Rohrendorf Kellergassenfest:
Guide to Austria’s Most Unique Wine Festival
If you’ve followed a few of our travel guides, you’ve probably gathered by now that we’re big wine lovers - and we’ll rarely turn down the opportunity to squeeze a wine tasting (or two) into our travels. We’ve explored some incredible wine farms across South Africa, but this time we decided to stay a little closer to home and see what Austria’s wine regions have to offer.
So, while planning a cycling trip through some of Austria’s wine country, we discovered that the popular Rohrendorf Kellergassenfest was taking place in the very same month we were hoping to visit. A whole weekend dedicated to local wine, set along a street lined with historic wine cellars? It didn’t take much convincing. We quickly rearranged our plans to make sure we’d be there.
Rohrendorf bei Krems is a small wine-growing village in Austria’s Kremstal wine region, surrounded by some of the country’s other well-known wine regions, including Kamptal and the Wachau. It’s around an hour from Vienna and roughly three hours from Salzburg, making it an easy addition to a wider trip through Lower Austria.
Every two years, Rohrendorf’s famous Kellergasse comes to life for the Kellergassenfest - a weekend-long celebration of the village’s winemakers, local food and, of course, plenty of Austrian wine. In September 2026, we finally got to experience it for ourselves.
What is the Rohrendorf Kellergassenfest?
First things first: what exactly is a Kellergasse?
Literally translated as a “cellar lane”, Kellergassen are a characteristic sight in Austria’s wine-growing regions. Rather than storing their wine underneath their homes, winemakers traditionally built press houses and dug cellars into the hillsides on the outskirts of their villages, creating entire streets dedicated to making and storing wine.
And Rohrendorf happens to have a pretty impressive one.
Stretching for around 1.65 kilometres through the vineyards, Rohrendorf’s Kellergasse is considered the longest in Austria, with more than 70 wine cellars and press houses dotted along the cobbled lane. Some of the cellars here can even trace their origins back several centuries.
Most of the time, it’s a peaceful lane where you can wander between the vineyards and stop at one of Rohrendorf’s local Heuriger (traditional Austrian wine taverns). But every two years, things get considerably livelier.
For one weekend, the Rohrendorf Kellergassenfest takes over the entire street. Cellar doors are thrown open, tables and benches spill out onto the lane and local winemakers serve their wines directly from the places where they’re made. Around 30 cellar owners take part, with plenty of local food, regional products and even handicrafts appearing inside some of the old press houses along the way.
Unsurprisingly, wine is very much the star of the show. Rohrendorf sits within the Kremstal wine region, where Grüner Veltliner and Riesling are two of the headline varieties, although you'll find everything from Chardonnay and Gelber Muskateller to Sauvignon Blanc and Zweigelt being poured throughout the weekend.
The festival itself has been part of Rohrendorf life since 1984 and is held every two years. What started with just a handful of open cellars has grown into a three-day celebration attracting visitors from well beyond the village.
And that was probably what appealed to us most. You’re walking along an old Austrian cellar lane, surrounded by vineyards, popping through cellar doors and drinking wine poured by the people who actually made it.
How to get to the Rohrendorf Kellergassenfest?
We combined our visit to the Rohrendorf Kellergassenfest with a cycling trip through the surrounding wine regions, so our journey started in Salzburg with our bikes in tow.
The closest major town to Rohrendorf bei Krems is Krems an der Donau, which is well connected by train and makes a great base for exploring the Kremstal and neighbouring Wachau wine regions. If you're visiting the festival without a car (which, considering the amount of wine on offer, isn't a bad idea!), getting to Krems by train is one of the easiest options.
Getting to Krems from Salzburg by train
From Salzburg, we travelled by train to St. Pölten, where we changed for a regional service to Krems:
Salzburg Hbf → St. Pölten Hbf → Krems an der Donau
The journey takes around three hours, depending on the connection you choose.
If you're travelling with bikes like we were, make sure to check the bicycle requirements for your particular train when booking. Some services require a separate bike ticket and reservation, particularly on long-distance trains.
Getting to Krems from Vienna by train
If you're visiting from Vienna, the journey is even easier, making the Kellergassenfest very doable as part of a longer Vienna trip.
One option is:
Wien Hbf → St. Pölten Hbf → Krems an der Donau
Depending on where you're staying in Vienna and the service you choose, there are other connections available too, so it's worth checking the route that works best for you rather than automatically heading to Vienna Central Station.
Booking your train tickets
We booked our journey through ÖBB (Austrian Federal Railways), where you can check current timetables, ticket prices and any bicycle reservations required for your journey.
Once you've made it to Krems, you're almost there - Rohrendorf bei Krems sits just outside the town, and from here you'll just need to make the final short journey to Lindobelgasse, where the Kellergassenfest takes place.
