Retz

Retz was founded in the thirteenth century as a planned town with a very large rectangular square, and its wealth came from wine - it held staple rights on the trade north into Bohemia and Moravia. Under the town runs the Erlebniskeller, a system of cellars cut into the sand and rock on up to three levels totalling around twenty kilometres, dug from the fifteenth century for storing and ageing wine at constant temperature; a section is toured, and the tunnels run under houses, streets and the square. Above ground are the square with its Sgraffitohaus and town hall, the Verderberhaus, remains of the walls, and a working Dutch-style windmill on the hill outside, one of very few in Austria. The Czech border and Znojmo are minutes away.

What you actually see

• Twenty kilometres of cellars - three levels of wine tunnels under the town.
• A very large planned square - the thirteenth-century market place with its houses.
• A working windmill - Dutch type, on the hill outside, rare in Austria.
• Town walls and gates - fragments of the medieval enclosure.

When to go

April to October; autumn for the wine. A day.

Honest expectations

The cellars are cold and damp year-round - bring a layer. Cellar tours run at set times and book out in season. The windmill has limited opening. The town is quiet outside events.

Nearby

Znojmo and Podyjí are across the Czech border; Hardegg is west.