About a month ago, I was in the beautiful town of Durnstein, Austria. Nestled among green vineyards, rolling hills and bordered by the meandering Danube, Durnstein can be readily identified from the river by Stift Durnstein, or Durnstein Abbey, a large, imposing, church done in white and blue and situated at the point where the Danube bends.
My destination here was located far up in the hills overlooking this small town. In the ruins of a medieval castle, Richard the Lionheart of England was imprisoned by Austria’s Duke Leopold V in 1135. While much of the castle has been reclaimed by time, there’s still enough of it here to warrant a hike up.
From the river cruise docks, the entrance to the steep, narrow path up to Durnstein Castle is perhaps a ten-minute walk at best., Head off to the right as you enter the town and pass under the stone archway of the old town wall. Any local can point you in the right direction if you miss the entrance.
Starting at the base of the trail, you’ll have another 20 minutes to walk up to the foot of Durnstein Castle. At least, that’s what people will tell you. And indeed, it did take me 20 minutes. But this is no easy stroll: It is a veritable hike in its own right along an uneven path littered with rocks and the remnants of steps and stones that have been placed along the way over the last few hundred years.
I’m in pretty good shape, and while I have definitely hiked higher and farther, the uneven terrain and the need to constantly watch my step left me exhausted by the time I reached the castle. The higher I got, the hotter it became — ironic, considering that usually temperature decreases as you go higher. But situated away from the damp of the Danube, the full heat of the day began to pound down upon me.
There’s another reason to take in this great (if strenuous) hike: The view here of Durnstein and the surrounding Wachau Valley are amazing.
High up on the hill, enough of the Castle remains to make things interesting. A few walls and turrets give the castle definition, and another set of walls exist just a shorter hike up.
A legend exists that Richard the Lionheart’s favorite minstrel traveled Europe looking for his master, and would drift from castle to castle singing a tune that only he and the King knew. Legend has it that when he passed by Durnstein Castle and sang a verse, the King responded and sang the next. Of course, the whole episode is fiction, but the kind of enduring fiction that seems at least partially plausible.
As it turned out, King Richard was released when the Pope excommunicated the good Duke for imprisoning a fellow traveller.
The next time you find yourself in Durnstein, take some time to hike up to this place of historical significance. The views alone are worth it.
More information on Durnstein, Austria can be found by viewing our complete Port Profile here on River Cruise Advisor.
