The Venus of Willendorf is one of the most famous prehistoric artefacts in the world — an 11-centimetre limestone figurine of a rotund female figure, estimated at around 28,000 years old, found in a railway cutting near the village of Willendorf in 1908. The original is in the Natural History Museum in Vienna, but a bronze replica marks the findspot on the path between Willendorf and Aggsbach Markt along the south bank of the Danube.
The site itself is not visually impressive — a grassy bank above the river path — but the knowledge that a hunter-gatherer sat here 300 centuries ago and carved this object is striking in proportion to how unremarkable the spot looks. Willendorf is on the south bank cycling route through the Wachau, and the replica is easily combined with cycling the valley. The Krahuletz Museum in Eggenburg, about 30 kilometres north, has good displays on the Wachau's prehistoric archaeology.