KREMS - HOTELS & TOURIST INFORMATION

In the eastern part of the Wachau, on the left bank of the Danube River, lies the one-thousand-year-old city of Krems. Krems is located eighty kilometers west of Vienna and thirty kilometers north of St. Pölten. If driving from Vienna, take north along the A 22 until it splits into three roads, close to the town of Stockerau. From here, drive west along Route3, using the signs to Krems. Trains leave from the Wien Nord Station and the Wien Franz-Josefs Station to Krems on every hour. Traveling by bus from Vienna to Krems is not such a good idea due to the many transfers required, but Krems is well connected by the bus lines to the surrounding villages.
The city today is spread over Stein and Mautern, once separate towns. Krems is a neat town of courtyards, antique churches and ancient houses in the heart of vineyard country. There are and some partially preserved town walls. The attractive "double town" of Krems-Stein provides visitors with a great variety of cultural, historical and culinary offers. Historical buildings in the old town centre are listed as "world heritage" by the UNESCO in 2000. An extensive sports offer combined with numerous large events (the annual Wachau-marathon, including more than ten thousands participants), adds to the existing range of possibilities. Something not to be missed is the Weinstadt Museum Krems (Museum of Krems), housed in a restored Dominican monastery. The Gothic abbey is from the 13th and 14th centuries. Its gallery exhibits the paintings of Martin Johann Schmidt. One of the more intriguing displays is a copy of a 32 000-year-old statuette, the country's most ancient work of art. Also of further interest are the cellar tunnels that were excavated underneath the abbey. The complex has an impressive Wine Museum, exhibiting artifacts, many of which quite old, gathered from the vineyards along the Danube.