The distinctive yellow Stift Melk, sitting majestically on top of a cliff overlooking the Wachau region, is undoubtedly what brought the town of Melk onto the tourist radar. There’s no doubt about it—the abbey looks pretty freakin’ amazing on a postcard. While the current abbey was once a Babenburg palace, the town itself also has just enough history evident to charm its visitors. It’s quite simple to walk through the streets and pick out the historic buildings: the old bread shop with the two turrets, the market fountain and rathaus (town hall), the Gothic parish church, and the oldest surviving building, Haus am Stein, which means “House at the Stone” because it’s literally built on a rock. The cobbled pedestrian streets with shops and the plazas with cafes all bask beneath the glory of Stift Melk, melding past and present into one of the prettiest daytrips from Vienna.