The museums of Lower Austria have a diverse line-up for incentive travelers, even in the evening.

Even Niederösterreichisches Landesmuseum in St. Pölten, the major provincial museum in Lower Austria, has carved out a niche with interesting potential. Groups of 20 or more can choose from grand tours of highlights, special tours through the three parts of the collection—art, nature and history—and various activity programs. The CSI Landesmuseum is a program all about investigating mysterious animal-related crime cases. Combinatory powers and teamwork are needed to identify the victim and reveal the culprits. Visitors whose ambitions lean more toward art than crime-solving can opt for the painting collection at the museum and draw inspiration from Klimt, Schiele or Gauermann for their own creative flights of fancy. Easel, brush and oil paints are all available in the studio.

MUSEUM GUGGING also offers visitors the opportunity to try out their artistic talents at evening workshops. The main focal point is the work of August Walla, one of the most versatile and original representatives of Art Brut. A tour through the special exhibition “AUGUST WALLA! WELTALLENDE” with its 100 items on exhibit gives insights into the multifaceted work of this painter, writer and creator of country art. Afterwards in the museum studio, workshop participants can transform tin cans into unconventional art objects or create calligraphic masterworks on paper.

The Abbey of Klosterneuburg opens its treasure chamber for cultivated nocturnal forays. Behind the imposing walls of the abbey, the Augustinian canons keep their unique treasures safe and sound, everything from the Austrian Archducal coronet and the baroque Veil Monstrance to the precious liturgical vestments in Jugendstil style. The perfect finish to this impressive cultural experience is a descent to the barrique cellar lit with flickering candles to sample the fine wines from Austria’s oldest wine estate.

Guests who dine in Carnuntum in the villa of the rich cloth merchant Lucius can look forward to an opulent feast in Ancient Roman style. A five-course banquet is prepared before the eyes of diners in the Ancient Roman kitchen. The cellarer serves wine creations inspired by Ancient Rome along with top vintages of the best winemakers in the region. To work up an appetite for all this, you are free to take part in any of a variety of activities being offered. Participants in the team competition must demonstrate their qualities as legionnaires, hunt a wild boar with a pilum, the javelin from Ancient Roman times, or show their skills as master coin makers at the coin stamping machine.

Visitors to the Museum of Prehistory in Asparn can find out personally just how gifted the Celtic rivals of the Ancient Romans were at staging their own grand parties. The evening Banquet of the Barbarians combines the arts of cooking, storytelling and song to create a delightful overall experience prehistoric style.

The princes who rebuilt the Schallaburg into one of the most beautiful Renaissance castles north of the Alps in the 16th century were just as enamored of splendor as Lucius in Carnuntum had been. Business travelers wishing to explore this cultural gem from its most romantic side and without long lines of visitors are welcome to treat themselves to a late evening tour. After a tour of the castle, you can travel back in time to Golden Byzantium, the subject to which the Schallaburg is devoting its special, high-caliber exhibition this year. Cuisine is one wonderful way to understand the Eastern Roman Empire. Aware of that, the castle restaurant chef has delicious morsels on hand for late visitors made according to authentic local recipes from the host country.