Sankt Pölten (or St Pölten) stands amid flat farmland in northern Austria, 4 miles west of Vienna. It's a major road and rail hub, so if you hire a car here it's easy to explore the surrounding countryside. The highlights of the area include, of course, the world-famous Danube Valley, and the university riverside town of Krems with its charming old quarter. The 'Lakes' are an area of flooded gravel pits that are now popular leisure sites near St Pölten and the historic Mariazeller Bahn narrow-gauge electric train from the city is a popular tourist trip into some of Austria's remotest mountain areas.
Visitors who hire a car in St Pölten will find that it is an interesting mix of the historic and ultra-new. You'll find acclaimed modern architecture around the city, like the Government House, Festival Playhouse and Lower Austria Provincial Museum. The most fun is the Tower of Sound, a three-storey 'audio gallery' with a platform on top offering views across the city. The old quarter includes historic sites like the baroque city hall, 17th-century Augustine monastery and Romanesque cathedral. Perhaps the city is summed up by the Riemerplatz: a completely intact baroque square with a huge modern marble sculpture at its centre.
