WAB - Stage 1: Wiener Neustadt - Katzelsdorf - Bad Erlach

Description

The view of the Rosalia as a viewing balcony of the Bucklige Welt opens up already if you do not shy away from the path from Wiener Neustadt to Katzelsdorf. Already on this section, the first and comprehensive view of the entire Vienna Alpine Arc opens up. A chain of castles and castle ruins testifies to a contested past of an always coveted land near the border. With light steps in the plain and along the ridge and a sporty ascent to the Rosalia, it is about exploring the foothills in this curved landscape. Let the spirituality and contemplativeness of this area affect you and roam the forests in the footsteps of Saint Rosalia. Walk a few kilometers along the Mariazell pilgrimage route in a meditative and contemplative manner. Great views are offered by the Eichbüchl viewpoint and the viewpoint at the Rosalia chapel.

Starting point of the tour

Katzelsdorf Castle, Schlossstraße 1, 2801 Katzelsdorf

Destination point of the tour

Bad Erlach, Linsberg Asia thermal spa parking lot

Route description WAB - Stage 1: Wiener Neustadt - Katzelsdorf - Bad Erlach

We start the first stage already in Wiener Neustadt at the train station or near the nearby casemates. Along the well-marked Rosalia circular hiking trail, it goes to Katzelsdorf to Katzelsdorf Castle. From here, we follow the path on the Vienna Alpine Arc in an eastern direction, cross the werkskanal bridge and the Leitha bridge on the wooden footbridge. Immediately after the Leitha, we turn right onto a gravel path, pass the Leitha Bildstock, and follow the signposts to the Vienna Alpine Arc through the shady riparian forest. Leaving the riparian forest, we turn left at the beginning of a parking lot and take the Kapellau path to the dam street, where we turn right. At house no. 2, we walk past to the right and follow the gravel path gently uphill, before signposts lead us half-right a few meters uphill from the gravel road to a vineyard. With the first views of Hohe Wand, Schneeberg, and Rax, we follow the path and turn onto a meadow path before the hedge. To the right, we see the Redemptorist Monastery of Katzelsdorf, the fenced path ends in a gravel road, here we turn left. In front of a barrier at the edge of the forest, the path leads us right onto a trodden path, we cross a small forest section and arrive at the Eichbüchl viewpoint with a rest area, which is not directly on the path but a few meters to the right and visible. Here it is worth letting your gaze wander over the high mountains of Lower Austria.

Back on the main path, we recognize Eichbüchl Castle, where from April 9 to 20, 1945, the then future chancellor Dr. Karl Renner stayed and worked on the reconstruction plans of the Second Republic. In the nearby gourmet restaurant Görg, we can quench our thirst and hunger thanks to regional juices and seasonal delicacies.

The asphalt road leads us downhill to an intersection where we turn left towards the forest. Shortly afterwards, we turn half-right onto the increasingly steep and additionally yellow-marked hiking trail towards Bad Erlach. Shortly after a large, marked tree stump on the left, we turn right onto a cart path and continue uphill. At the upcoming clearing, we keep right and come across the forest road on the ridge of the Rosalia Mountains. Here, we now follow the forest road to the right and mostly at the ridge trail marked in red past the White Cross to a crossroads somewhat below the transmitting station on the Rosalia. The path on the Vienna Alpine Arc continues here to the right parallel to the Mariazellerweg. However, a short detour up to the Rosalia chapel and viewpoint is worthwhile.

The well-marked forest path passes some houses at Heuberg and over scenic narrow paths with views of the Vienna Alpine Arc to the settlement Mehlberleiten. We turn left across a stream and follow the forest road along the Ofenbach upwards. The path leads around a right turn and well-marked leaves the forest road to the left onto a forest path. A little later, another forest road leads to an asphalt road, on which we walk briefly to the right and before a right curve turn left onto a forest path. We go slightly downhill on the forest path to the narrow asphalt road and follow the road to a double-lane road. Keep right and after a few meters, next to the road in front of a bridge near a rock wall, turn right onto a cart path. We keep directly on the path next to the Klingfurther Bach, ignore the first footbridge to the left, and pass by a house property on the left. Across a meadow, we reach another wooden footbridge, cross the stream and follow the cart path to an asphalt road. Turning right and shortly after left uphill along the narrow asphalt path and towards the parish church Walpersbach. We go down the stairs to the community street, turn right, and follow the road past the community office to a street intersection. We go left through Walpersbach further to Bad Erlach, follow the main road to the right past the church across the Pitten to the Bad Erlach train station. Turn right past the station, cross the tracks, turn left into the cross alley, and follow the footpath to the Linsberg Asia thermal spa.