Weitra

Weitra was granted the right to brew in 1321 and the privilege has been exercised continuously since, which is the basis of its claim as the oldest brewing town in Austria; at one point the town held dozens of house-brewing rights and the Bürgerspital brewery still operates, with a brewing museum in the castle. The town is small, walled in part, and its square carries a set of houses covered in sgraffito - scratched plaster decoration in geometric and figurative patterns from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, restored in the twentieth. The castle above began as a thirteenth-century fortress and was rebuilt as a Renaissance residence by the Fürstenberg family, who still own it; it has an arcaded courtyard and a theatre used in summer.

What you actually see

• A brewing right from 1321 - exercised continuously, with a museum in the castle.
• Sgraffito façades - scratched plaster decoration across houses on the square.
• A Renaissance castle - Fürstenberg-owned, with an arcaded courtyard and theatre.
• Fragments of the town wall - the medieval enclosure in part.

When to go

April to October; summer for the castle theatre. Half a day.

Honest expectations

Very small and quiet - half a day is plenty. Castle and museum opening is seasonal. The western Waldviertel is remote and public transport is thin; a car is easier.

Nearby

Gmünd and the Blockheide are north; the Czech border is west.