Our Experience at Rohrendorf Kellergassenfest 2026
The Rohrendorf Kellergassenfest 2026 ran from Friday to Sunday, and we were lucky enough to experience the festival on both Friday evening and Saturday afternoon - which gave us a taste of two very different sides of the event.
We’d spent most of Friday exploring the nearby Kamptal wine region, but as evening rolled around and the cellar doors of Rohrendorf began to open, it was time for the main event.
We hopped back on our bikes and cycled towards Rohrendorf, making our way to the very top of Lindobelgasse. Our plan was simple: start at the top of the Kellergasse and slowly work our way back down, stopping at whichever wine cellars caught our attention along the way.
With a whole street of local winemakers ahead of us, we had a feeling it wasn’t going to be a quick journey back down.
Naturally, our first stop had to involve a glass of Grüner Veltliner. We picked one up from a cellar near the top of Lindobelgasse and found ourselves a spot among the vineyards to enjoy it. It was a surprisingly peaceful start to the evening, sitting between the vines with a glass of local wine in hand, before the Kellergasse really started to come alive further down the hill.
One thing we quickly learned: Austria loves cash, and the smaller villages outside the big cities seem to love it even more. The Kellergassenfest was no exception. Almost everything at the festival was cash only, so do yourself a favour and visit an ATM before heading to Rohrendorf. The last thing you want is to find the perfect wine cellar only to realise your wallet is empty - especially when there’s another 1.6 kilometres of wine ahead of you.
With our first Grüner Veltliner finished, we continued making our way down Lindobelgasse, stopping at different cellars to see what wines, and delicacies were waiting behind each door.
And thankfully, the Kellergassenfest isn’t just about the wine. Many of the cellars serve their own selection of traditional Austrian food and festival favourites, so there are plenty of opportunities to refuel along the way. We spotted everything from Schmalzbrot - bread generously spread with seasoned pork dripping, and hearty Schweinsbraten (roast pork), to traditional cold Jause platters, as well as hot dogs, pizza and plenty of smaller snacks.
You’ll also spot plenty of people drinking Sturm, particularly if you visit during the September festival. This seasonal Austrian speciality is essentially partially fermented grape juice - somewhere between grape must and finished wine. It’s sweeter, cloudier and fizzier than regular wine and is only available for a short period around harvest time. If you’ve never tried it before, the Kellergassenfest is a pretty fitting place for your first glass.
With around 1.6 kilometres of wine cellars to explore, stopping for something to eat every now and then isn’t just tempting - it’s a very sensible strategy.
How Much Does Rohrendorf Kellergassenfest Cost?
One of the best things about the Rohrendorf Kellergassenfest is that there’s no entrance fee. The festival is completely free to attend, so you can simply wander into the Kellergasse, explore the different cellars and decide where you want to stop along the way.
We also found the festival surprisingly affordable. A glass of local wine typically cost around €3-€4, making it very easy to sample a few different wines as you work your way along Lindobelgasse.
Food prices vary from cellar to cellar and, of course, depend on how hungry you are. Smaller snacks can be picked up for around €5, while more substantial dishes such as Schweinsbraten or pizza generally cost around €15–€20.
Overall, we found the Rohrendorf Kellergassenfest to be a really affordable day or evening out, especially considering there’s no admission charge. You can easily spend a few hours wandering between the cellars, trying local wines and grabbing something to eat without spending a fortune.
Just remember our most important festival tip: bring cash!
Final Thoughts on Rohrendorf Kellergassenfest
It’s safe to say the Rohrendorf Kellergassenfest lived up to our expectations - and then some. What started as a well-timed addition to our cycling trip through Austria’s wine regions ended up being one of the highlights of our time in Kremstal.
There’s something quite special about wandering along a 1.6 km cellar lane surrounded by vineyards, stopping wherever takes your fancy for a €3 glass of Grüner Veltliner, sampling traditional Austrian food and chatting with the local winemakers along the way. It feels wonderfully relaxed and local, and despite being a popular event, it never lost the charm that made us want to visit in the first place.
Being able to experience both Friday evening and Saturday afternoon made it even better. From that first quiet glass of wine among the vines to seeing Lindobelgasse gradually fill with people as the festival came to life, the whole weekend had an atmosphere we’d happily travel back for.
If you’re planning a trip to Krems, Kremstal or the Wachau and your dates happen to coincide with the next Kellergassenfest, we’d absolutely recommend adding Rohrendorf to your itinerary. And if you’re a wine lover like us? We’d go one step further and say it’s worth planning your trip around.
As for us, this definitely won’t be our last Kellergassenfest. With so many cellar doors still left to explore, we already have a pretty good excuse to return.
