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Granittrail 1st stage: Gmünd - Langschlag
Mountain bike tour Starting from Gmünd station
- Difficulty: Difficult
- Distance: 48,76 km
- Duration: 5:05 h
- Ascent: 771 m elevation gain
- Descent: 526 m elevation gain
Gmünd - Wielands - Unserfrau - Weitra - Spital - Oberwindhag - St. Martin - Kleiner Semmering - Bruderndorf - Langschlag
- Starting point of the tour
- Gmünd station
- Tour destination
- Langschlag
- Difficulty: Difficult
- Distance: 48,76 km
- Duration: 5:05 h
- Ascent: 771 m elevation gain
- Descent: 526 m elevation gain
- Fitness level required:5/6
- Overall experience:6/6
- Scenery:5/6
- Lowest point487 m
- Highest point904 m
- Stage tour
- Nice views
- With refreshment stops
Description
As part of the Alpentour Niederösterreich, the Granittrail leads over a length of 157 kilometers and around 3,020 meters of altitude in 3 stages from the Waldviertel to the Danube, namely from the Czech border from Gmünd via Groß Gerungs, Bärnkopf, Gutenbrunn and Altenmarkt to Persenbeug and Ybbs/Donau.
There are some who complete the entire tour in ONE day - as training for a cycling marathon, for example. For the average cyclist, the Granittrail cannot be completed in one go, at best in two parts, but ideally in three stages with overnight stays in one of the recommended accommodations.
- safety instructions Make sure the route you choose matches your fitness level. Check if the catering businesses you want to visit along the way are open. Pack your charged mobile phone and map material in your backpack.
- Equipment We recommend wearing a bike helmet. Wear appropriate clothing and sturdy shoes. Remember rain and sun protection. Also take enough to drink with you.
- Route description Starting from Gmünd, you ride along the mountain bike ridge for about 48 km and approximately 1,200 meters of elevation towards Langschlag. This is the first stage of the Granittrail, which offers something for everyone.From Gmünd station, first through the border town, then after a shopping center turn left over the tracks to Ehrendorf on quiet streets. First short but barely sweaty climbs just before Unserfrau, past a large pilgrimage church to a stately building on the shore of the idyllic Schlösslteich pond, which houses the Old Textile Factory Museum. After about an hour, we reach the oldest beer town in Austria, the former Kuenring settlement Weitra. Brake! Culture!Very leisurely and enjoyably continue strolling and winding through blooming fields on paved panoramic paths, with views sometimes opening over the spreading Waldviertel valleys, then narrowing again to a small wayside shrine. The hills roll up to the horizon, a hawk circles above us, and solitary trees stand like lighthouses in the sprawling landscape. We sway, no: surf lightly, covering the first 20 kilometers almost imperceptibly. Delightful wave riding par excellence!Shortly after Spital, we pass through moss-covered, lush forest that smells of moist earth. A brake-squeaking small downhill leads us to Oberwindhag at the foot of the "Stone Room". From the main road, we turn back into lonely fields.Through St. Martin, the scent of freshly cut wood from a carpentry shop spreads. We follow it to a mushroom carving shop in Steinbach. We follow the "Rail Experience Path" into a forest and to the longest uphill section, where we probably sweat most of the 850 meters of elevation gain. In wet and deep ground conditions, sometimes there's no choice but to switch to walking. Along the forest edge are repeatedly large, round granite stones that gave the trail its name. Exhausted, we reach Bruderndorf and cross the Frauenwieser pond to Langschlag, where we successfully finish the first stage of the Granittrail.
- Parking Parking lot at the station
- Getting there From Vienna: first the A22 towards Stockerau, then the federal road 4 to Horn, then the federal road 2 to GmündFrom Krems: B37 to Zwettl and then on state roads to Gmünd
- Public transport Franz Josef Railway Vienna - GmündThe train connection to Gmünd or from Persenbeug home is not a problem. Choosing two stages presents a logistical challenge, since both Groß Gerungs and Bärnkopf/Gutenbrunn are very difficult to reach by public transport.
Recommended period
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Waldviertel Tourism
3910 Zwettl, Sparkassenplatz 1/2/2
(T) +43 2822 54109
(E) info@waldviertel.at
(I) www.waldviertel.at
Letzte Änderung: 16 Mar 2026