Carnuntum Roman City

Carnuntum was the capital of a Roman province and a town of tens of thousands on the Danube, and the site east of Vienna holds enough of it to walk around. The unusual part is the rebuilt quarter: a townhouse, a public bath and a workshop reconstructed on their own foundations with Roman techniques, heated by hypocaust in winter and furnished as they would have been, so you enter rooms instead of reading plans. Beyond the fenced site, the Heidentor stands alone in a field, a fourth-century monumental arch worn down to two piers, and an amphitheatre lies on the road towards the river.

What you actually see

• The rebuilt Roman quarter - a house, baths and workshop reconstructed full size on their original foundations.
• The Heidentor - the ruined monumental arch standing alone in a field above the town.
• The amphitheatre - the oval arena cut into the ground on the way down towards the Danube.
• The Carnuntinum museum - the finds from the site displayed in the nearby spa village.

When to go

The open-air site runs from spring to autumn and closes for winter, though the Heidentor stands in open country and can be reached at any time. There is almost no shade, so avoid the middle of a July afternoon. Roman festival weekends bring reenactors and big crowds. Mornings in May and September are ideal.

Honest expectations

The site is spread out and flat, so expect long walks between fenced groups of foundations. The reconstructions are convincing but new, and purists find them too clean. Signage is better in German than in English. Outside the rebuilt quarter, much of what survives is knee-high stonework that takes imagination.

Nearby

The Danube floodplain national park and the town of Hainburg lie downstream.