic varietal, gruner veltliner. If you haven’t tried it, imagine a much more full-bodied riesling. The region is small in wine making terms – with 124 vineyards – so it’s more intimate than better-known European wine regions, especially considering wineries here are mostly family owned (with most dating back at least eight generations). You’ll meet the families at tasting rooms: that’s part of the fun.
I’ve visited some of the world’s prettiest wine regions – Switzerland’s Valais Valley, California’s Sonoma Valley, France’s Loire Valley – but the Wachau leaves them in its wake. Winery restaurants and tasting rooms are all here between the grapes and 1000-year-old stone terrace walls; and with the drastic slope of the surroundings, you can only imagine the views over the river.
There are vineyard tours, wine cellar tours and wine experiences, such as wine hikes and picnics, even wine stand-up paddleboarding tours. And should you prefer more pace, come in late September for the Grape Harvest Festival, when there’s music and dancing on the streets.
As for my Austrian girlfriend? Soon after, I moved to Vienna and a year later we moved back to Australia, where our relationship eventually dwindled, living together in a wine region which wasn’t half as romantic as the Wachau.
The details
Tour
To ride through the valley, rent a bike or e-bike or take a tour with Wachau Bike. See wachaubike.at
Winery Domane Wachau has a tasting room and shop open most days. See domaene-wachau.at/en
DDSG Blue Danube runs boat tours of the Wachau Valley and from Vienna to Wachau. See ddsg-blue-danube.at
Fly
Travel to Vienna with Austrian Airlines then take a train to Krems. See austrian.com; oebb.at/en
Stay
To enjoy the valley in luxury with a stunning view of the Danube and a great day spa, stay at Schloss Durnstein, rooms from €250 ($445). See schloss.at/en
The writer travelled at his own expense.
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