I visited the wachau region on wednesday the 8th of nov. as well as on thurday the 9th of that month. I arrived quite late around 21.00 in Melk on november the 8th.After my check-in at the hotel "weisses lamm" I strolled through the city of Melk for around 3 hours,taking some pictures of the huge monastery during night time both from the river side as well as from the city centre side.I also enjoyed a good schnitsel and some local beers.

I had pre-booked a guided tour(15,50€) through the benedictine monastery of melk the following day at 11.00. I was up very early and had another stroll through the pleasant town of Melk.I also had a quick look at every accessible area of ​​the monastery before the official tour began.I also visited the northern bastion with the Wachau lab and a panoramic terrace.Without intention I entered the bastion through the shop exit and visited the panoramic terrace for free. When I left I noticed that you have to pay a quite hefty entrance fee for that building and its changing special exhibitions(I didnt spent more than 2 minutes in the exhibition area as I am not a fan of totally bizarre contempary art) .Sorrrowly, the baroque garden pavillon as well as the garden were closed to the public in winter time. The tour itself was interesting and informative but overpriced IMO.A guided tour  of the monastery  includes the imperial staircase, the imperial corridor, the abbey museum, the marble Hall, the balcony, the library, and the abbey church. Both the llibrary and the abbey church are truly impressive.

Luck was on my side: it was a beautiful sunny day with cool temperatures. The day before it had been a nasty day with constant rain and an unpleasant strong wind.

I had planned to take a bus and visit Krems and a town between Melk and Krems,but I changed my mind when I saw a bike stand with 6 bikes from the company Next Bike in the old town of Melk.I quickly downloaded next bike's app. The registration was quick and simple. I also learnt through the app that I could leave my bike at almost every town between Melk and Krems(literally from the beginning to the end of the Wachau region along the river donau). 5 Minutes later I was on my way to Krems.First I crossed the nearby donau bridge and had a short stop in emmersdorf(quite disappointing). Emmersdorf is the gate to the wachau region and no indicator of the wonders a visitor will see when riding a bike along the official donau bike path route.I enjoyed riding a bike along the wonderful nature but didnt know that the truly great pearls and pleasures were almost all north of aggbach. Anyway! I enjoyed my ride till aggbach where I discoved a small and modern austrian restaurant next to the river. I had a beer and a very tasty pumpkin soup there.  I took my seat on the outside terrace as the sunny weather was just splendid and soul-warming despite the quite cool temperature. I stayed there more than 45 minutes and later really regretted my long stay there  as the true beauty of the Wachau region only became apparent after Aggsbach. From Aggsbach to Krems the route was paved with small monasteries, beautiful churches, robber baron castles, wineyards, wine bars, sales points of wine cooperatives, small Austrian restaurants, manor houses, picturesque villages like Schwallenbach, Woesendorf or Weissenkirchen (very beautiful). The small towns of Spitz and Duernstein contributed to the beauty of the world heritage site; personally, I liked Duernstein much better than Spitz.I was in a race against time as darkness was approaching with big steps in the afternoon. It was getting dark very quickly but I decided to ride till Krems where I arrived around 18.00. I left my bicycle at a bike stand next to the comtempory art musem of Krems.Luck was again on my side as the bus stop for the bus to Melk was just around the corner. Even better next to the bus stop there is a kind a meat and sausage supermarket( a mix of butcher shop and cheap discount store where you could also eat warm sausage specialties) which was perfect timing as I was hungry and my bus was due to leave in about 25 minutes.I then took the bus(nr701,hourly bus till around 19.00)  back to Melk for which I had to pay the outrageous sum of 11€.Two days later I flew from Vienna,austria's capital,to Treviso in Italy for roughly the same amount of money.

I was very positively suprised by the astonishing beauty of that austrian whs which has it all: breathtaking views,a mighty river,castles,monasteries,vineyards,pictoresque villas,amazing towns,excellent wine( gruener veltiner),wonderful austrian wine bars and restaurants.

I am quite sure that one day I will come back to that amazing region: I ve truly fallen in love with that breathtaking whs.

A bit of advice: Melk or Krems are a wonderful base from which to go on excursions through the Wachau. I would strongly recommend any visitor to  use the very convenient bike rental system of "Next Bike" .

Since you can leave your bike at a Next Bike ​​stand in almost every village along the river donau you can leave your bike wherever you want to and take the bus 701(the bus covers the route from Krems to Melk and stops at almost every village along the river)  from there back to Melk or Krems. In addition, the bikes were very well maintained and of good quality. The official cycle path from Melk to Krems is not particularly strenuous or hilly.

I would strongly advise against renting a car as you will miss most of what makes this whs so special. The street which connects Melk with Krems goes along the river always next to the river with quite limited views whereas the officiall bike path route goes along the river above that main road through vineyards and directly through all villages. The views are much better,the bike lane is first-class,you can truly experience the wachau region like a natural part of it. Seldom do you have to share the path with a car or tractor.Hiking is also possible but far too tiresome and difficult when short of time.