When to Go

This glorious landscape becomes fairy-tale-like when apricot and apple trees are in bursting blossom, late April to mid-May. One of the best ways to discover the region is to take a bike ride alongside the blossoming orchards and the bright-orange poppy fields.

Others might prefer the early- to mid-autumn days, when the vineyards on the terraced hills turn reddish-blue and a bracing chill settles over the Danube. From mid-September till the beginning of October the Bruckner Festival in Linz joins forces with Ars Electronica and Klangwolke to combine the classic with the contemporary.

Throughout the region, winter can be drab. Seasons notwithstanding, crowds jam the celebrated abbey at Melk; you're best off going first thing in the morning, before the tour buses arrive, or at midday, when the throngs have receded.

No matter when you come, be sure to try some fruits in a Linzertorte (a filling of brandy-flavored apricots, raspberries, or plums under a latticed pastry crust), a treat as rich and satisfying as the scenic wonders of the Danube Valley itself.