Christophorusweg 650

Allentsteig – Windigsteig, 2 1/2 hours
The Christophorusweg leads from the main square in Allentsteig, together with the Kuenringerweg 611, downhill to the intersection of Hauptstr. and Dr. Ernst Krennstr. The trail branches off to the right toward Thaua. Passing the castle’s old farmstead, we keep to the right along the castle park wall and then follow the course of the Kleine Thaya River to the end of the “oak forest.” There, we turn left, cross a bridge, and continue along the road to the right toward Thaua.The Allentsteig train station is located in Thaua. If you’re arriving via the Fr-Jos Railway, you can start the hike directly from here (turn right from the station toward the town center). After passing the railroad bridge, keep left. Before the bridge over the Kleine Thaya, follow the stream to the left. After the wastewater treatment plant, walk to the underpass beneath the Fr-Jos-Bahn tracks, then turn right and, after about 50 meters, left again. We continue in the same direction, following the red-white-red trail markers all the way to Stögersbach. There, we first turn left and then, after 50 meters, turn right, crossing the main road, to reach the first checkpoint: Enter the number of the first house on the right-hand side. Continuing straight ahead, following the trail markers, you’ll leave Stögersbach heading toward Windigsteig. At first through meadows and fields, then through a picturesque young forest, we arrive at a rest area at the edge of the forest, offering a magnificent view of the Upper Waldviertel (Windigsteig in the foreground, Waidhofen/Thaya in the background). The trail leads down into the Thaya Valley. We now cross the FJ railway line, reach Willings, and, about 80 meters past the bridge, turn toward the center of Windigsteig.

Windigsteig – Waidhofen an der Thaya, 2 3/4 hours

From the main square in Windigsteig, the trail follows the main road toward Waidhofen/Th. Turn right before the cemetery, continue to the wayside shrine at the roadside, then turn left onto the road to reach Rafingsberg. Around 1454, citizens of Waidhofen built a chapel on Rafingsberg. In 1494, the Bishop of Passau consecrated the extension. At the end of the 17th century, the pilgrimage church was enlarged once again. At that time, up to 35,000 pilgrims came to Rafingsberg. Joseph II dissolved the local brotherhood, and the church was deconsecrated in 1792. Leave the road to the left and follow the hiking trail to Meires. There you can admire the castle and its park, built in the 16th century. Once you reach the road, turn right and then left at the next intersection. Then turn right and, at the next fork in the path, continue left to reach Vestenpoppen. Turn right at the intersection and then left uphill at the next fork. At the wayside shrine, head down to the Saalmühle and walk left for about 500 meters along the Thaya River, then turn right over the hill toward Waidhofen/Th. Pass the gas station, cross the Thaya Bridge, and turn right up the hill to the town’s main square.

Waidhofen an der Thaya – Thaya 1 3/4 hours

We walk back to the castle, pass it on the left, and then turn left to reach the Austrian Border Trail 07 (formerly Thayatal Trail 630). Turning right, we take a narrow alley to reach the country road to Vestenötting. After crossing the bypass, turn left at a right-hand curve toward the Sixmühle. From here, a beautiful trail leads past the “Paulstein” rock formation on the Thaya River to Kleineberharts. We walk a short distance along the road and, before reaching the village, turn left onto a dirt road. Kleineberharts remains on the right, and after crossing the path leading to the former train stop, the trail climbs up to a railroad crossing. At the next fork in the trail, we keep to the right and head north, passing a group of birch trees through the fields until we reach the paved farm road. Crossing a bridge (Sarningbach), the trail leads into the town of Thaya.

Thaya – Dobersberg, 3 1/4 hours

We now follow the road toward Dobersberg. We walk past the municipal cemetery. After crossing the Thaya Bridge, we turn right and then left again after about 200 meters, reaching Niederedlitz. Passing the fire pond, we reach the country road to Göpfritzschlag on the right. The trail takes us up to the ridge of the forest, where it branches off to the left. We walk through the extensive forest area and eventually arrive at the summit station of a ski lift. From here, the trail descends steeply to the bottom station. We follow the course of the Thaya River to the right, cross a wooden bridge, and arrive at a forest nature trail with a wildlife enclosure and a whitewater park just before Dobersberg. Turning left at the church, we reach the next checkpoints.

Dobersberg – Waldkirchen, 1 1/2 hours.

The trail leads downhill toward Karlstein. Passing the Dobersbergerhof on the left, we hike along a cart path to Lexnitz. At the edge of town, we cross the former railroad tracks. Before reaching the Radlmühle, we leave the Grenzlandweg 07 trail. We do not cross the bridge but instead follow the river and the bike path all the way to Waldkirchen.

