Danube River Cruise: Grein

by Bethany Explores May 14, 2023

In this sixth post of a multi-part series, Bethany explores Grein, Austria on her Active and Discovery on the Danube Cruise on Avalon in 2018.

The Active and Discovery on the Danube cruise was the second river cruise I did with Avalon. This cruise sailed from Linz, Austria to Budapest, Hungary in the summer of 2018. Join me as I explore many wonderful stops in the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia, and Hungary along the way!

Active and Discovery on the Danube Full Itinerary

Below is the full itinerary for the trip. This post includes details about my afternoon in Grein, Austria (the morning in Mauthausen was covered in the previous post).

July 26 & 27: Prague, Czech Republic
July 28: Český Krumlov, Czech Republic
July 29: Linz & Steyr, Austria (embarkation)
July 30: Engelhartszell & Schlogen Oxbow, Austria
July 31: Mauthausen & Grein, Austria
August 1: Wachau Valley, Krems, & Vienna, Austria
August 2 & 3: Vienna, Austria
August 4: Komarno, Slovakia & Visegrad, Hungary (disembarkation)
August 5: Budapest, Hungary

A Quick Mid-Day Sail

After an emotionally difficult but worthwhile excursion to the Mauthausen Concentration Camp in the morning, I headed back to the ship. We had about a three-hour sailing from Mauthausen to our next stop of Grein, Austria. I enjoyed a relaxing lunch and a bit of a rest before the afternoon activities.

Grein

We arrived in gorgeous Grein at a little after 2:00PM that afternoon. Once the ship was docked, I joined a group to enjoy a guided walk of Grein. We took a lovely stroll around the small town. Grein has a population of around 3,000 and covers an area of around 7 square miles (18 square kilometers). The main town square is surrounded by colorful historic buildings with beautiful architecture. A mural is proudly displayed on one of the buildings depicting how horses used to have to pull ships upstream on the nearby Danube.

Flood Prone Area

Because it is right on the banks of the Danube, it is also prone to flooding. There is a marker on one of the buildings to indicate some of the highest water levels recorded. This level is only supposed to happen once in a hundred years, but it has already happened twice in the 2000s (2002 and 2013). The flood marker is on the yellow building on the right…this picture shows how much lower the Danube is in normal conditions!

Stadttheater

We visited the Stadttheater, which is the oldest theater in Austria that is still operational. The theater is in the building that was the Rathhouse, or town hall. The building dates back to 1563. The theater was established in 1791 in the former granary attached to the rear part of the building. We explored the interesting interior of the building, including the storage areas that hold costumes today…these rooms used to hold prisoners. The theater itself is small but beautiful. A gorgeous hand-painted curtain is the focal point of the stage.

Two of the quirkiest parts of the theater are the toilet and the seats. The shows were very long, so they installed a toilet (a simple hole in a wooden bench) right in the main seating area. The patron closes the velvet curtain when the toilet is in use. But, since it is right in the theater, the patron can easily pop his head out between the curtain to not miss a moment of the action on the stage! Within the seating area, the first three rows of seats fold up and can be locked. So, people could buy the key to the seat they wanted and they would be the only one able to sit there…an early version of season tickets!

St. Giles Church

After the fun and informative tour of the theater, we next visited St. Giles Church. This Roman Catholic church is a beautiful small church in the main square in Grein.

Clam Castle

For today’s final excursion we took a short (approximately 20 minute) bus ride from the port to Clam Castle. The count himself, Count Carl Philip Clam-Martinac, received us in the main courtyard. His adorable 6-year-old son was right by his side. This castle dates back to 1149.

The Count gave us a tour of the castle. It is stunning inside and out! We saw the kitchen and the chapel, along with many bedrooms and sitting rooms. The ornate red marble statue below is the count’s 14-times great grandfather.

Historical artifacts and decor are throughout the castle. Wandering through this castle is like spending time in a museum.

After the castle tour concluded, we headed out to a large terrace that overlooks the beautiful countryside. We could sample some of the local specialties as well. I tried a delicious sparkling rose wine. Prost!

Conclusion

The full day today was quite a juxtaposition. I spent the morning on a difficult (but educational) excursion at a WWII concentration camp. But I also had a lovely afternoon exploring the quaint town of Grein and the Clam Castle. Today was very typical of most of the days on this Active and Discovery cruise. Every person can pick and choose exactly what they wanted to do from the many different types of excursions offered. I loved the wide variety of the types of excursions offered throughout the cruise, and today was a great example of some of that variety.

Danube River Cruise: Grein

In this sixth post of a multi-part series, Bethany explores Grein, Austria on her Active and Discovery on the Danube Cruise on Avalon in 2018.

Active and Discovery on the Danube Full Itinerary

A Quick Mid-Day Sail