Danube Delights

Sliced in half by the Danube, Budapest is like two cities in one. Hilly Buda sits to the west of the river, crowned by a vast 18th-century castle and the turreted Fisherman’s Bastion. To the east, you’ve got Pest, which is home to one of the grandest parliament buildings in the world. The whole city’s a treasure chest for architecture, though – even its famous thermal baths are style icons, from Ottoman-era Rudas to canary-yellow Szechenyi and its open-air number. And its quirky ruin bars – housed in derelict, open-air buildings – are anything but ordinary. Go for a drink at Szimpla Kert and you can take a seat in a cut-open car or admire the graffiti-covered walls.

Classical music, palatial architecture and priceless works of art are just a flavour of Vienna’s social standing. It’s Austria’s capital, and sits on the west bank of the Danube River. U-Bahn trains take five or 10 minutes to get from the waterfront to the city centre, where pretty parks fill in the gaps between the libraries, churches and opera houses. Crispy portions of Wiener schnitzel are on every restaurant menu, and on-the-go explorers opt for kasekrainer – a frankfurter filled with melted cheese. Shoppers make a beeline for Karnter Strasse, where big-name brands stand shoulder-to-shoulder. And if you take a stroll to the southern reaches, you’ll find Baroque palaces and grand concert halls.

Durnstein is a serious contender for Austria’s prettiest town. It’s set down roots by a scenic bend of the Danube, in the vineyard-blanketed Wachau Valley. A blue-and-white bell tower’s the first thing you’ll spot on the horizon. It belongs to a 15th-century Augustinian monastery, now the local church. But that’s about as high as the buildings rise around here. The architecture’s as quaint as it gets – picture pale-yellow houses with window boxes, shutters and wrought-iron balconies. In among the houses, you’ll find cafés serving up apricot strudel and chilled glasses of Riesling – both are produced in the surrounding valleys. A half-an-hour hike out of town, meanwhile, brings you to a crumbling Medieval castle, where Richard the Lionheart was imprisoned in 1192.

Melk’s like a pocket-sized version of Vienna, with grand architecture and an easy-on-the-eye old quarter. When you step off at the port, the town’s showpiece immediately comes into view. Peaches-and-cream-coloured Melk Abbey is perched on a rocky outcrop overlooking the Danube River, with sweeping views of the Wachau Valley. The centre of this quaint Austrian town’s a real looker, as well. Cobbled lanes are lined by Crayola-hued buildings, with flower-draped balconies strapped to the front. The butter-coloured Vienna Gate’s flanked by pale statues, and there’s a famous vine-entangled house that looks like it’s being reclaimed by nature.

The German town of Passau’s snuggled up against the Austrian border, at the point where the Danube, Inn and Ilz rivers meet. The peach and pistachio-coloured rooftops of the Altstadt stretch out on a skinny peninsula where the waterways come together. Its winding lanes are drizzled with churches, cafés and an Italian-inspired cathedral. Check out the huge church organ inside – it’s one of the biggest in the world. The squares in the town centre feel more like Mediterranean piazzas, thanks to ornate fountains and pastel-coloured houses. Across on the steep northern riverbank, the tree-glazed hills are home to Fortress Veste Oberhaus, which has watched over the town since Napoleonic times.

Known by the locals as Germany’s Medieval miracle, Regensburg’s the perfect stop-in for German sausages and architecture dating back to the 11th century. As you pull into port, you’ll be rewarded with a cityscape view of terracotta-coloured roofs. Step into its narrow alleys, where tiny gift shops and cool cafés line cobbled pavements. Then visit the only Gothic cathedral in Bavaria – its pair of ornate spires will earn you a lot of likes on social media. The 12th-century Stone Bridge is also worth seeing. It was the only reliable way to cross the Danube for nearly 800 years, and is still intact today. And be sure to visit the 900-year-old Historic Sausage Kitchen, which is said to be one of the oldest restaurants in the world.

Nuremberg’s a city that wears lots of different hats. The river port’s set south of the centre, between a bustling industrial area and a wedge of Bavaria’s trademark emerald-coloured forest. Take a 15-minute taxi ride into the old town, and it’s a very different picture. Gothic architecture and houses criss-crossed with timber beams set the tone, and there’s a castle that dates back to Medieval times. Nibble on lebekuchen – the trademark gingerbread-style snack – and get your shopping fix in Lorenzer Altstadt, where luxury and souvenir shops are jumbled together near the river.