Of all the stops we made, Melk was, for me, the most disappointing as I was not up for the trek into the city centre and sat by the river watching the world go by whilst Jane and Marion explored the town. Tui had arranged a trip at extra cost to the monastery but we declined to take the offer. Reading online at descriptions of Melk it looks like I missed out on what is in fact a beutiful, historic, UNESCO-listed medieval town center. Jane aand Marion did go into the town centre and visited the 15th-century church located near the heart of the town. Based on my research Melk looks well worth the trek into the old town.
We left Melk late morning and travelled a short distance to visit the town of Durnstein where we all left the boat and headed for the magnificent Baroque Augustinian abbey with its beautiful blue & white bell tower topped with a golden cross. The abbey looks in easy reach from where we were docked but in fact was a little way from the boat albeit on the flat and we did this with no problems.
Younger versions of ourselves would have made the trek up to the ruins of Durnstein Castle on top of the hill above the town. This castle has been a ruin since around 1645 but has an interesting history during th Middle Ages with links to Richard Lionheart
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