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Interesting village and pleasent hotel located halfway between Munich and Vienna
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Abbey of Kremsmünster
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We are always on the lookout for regions, cities, hotels and restaurants where our dollars have optimum purchasing power. Places with lower prices are usually not on the beaten tourist track; often because they simply aren't appealing to tourists or because they lack tourism infrastructure; but once in a while they just haven't been discovered.
A village that falls in that category is the thriving little town of Kremsmünster, on Austria's Romantikstrasse. (Like most "romantic" and "wine" roads, this one was probably dreamed up by marketing people. Nonetheless, as it avoids the Autobahn between Salzburg and Vienna, it winds through some of Austria's prettiest countryside, visiting such towns as St. Wolfgang, Bad Ischl, Gmunden, Steyr, Grein, Melk, Dürnstein, Krems and Klostenburg.) Just six kilometers off the Autobahn, Kremsmünster is about a third of the way to Vienna from Salzburg - or about half way between Munich and Vienna - and offers some surprisingly worthwhile sights, by far the most impressive being a massive Benedictine abbey.
Not only is the town a logical overnight stop on the way to Vienna, it works as a base from which to explore the region. Auto daytrips are convenient to Steyr, Linz, Salzburg, Austria's Lake District, the wine country of the beautiful Wachau Valley, and charming Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic. Rail service is mostly via Linz, with Salzburg about two-hours away and Vienna around two hours 45 minutes. Linz is only 40 minutes, but Munich, at three-and-a-half to four-and-a-half hours distant, is not in the daytrip category - at least by rail.
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO NEXT?
While not endowed with the quaint charm of a Rothenburg or a Gruyère, Kremsmünster has the reality of a living, breathing small European town, which lends a certain charm all it's own. The center has a number of interesting buildings, a small network of winding lanes, and the usual shops for a city it's size. All, however, take a back seat to the Benedictine monastery, hovering over the town like a great citadel.
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