Wachau World Heritage Trail 05: Mühldorf-Maria Laach (Jauerling-Wachau Nature Park)

Description

Wachau World Heritage Trail: From Mühldorf to Maria Laach

The stage from Mühldorf to Maria Laach climbs from the Danube Valley into the higher landscapes of the Jauerling–Wachau Nature Park. Over the Trenning (628 m), the route passes the highest vineyard site in Lower Austria, Ried Trenning, and continues up to the Jauerling (960 m), the highest mountain along the entire Danube. The landscape opens into broad uplands with far-reaching panoramas well beyond the Wachau.

From the Nature Park House at around 915 metres, the trail crosses the Jauerling plateau, passing the hamlets of Gießhübl (with its fortified farmstead), Zeißing (with a moated castle and castle ruins) and Weinberg. The stage ends at the pilgrimage village of Maria Laach, with its Gothic pilgrimage church and well-known farmers’ market—an atmospheric finish to this panoramic high-level walk.

Walking the Wachau World Heritage Trail reveals, step by step, why the Wachau is a UNESCO World Heritage region. Finely curated World Heritage Spots make the defining World Heritage Highlights visible—the interplay of cultural landscape, traditional viticulture, exceptional natural habitats and the Danube as a shaping force.

The Wachau World Heritage Trail also holds the Austrian Hiking Quality Seal. This certification represents high standards in route design, waymarking, safety and infrastructure, confirming the trail as a reliable, high-quality walking experience at the heart of the UNESCO World Heritage site.

Starting point of the tour

Mühldorf, market square

Destination point of the tour

Maria Laach, market square

Route description Wachau World Heritage Trail 05: Mühldorf-Maria Laach (Jauerling-Wachau Nature Park)

We leave Mühldorf market square heading towards Spitz, pass the inn Weißes Rössl and the municipal office, then turn right and cross the Spitzer Bach. Now the ascent to the summit cross on Mount Trenning begins. From the summit, we go down to the hamlet Thurn with the Ried Trenning, the highest vineyard in Lower Austria at about 450 m. In the hamlet, we begin the ascent to Jauerling. On picturesque forest paths and forest roads, we hike to the Nature Park House and its Wachau terrace (stamp station). From there, it takes 10 minutes to go right up to the summit cross of Jauerling. We pass the parking lot of the Nature Park House, turn right and reach the Turner meadow. Here we keep left and can already see the lookout tower on Jauerling, where a panorama awaits us from Schneeberg to Watzmann. Afterwards, we hike down to the mountain station of the ski lift and pass the lumberjack hut Stauferhütte into the forest.

The forest path leads us to a clearing near Gießhübl, where we can make a detour to the staffed Haberghütte opposite the medieval fortified farm Gießhübl. Over the historic church path, we descend with great views of Melk Abbey and Maria Laach to Zeißing. At the intersection before the village, we turn left for a detour to the rest area at the ruins of Zeißing Castle and the water castle. Back at the intersection, we follow the farm road uphill to the hamlet Weinberg – great panorama – and shortly after reach our stage destination at the market square in Maria Laach.