The Danube Valley Feature

Pöstlingberg. When you want to escape the hustle and bustle of Linz, just hop on the Pöstlingbergbahn, an electric railway, for a scenic ride up to the famous mountain belvedere, the Pöstlingberg. The narrow-gauge marvel has been making the 16-minute journey since 1898, and today it the lime extends to Hauptplatz. Europe's steepest non-cog mountain railway gains 750 feet in elevation in a journey of roughly 4 km (2.5 mi), with neither pulleys nor cables to prevent it from slipping, tackling a gradient of nearly 1:10. In summer the old open-bench cars are used. On a clear day the view from the top of the Postlingberg is superb, with the city and the wide sweep of the Danube filling the foreground and the snowcapped Alps on the horizon. With a glass of chilled white wine in hand, drink in the grand vista over Linz and the Danube from the terrace of the Pöstlingberg-Schlössl restaurant, located at the top of Linz's "city mountain." There are also cafés and beer gardens at the summit, along with the Church of the Seven Sorrows of the Virgin (Sieben Schmerzen Mariens), an immense and opulent twin-towered Baroque pilgrimage church (1748) visible for miles as a Linz landmark. Also on the mountain is the Märchengrotte (Fairy-tale Grotto) Railroad. A museum with an original carriage from the Pöstlingbergbahn and an interactive mockup of the driving controls is at the former ticket office in Landgutstrasse 19. 0732/7801-7002. www.linzag.at. Round-trip €5.60. May-Sept. Mon.-Sat. 6am-10:30pm, Sun. 7:30am-10pm; Oct.-Apr. Mon.-Sat. 6am-8:30pm, Sun. 7:30am-8:30pm. Trains run every 30 min.