Waldkirchen – Kautzen, 3 1/2 hours

Map sketches 5, 6, and 7. The Christophorusweg leads past the Waldkirchen parish church to house no. 73. We turn right, then left at the next intersection, and right again at the wayside cross. Hiking through a beautiful coniferous forest, we reach the turnoff for Rudolz. We turn left at the turnoff, cross the Dobersberg–Fratres road, and, following the road, reach Rudolz in about 1.3 km. In Rudolz, we follow the sign for Reinhold twice. Before reaching Reinolz, we turn left onto a paved path and walk about 50 meters past a wooden shed. There, we turn left. Continuing in the same direction, we come to a crossroads (inscription at the crossroads: “Hiker, stand still; remember that I am your Savior”). There, we turn right toward the forest. Note: After about 400 m, in the forest, the trail to Brunn branches off to the left. Once in Brunn, we turn right onto the main road to Kautzen. We follow the road to Großtaxen. We continue along this road until we reach the bridge over the Taxenbach. After the bridge, the Christophorusweg turns left and then immediately right again. Passing through Taxenhuf and later several ponds, we reach the road just before Kautzen and follow it to the left into the town center.

Kautzen – Reinberg/Dobersberg, 2 3/4 hours

We follow the road to Reinberg/Dobersberg until the end of Friedhofsbauer. From there, the trail leads right toward Illmau. Passing the Illmau village chapel and a fire pond, we reach the Kneipp and Medicinal Herbs Hiking Trail. After the Kneipp facility, we turn right into the forest. There, we cross a dirt road, emerge into open terrain, and enjoy a magnificent view of Illmau and Kautzen. We follow the next forest trail to the left into the woods. At the next fork in the trail, we turn right, walk slightly uphill, and, before reaching the next hilltop, turn left. Without any significant change in direction, we reach the Hoher Stein (666 m). The trail leads to the left, and after the hilltop, we head right uphill to the Pyramid (a memorial stone). About 100 meters past this, the trail leads right into the forest toward the Teufelsstein. In the forest, we follow the trail markers, cross a forest road, then turn sharply right and, after about 30 meters, left, reaching the scattered settlement of Dürnhof after about 600 meters. Before the first farm, the trail turns left and, after a few steps, turns right past a pond; later, it turns right onto a meadow path, then left uphill toward the forest, where we reach houses on the state border with Czechoslovakia. We follow the trail markers and reach the road to Reinberg/Dobersberg, which we follow on the right.

Reinberg/Dobersberg – Eisgarn, 2 3/4 hours

In Reinberg Dobersberg, we turn left at the chapel. After leaving the village, we reach the fork and turn right, heading down to the next main road. We follow this road to the right and soon after turn left toward Leopoldsdorf. We follow this road for 1.2 km until we branch off at an acute angle at the highest point. We follow this forest road, always following the trail markers. At the end of the forest road, we head down to the right toward Groß-Radischen. Shortly after the town sign, we follow a dirt road to the left (turn right after 150 m, then left after 30 m); passing some ponds, we reach the road to Eisgarn. Walking on the right, we follow the road for 100 m, then turn left and, after the house, turn right and walk downhill to a wayside shrine. After passing it, we turn left into a forest. As soon as we emerge from the forest, we see the “Kolomanistein” on the right. The path to the wayside shrine is marked starting at the next intersection (to the right). Once we reach the road, we cross it and walk to the town center.

Eisgarn – Heidenreichstein, 2 1/4 hours

We leave Eisgarn heading toward Litschau. At the edge of town, the Christophorusweg leads left toward Klein-Radischen. At the end of the village, we turn left onto a dirt road and follow it to the road leading to Eberweis. We hike along the road to the left, past the Alte Mühle inn in Eberweis, all the way to Heidenreichstein. At the first house in town, we turn right, past the cemetery to a traffic light. We hike right onto the state highway until the next rest stop, or left to the main square.

Heidenreichstein – Amaliendorf, 1 1/2 hours

Together with the Grenzlandweg 07, the Christophorusweg 650 leads to Kleinpertholz. We cross the Heidenreichstein–Gmünd road. We hike along a dirt road to Wielandsberg. We follow the road to the left toward Amaliendorf.

Amaliendorf – Schrems, 2 hours

At house no. 224, we turn left toward Wackelstein. It is located about 50 meters to the left, off the hiking trail. The trail then leads through beautiful coniferous forests. We walk past the “Kas im Lab” stone to the Hubertus Chapel. The Grenzlandweg 07 trail now turns right toward Gmünd. We continue straight ahead to Schrems. Passing the parish church, we reach the main square. The Gasthof Schönauer is located to the right of the main square on Schulgasse.

