Lists! > Ten Places on the Danube
10 Places to go on the
Danube River
This list is built as the companion for last month's list of 10 Places on the Rhine.
The Danube River originates in the Black Forest region of southwest Germany, and
from there it winds it way through several countries. The capital cities
of Vienna, Bratislava, and Budapest owe much to this great river, but there are
plenty more cities that call the river its home. Here are 10 such places
(again, sorted by location, not by preference).
Ulm is the first major city on the Danube, which is known as
the Donau in Germany. The city is famous for its Cathedral, shown here,
but also a fabulously decorated Town Hall and numerous archaeological digs that
provide testament to the city's old Roman past.
Ingolstadt is easily forgotten as a major site on the Danube.
This small city has a beautiful white castle (pictured) called the Neues Schloss
and several prominent churches. It also doesn't have the tourist kitsch
that sometimes engulfs other locales.
The ancient Roman city of Ratisbon still lives on in total
splendor in the form of Regensburg, one of Bavaria's greatest cities. The
huge downtown is constantly active, and its spring and fall festivals are worth
attending.
I happened upon this wonderful town during my Christmas market
adventures in 2002 and have yearned to return. A beautiful market square
with this tower in the center and colorfully painting buildings on both sides,
Straubing was about as pretty as Bavarian towns come.
Passau,
Germany
As the Danube reaches the Austrian border, it is joined by the
massive Inn River coming up from Innsbruck -- and from thereon the Danube
becomes mighty, and occasionally dangerous. Passau has seen its share of
huge floods, most recently in 2002. On most other days, however, Passau is
a beautiful and sleepy like confluence town with lots to see.
Finally leaving Germany, the first major city the Danube
encounters in Austria is Linz. By this point, the Danube has turned mighty
with the infusion of the Isar, Inn, Salzach, and Traun Rivers, now cutting a
major path through the mountains. Linz's market square is massive and very
colorful, and has a rainbow of churches. It's riverside district is also
an abstract art museum (which I poked fun at in a previous list).
You won't actually see the Danube from downtown Vienna -- the
majority of the city is well set off from it -- but the influence of the Danube
is very much present. The mighty river plays host to one of the great
imperial cities with some of the most impressive architecture and beautiful
markets in the world. Vienna is a regular on my Lists because I love the
city so much!
By comparison, the smaller capital city of Slovakia (known in
Austro-Hungarian times as Pressburg) is very much a river city, with the famous
Bratislava Castle perched directly over the Danube much like the similar
Marienburg Castle looms over the Main in Wuerzburg. The Slovak capital is
a wonderful destination, particularly with Slovakia joining the EU in the spring
of 2004.
After the Danube shares the border of Slovakia and Hungary for
a stretch, it then takes a sharp turn to the south toward Budapest. Along
the way are several towns with a Roman past -- the town of Aquincum harbors the
remains of a 3000-year old outpost, for example. Near there is the town of
Szentendre, a pleasant Hungarian town that is a popular excursion for the
locals. It sits on high ground above the artificially-leveed Danube River,
and is a great place for souvenir shopping.
The final stop on our Danube tour is the Hungarian capital of
Budapest, in the virtual geographic center of the country. Budapest is an
incredible city with the Chain Bridge and Buda Castle toward the west, and the
great shopping and museums in the east. Worth a whole weekend visit.
(c) 2003, 2004 Tom Galvin
