Stage 08 From Glacier to Wine North Route Lassing - Admont

From Lassing, the path first goes west through a romantic landscape with meadows and forests towards Strechau Castle, where we keep straight on at the castle ramp to continue at the foot of the castle in the direction of Selzthal. If time permits, a visit to Strechau Castle is of course highly recommended (Tel. +43 650 2348461). From Selzthal there are train connections to Graz, Vienna, Linz or Salzburg and also to the neighboring countries. To get to Selzthal we walk around the castle Strechau. Near the highway we branch off from the hiking trail with the number 12 and walk between the buildings of the Deisl company. Then we pass through an underpass (be careful, we are walking on a state road!) to continue on the state road to Selzthal. We leave the town of Selzthal, an important railroad and bicycle junction in Upper Styria, and walk a short distance parallel to the railroad line to soon reach the Enns, which will now be our constant companion on this stage of the hiking route "From Glacier to Wine" until we reach Admont, our destination. Here, where the Palten flows into the Enns, on the other side of the river is the Pürgschachen Moor, a Natura 2000 European protected area, through which a beautifully laid out circular trail suitable for strollers also leads. The Pürgschachen Moor and the wetlands near the river Enns form a unique complex of raised bogs and silting lake areas between Ardning and the Gesäuse entrance to Admont with an original total size of 110 ha. The central area, the Pürgschachener Latschenhochmoor, with its 44 ha, forms the most important and undestroyed preserved part, which is up to 8 m high. Its importance lies in the fact that it is the best preserved valley raised bog of the inner alpine region.

At the height of Frauenberg, a small village situated on the northern bank, we leave the Enns for a few hundred meters. Here we can admire the baroque pilgrimage church Frauenberg, which towers above the river. The mountain on which the pilgrimage church is located has been owned by the Admont Monastery since 1180, which probably also built the first pilgrimage site here. After that, the last few kilometers are always leisurely along the Enns River through the Natura 2000 Europe protected area to Admont (Tourist Information Tel. +43 3613 2116010), our destination, with the imposing Admont Abbey. The next day, when we enter the mountain world of the Gesäuse National Park, we have two tour options: either we stay on the main route, which leads us via the Kaiserau to the Mödlingerhütte, or we take the alpine variant, which requires appropriate experience, surefootedness, physical condition and a head for heights!

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

Freizeitkarte Alpenregion Nationalpark Gesäuse, 1:50.000 www.gesaeuse.at

Kompass WK69 Gesäuse, Ennstaler Alpen, Pyhrnpass, Eisenerz www.kompass.at

Freytag & Berndt WK082 Bad Aussee · Totes Gebirge · Bad Mitterndorf · Tauplitz www.freytagberndt.at

Freytag & Berndt WK062 Gesäuse · Ennstaler Alpen · Schoberpass 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