Vienna Environs: Places to Explore

The Weinstrasse brings you to the serenely elegant spa town of Baden. Since antiquity, Baden's sulfuric thermal baths have attracted the ailing and the fashionable from all over the world. When the Romans... Read more

From Mödling, follow the scenic Weinstrasse (an unnumbered road to the west of the rail line) through the lush vineyard country to the famous wine-producing village of Gumpoldskirchen. This tiny village... Read more

From 1948 until about 1990, Laa an der Thaya was a town isolated by the Cold War, directly bordering what was then Czechoslovakia. Laa is considerably livelier now that the border is open. (As long as you... Read more

This tiny corner of the lower Weinviertel is known as the Marchfeld, for the fields stretching east to the March River, forming the border with Slovakia. In this region—known as the granary of Austria—a... Read more

Scenic Route 210 takes you through the quiet Helenental valley west of Baden to Mayerling, scene of a tragedy that is still passionately discussed and disputed by the Austrian public, the press, and historians... Read more

Founded in the 10th century, Mödling has a delightful town center, now free of cars. Centuries-old buildings, most of them one- or two-story, give the town an intimate scale. Note the domineering... Read more

Just over the Vienna city line to the southwest lies Perchtoldsdorf, a charming market town with many wine taverns, a 13th-century Gothic Pfarrkirche (parish church), and the overarching symbol of the... Read more

Impressively situated on a gently sloping hill crowned by an early-Baroque church, Poysdorf is considered by many the capital of the Weinviertel. Wine making here goes back to the 14th century. Poysdorf... Read more

Retz, at the northwest corner of the Weinviertel, is a charming town with an impressive rectangular central square formed by buildings dating mainly from the 15th century. Take time to explore Retz's tiny... Read more