Dürnstein's blue tower and the castle ruin

Dürnstein is one street between two gates, and the thing everyone photographs is the tower of the former abbey church: a baroque steeple in cobalt blue and white, restored to its original colours, standing directly above the river on the old monastery terrace. From the terrace itself the tower rises out of the balustrade with the Danube bend below; from the water or the far bank it becomes the whole village's signature, blue against grey rock and terraced vines.

Above the roofs, a stone path climbs to the Kuenringerburg, the castle ruin where Richard the Lionheart was held prisoner in 1192 and 1193 after the Third Crusade. It is twenty to thirty minutes of steep, uneven steps and loose rock, free and always open, and from the top the Danube swings away in both directions with Dürnstein directly below — the best wide frame in the valley, and worth the climb in proper shoes rather than what the village street suggests.

The tower faces the river to the south, so the morning lights its face cleanly and the late afternoon puts it against the sun; the ruin is best in the last two hours, when the valley goes gold and the rock warms. Between about ten and four in season the single street is full — the river cruise boats tie up below and empty a few hundred people into it at a time — and it is quiet again by early evening.

April brings apricot blossom to the orchards below the village, October the vintage and the wine taverns, and from November to March Dürnstein is nearly empty, with bare vines, low light and most of the terraces closed. The abbey terrace has an admission and its own season and hours — check them; the castle path and the street are free.