Danube conservation and touristic development of the Danube region. In medieval Regensburg, with its maintained old town, stone bridge and cathedral, the Route of Emperors and Kings begins. It continues to Engelhartszell, with the only Trappist monastery in Austria. Further highlight-stops along the Danube include the "Schlögener Schlinge", the city of Linz, which was European Capital of Culture in 2009 with its contemporary art richness, the Melk Abbey, the university city of Krems and the cosmopolitan city of Vienna. Before the Route of Emperors and Kings ends, you pass Bratislava and Budapest, the latter which was seen as the twin town
Danube from the Danube used. Most states also find it too difficult to clean the water because of extensive pollution; only parts of Romania where the water is cleaner still obtain drinking water from the Danube on a regular basis. In the 19th century, the Danube was an important waterway but was, as "The Times" of London put it, "annually swept by ice that will lift a large ship out of the water or cut her in two as if she were a carrot." Today, as "Corridor VII" of the European Union, the Danube is an important transport route. Since the