Aggstein Castle

Aggstein sits on a narrow granite spur about three hundred metres above the Danube in the Wachau, built in the twelfth century by the Kuenringer, a family whose reputation as robber barons preying on river traffic is partly legend and partly earned. The ruin is long and thin because the spur is - the castle runs some hundred and fifty metres end to end with towers at both ends and buildings strung between, and the walk through it is essentially along a knife of rock. The Rosengärtlein, a small ledge over the drop, carries the story that Jörg Scheck vom Wald put prisoners there to choose between starving and jumping; it is a good story with thin evidence. The view up and down the valley is the best in the Wachau, and there is a tavern in the ruin.

What you actually see

• A ruin along a rock spur - a hundred and fifty metres of castle on a knife of granite.
• The Rosengärtlein ledge - the ledge over the drop with its prisoner legend.
• The Wachau from above - the best long view up and down the valley.
• Kuenringer building - twelfth-century work by the river's robber-baron family.

When to go

April to October; the castle closes for winter. Half a day.

Honest expectations

Closed in winter. The ground inside is uneven ruin with unprotected drops in places. The road up is narrow and the last stretch is on foot. Wind on the spur is constant.

Nearby

Melk Abbey is upstream; Dürnstein and Krems are downstream.