Walderlebnisweg Zwettltal

When choosing your route, make sure it’s appropriate for your fitness level. Check to see if the restaurants and cafes you plan to visit along the way are open. Pack your fully charged cell phone and maps in your backpack. For cross-border trips, please always carry a passport or ID card with you.

Sturdy footwear, functional clothing, sun and rain protection, maps, trekking poles if needed, first-aid kit (blister bandages), and plenty of food (snacks, granola bars, fruit, water).

You start at the ice rink, not far from downtown Zwettl, cross the footbridge, and on the other side of the river branch, turn left into the Zwettl Valley. After a few meters through nature, the town disappears behind the trees. You’ll hike along the Zwettl River up to a small hill with a view of a meander. After a sharp right turn, you’ll enter the flat Zwettl Valley. In summer, lush, flowering meadows separate the river from the trail, which runs along the edge of the forest. The “Graselhöhle” and the “Langer Ruhe” along the trail are waiting to be discovered by you. At the footbridge over the Strahlbach, turn right and follow the stream upstream. The trail passes by the quarry, a quiet and idyllic spot. Just before the inn in Demutsgraben, the trail branches off to the right. Immediately after the footbridge, follow a narrow forest path and cross a wetland area—sturdy footwear is required here. Opposite this wet area, which never dries out even in midsummer, the trail now leads up to the edge of the valley. You’ll now hike above the quarry and later, almost entirely along the quarry face facing the Zwettl Valley, back toward Zwettl. The view alternates between open vistas of the fields and looks down into the valley. For the final stretch back to the starting point, you’ll walk along the so-called Sonnenweg, past the Protestant church, and back to the ice rink.

Parking available at the starting point

From Vienna: Stockerau – Tulln – Krems – Zwettl (or Vienna – St. Pölten – Krems – Zwettl)

From Salzburg/Linz: Freistadt – Sandl – Groß Gerungs – Zwettl

Vienna, Franz-Josefs-Bahnhof – Krems – Bus service to Zwettl (Postbus or Waldviertelbus)

Zwettl:
Cistercian Abbey, Zwettl City Museum, Rosenau Castle Masonic Museum, Edelhof School Museum, swimming at the Ottenstein Reservoir, Zwettl Private Brewery, golf, hunting, mini steam train, horseback riding, city tours, tennis, “ZwettlBad” outdoor and indoor swimming pools