The Danube ferry crossing at Spitz

There is no bridge across the Danube for the length of the Wachau, and the valley is stitched together instead by cable ferries. The one below Spitz runs to Arnsdorf on the south bank and is a Rollfähre: it hangs from an overhead cable and is angled into the current, so the river itself pushes it across with no engine driving it forward. The crossing takes about five minutes.

As a place to photograph it is the opposite of everything else in the valley — low, moving, and out in the middle of the water, with the terraced slopes of the Tausendeimerberg rising behind you and the quieter southern bank ahead. The deck is open and mostly empty outside the summer weekends, and a session usually works as a short crossing and a walk on the far side, where the villages of Arnsdorf and St. Johann sit among orchards with almost no visitors at all.

Morning light comes down the valley from the east and afternoon puts the north-bank terraces in the sun, so either end of the day works; the water is calmest early. Summer brings the busiest boat traffic and the cyclists, and autumn the clearest air over the river.

The ferries run to a season — broadly spring to autumn — and they stop entirely in high water, drifting ice or strong current, which happens most winters and after heavy rain. There is a second crossing at Weißenkirchen to St. Lorenz. Timetables and operating dates are set by the operators and change, so check the day's running before you plan a session around a crossing rather than around a road.