Stage 23 From Glacier to Wine South Route Leutschach - Ratsch an der Weinstraße

From Leutschach, where in addition to viticulture, hop cultivation also plays an important role, which can truly be experienced at the Leutschach Brewery, the route first takes us along the Glanzer Hoftour slightly uphill to the Eory-Kogel with the largest grape in the world. Excellent wine taverns and wineries invite us to make a stop and also give us an insight into the art and craft of the winegrowers on what is probably Austria's most famous wine route, because here it is still possible to look behind the scenes in many places. At the Eory-Kogel we keep to the left and hike in the direction of Sabathihof, where we keep to the right and continue hiking along the Glanzer Hoftour. Soon we arrive over the Roßberg to the Germuth winery in the heart of the wine route near Glanz.

Directly along the border with Slovenia, identical with the Southern Alpine Trail 03, we continue hiking on this stage of the hiking route "From Glacier to Wine" to visit another beautiful spot directly south of Sulz an der Weinstraße in the area of the Dreisiebner Winery. The border table is a table surrounded with seats directly at the border between the two countries and was built for "border talks". The border table is intended to create a meeting place for cultural exchange. In addition, the border table offers itself as a communication hub for art, culture and politics, but also especially for private persons, especially the local population and vacation guests as a place to stay. After a last leisurely climb, the route continues to one of the most popular photo motifs in the Südsteiermark Nature Park, the Herzerlstraße - a street section in the shape of a heart. Passing more wineries and wine taverns, we soon arrive at our stage town Ratsch an der Weinstraße, hiking slightly downhill, before continuing along the border to Slovenia to Ehrenhausen the next day.

Accessible by train and bus.

Detailed information about arriving by ÖBB (Austrian Federal Railways) can be found at www.oebb.at or on the Verbundlinie Steiermark website www.busbahnbim.at

With Verbundlinie’s BusBahnBim route planner app, planning your journey has never been easier: simply enter towns and/or addresses, stop names or points of interest to check all bus, train and tram connections in Austria. The app is available free of charge for smartphones – on Google Play and in the App Store

Steiermark Tourismus

Tel. +43 316 4003

info@steiermark.com

www.steiermark.com/en

If you would like to hire a  tour operator, simply book with Steiermark Touristik, the official travel agency of Steiermark Tourismus:

Tel. +43 316 4003 450, 

www.steiermark-touristik.com

The Steiermark Touren app, available free of charge on Google Play and the App Store  (Android, iOS), offers detailed first-hand information: brief facts (length, duration, difficulty, ascent and descent/elevation gain, ratings), map, route descriptions, altimeter, compass, peak finder, navigation along the tour. You can also create your own personal lists of favourite tours and sites, store tours and destinations offline, use social media channels, and much more.

Gratis Pocket Card Wanderroute "Vom Gletscher zum Wein" finden Sie auf www.steiermark.com

Kompass WK224 Steirisches Weinland- Stainz, Sausal, Sulmtal, Leibnitz www.kompass.at

Freytag & Berndt WK411 Steirisches Weinland · Südwest Steiermark www.freytagberndt.at

Rother Wanderführer "Vom Gletscher zum Wein": auf 160 Seiten mit 80 Farbabbildungen 60 Höhenprofile, 60 Wanderkärtchen im Maßstab 1:75.000, zwei Übersichtskarten, GPS-Tracks zum Download, Format 11,5 x 16,5 cm, kartoniert mit Polytex-Laminierung, ISBN 978-3-7633-4550-2, www.rother.de