Spitz an der Donau

Spitz sits on the north bank in the middle of the Wachau under the Tausendeimerberg, the thousand-bucket hill, so called because the terraced vineyard on it was reckoned to yield that much wine in a good year - the terraces are dry-stone walled and run right up behind the houses, which is the image the village is known by. Grüner Veltliner and Riesling are the grapes. The parish church has a set of carved apostles on the choir gallery and a late Gothic net vault. Above the village stands the Hinterhaus ruin. Spitz was a shipping station on the river with a museum in the old Erlahof covering Danube navigation and viticulture, and boats still stop at the landing. The whole Wachau is inscribed as a cultural landscape.

What you actually see

• The Tausendeimerberg - the terraced hill said to yield a thousand buckets.
• Dry-stone vineyard terraces - running up directly behind the village houses.
• A late Gothic church - net vaulting and carved apostles on the gallery.
• The Hinterhaus ruin - the castle above the village.

When to go

April to October; autumn for the harvest and the wine taverns. A day.

Honest expectations

The village is small and busy with cyclists and boat passengers in season. Terrace walking is steep. Many wine taverns open only on set weeks - check before counting on one.

Nearby

Weissenkirchen and Dürnstein are downstream; Melk is upstream.