Schrems – Hoheneich, 1 1/2 hours

At the main square, we cross the crosswalk, turn right briefly, and then left. At the next fork in the road, we take the right-hand road and, before the brewery, turn right onto the road toward Niederschrems or Kleedorf. We walk along the Braunau River toward Niederschrems. At the Niederschrems Süd bus stop, we turn right toward Kleedorf. At the St. Petrus Stone, we turn right, then left, and arrive at the Anderl Factory. We cross the Braunau Bridge and, immediately after the bridge, turn left along the Fischersteig trail toward Hoheneich. At the end of the Fischersteig trail, we turn left over the bridge near the power plant and then right toward the town center.

Hoheneich – Kirchberg am Walde, 3 hours

The Christophorusweg trail leads left from the main square toward Nondorf. We cross the FJ railway tracks. After about 230 m, the trail turns left into the forest. At the next intersection, we turn right. We cross the main road and arrive at the inn and checkpoint run by Daniela and Martin Pöhn. To the left of the inn, the road leads to Großhöbarten. We follow this road. In the village, the hiking trail branches off to the left toward the fire station. We follow the road and turn right at the curve (about 900 m past the fire station). As soon as we reach the forest, we take the left path. Soon we reach a forest road; we turn left and, after 200 m, leave the forest road again by turning left downhill. We continue straight ahead. At the edge of the forest, we go straight ahead to the left. We see Weißenalbern on the right, but at the intersection we turn left toward Kirchberg am Walde. We cross a dirt road and, at the next fork, turn more to the left. Passing the first houses of Kirchberg am Walde, we reach the road and turn first right and then left into the town center.

Kirchberg am Walde – Echsenbach, 4 hours

The trail turns right in front of the parish church and left at houses No. 37 and No. 19, respectively. We walk to the Kirchberg/W. – Hollenstein road. We follow the road to the left and arrive in Hollenstein. At the intersection in town, we head left toward Süßenbach. Before the beautiful wayside shrine on the left side of the road, the trail leads into the forest. (Caution! The forest owner does not permit the placement of trail markers.) We hike along the edge of the forest until we reach the road to Vitis. We follow the road to the left until we come to the turnoff to Warnungs on the right. We follow the road into the village of Warnungs and turn left in the village toward Wolfenstein. We cross the Zwettl-Vitis road and, at the edge of the village, follow the road to the right toward Rieweis. At the chapel in Rieweis, we turn right and soon after that left, continuing straight ahead to a cross. There, we turn left toward Echsenbach. At the entrance to the village, we turn right and walk to the village center.

Echsenbach – Schwarzenau, 1 3/4 hours

We follow the road to Schwarzenau until the turnoff for Ganz. We turn right, passing under the FJ railway, and after about 500 m, the trail branches off to the left toward Schwarzenau. Follow the trail markers past the FJ-Bahn underpass, then turn right toward the road to Zwettl; there, turn left and then, after about 100 m, turn right into the center of Schwarzenau. The checkpoint is located 50 m ahead on the road to Waidhofen an der Thaya, across from the Renaissance castle.

Schwarzenau – Allentsteig, 3 hours

The Christophorus Trail leads from the checkpoint back to the main road. At the intersection, we cross the road and head left to the last house. There, we turn right, walk across the footbridge over the Thaya River, and then continue straight ahead. We use the underpasses for the Franz-Josefs-Bahn railway and then the Schwarzenau-Zwettl railway line, and continue walking toward Hausbach. Before Hausbach, at the red wayside shrine, we turn right toward the forest. There, we take the right path and walk uphill to the Schwarzenau-Zwettl highway. We follow the road to the left (about 400 m). Across from “Hyundai Haslauer,” we leave the highway and walk down to the left toward the railroad tracks. We cross the railroad tracks and then follow the path to the left until we reach the Echsenbach-Ganz road. We follow the local road to the left, continuing straight ahead (do not turn left). At the edge of town, we continue to the right until just before Bernschlag. There, we turn sharply left toward “Hinterholz.” In “Hinterholz,” we take the first fork and turn right onto a forest path until we reach the Allentsteig-Bernschlag road. We walk briefly to the right (about 10 meters), then cross the road, and continue straight ahead to Kuenringerweg 611. We follow this hiking trail to the left all the way to Zwinzen. Before the Zwinzen village chapel, we turn right again and then left. We continue straight ahead, passing the Cholera Chapel, into the town center of Allentsteig.

You can travel from Vienna via the Franz-Josefs-Bahn or by public bus. Drivers can park their vehicles at any checkpoint and hike along the Christophorusweg to their chosen starting point.