Donau-Auen National Park: Central Europe's Last Great River Landscape

Between Vienna and the Slovak border, the Danube still flows largely untamed through floodplain forests, side arms, and gravel banks. Donau-Auen National Park protects this roughly 9,600-hectare area as one of Central Europe's last great river landscapes.

Floodplain Forest Between Vienna and Bratislava

The national park stretches along some 36 kilometers of the Danube, with side arms, backwaters, and dense floodplain forest that regularly floods during high water. This natural dynamic, long lost in many other European river landscapes, makes the area especially valuable ecologically.

Schloss Orth as the National Park Center

The national park center at Schloss Orth an der Donau conveys the history and ecology of the region through exhibitions and serves as the central starting point for visitors. Guided hikes, cycling tours, and canoe trips that lead deep into the floodplain forest landscape all depart from here.

Wildlife on the Water

White-tailed eagles, kingfishers, and the beaver, which has built one of its largest Austrian populations here, shape the character of the national park, alongside rare fish species in the Danube's side arms. For nature lovers, Donau-Auen National Park ranks among Austria's most species-rich and, at the same time, most accessible protected areas, just a short drive from Vienna.