Danube Christmas Treat With Wachau Valley

Situated along the Route of Emperors and Kings where the Danube, Inn, and Ilz Rivers meet, Passau was settled as early as the Neolithic Age. During the Renaissance, this City of Three Rivers was a major manufacturing center of swords, crafting bladed weapons stamped with the Passau wolf, which legend claimed would grant invulnerability. Today, the most famous sights lining the narrow cobblestone streets of the Old Town are the artistic Town Hall and the Baroque St. Stephen's Cathedral with its green-domed towers and one of the largest organs in the world.

Austria’s third largest city, Linz is a European Capital of Culture worth exploring. Highlights include the Feichtinger House with its Glockenspiel, Castle Museum, Lentos Art Museum, and the Neo-Gothic Mariendom with its impressive stained-glass windows and 20,000-person seating capacity. A hike up Pöstlingberg Hill delivers outstanding views over the Danube and is best followed by a coffee and piece of scrumptious Linzer Torte, invented here as the world's first cake!

No visit to the Wachau Valley is complete without visiting Austria’s prettiest abbey. Built on a rocky promontory overlooking the Danube, Melk Abbey's origins date back to 1089. Today, it is one of Europe's finest examples of Baroque architecture, where Benedictine monks still farm the land and operate what is now the oldest school in Austria. Highlights include the library of ancient manuscripts, frescoed ceiling, stunning spiral staircases, and the ornate abbey church.

Vienna is a city that defies simple description. Over the centuries, it has been an imperial city, seat of the Holy Roman Empire, capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and capital of sovereign Austria. Today, Vienna retains the grand Baroque architecture, historic style, and Lebenskunst (art of living) that attracted famous composers like Mozart and Strauss. It's a wonderland of lavish palaces and cathedrals, world-class museums and music venues, atmospheric coffee houses, and romantic fiakers (horse-drawn carriages) clip-clopping past it all.

Bratislava is perfect for those who want to be transported to another time. Even from a distance, its 9th-century clifftop castle strikes an impressive pose. Down below, the bustling pedestrian-only Old Town is a charming collection of Old World architecture, like Michael's Gate, St. Martin's Cathedral, the Old Opera House, and the Neoclassical Primate's Palace. There's even a surprise or two, with Napoleon's cannonballs lodged in historic walls and an unexpected statue of Cumil the Sewer Worker peering up from below street level!

One of the most beautiful cities in the world, the wonders of Budapest rise up along both banks of the Danube in a truly impressive way. Along with Heroes' Square with its Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, awe-inspiring Hungarian Parliament Building, and the lavish Castle District with photogenic Fishermen's Bastion, the city is home to a captivating Jewish district and the second-largest synagogue in the world, an intricate underground cave system, and some of Europe's most famous thermal baths.