Entrance to Er lebn is wel t Mendl ingta l

Historic Hiking in Mostviertel, Austriamonkeysandmountains.com /historic-hiking- in-mostviertel-austria

It ’s no secret that I love hiking – and Mostviertel, Austria offers up some of the most unusualhiking I’ve ever done!

My first day in Mostviertel was spent hiking to Music and Mountains, a unique event held every June in which you hike todifferent locations to hear bands play. It was so much fun and unlike anything I’ve experienced before! In addition to asecond day of Music and Mountains, it also included something I’ve called Historic Hiking.

It

started at Erlebniswelt Mendlingtal, a mostly open-air museum where visitors can see one of Europe’s last timber raftingfacilities, a Blacksmith house and a water-powered mill. Located in Göstling an der Ybbs am Hochkar, right across thestreet from the Hotel Fahrnberger, it was part of an area known as the Eisenstraße (Iron Street in English),named so forthe iron ore extraction which reached its height in the 17th and 18th century. The processing of the iron ore has alwaysbeen on waterways since the mill is powered by water and wood was needed to be turned into wood charcoal to heatthe iron.

For

Open a i r m us eum at Er lebn is wel t Menl ingta l

Formethereal

highlight was the HOLZweg (Wood Weg). It’s a relatively flat hiking path with wooden bridges that cross through abeautiful gorge where the wood was brought down stream to the facility. Travel t ip: woodcutter demonstrations (as theone shown below) can be seen the first Sunday and third Saturday of every month from May through October.

I

Trad i tiona l woodcutter dem ons tra tion a long the HOLZ weg h iking path

Tim ber ra fting faci l i ty a t Er lebn is wel t

Ilovedthishike. It waseasyand

popular with families but really peaceful:

The

HOLZ weg (Wood weg) h iking path through the gorge is beauti fu l .

HOLZweg ends at theHammerherrenhaus where we ate lunch,listened to another singer as part of theMusic and Mountains event, then returnedthe same way. Not only did I get music,but I also got some history!

Know Before You Go toErlebnisweltMendlingtal/HOLZweg:

The open-air museum is open fromMay 1st – October 31st from 9:00 –5:00pm.

Admission costs €7 per adult.

Signs in Erlebniswelt Mendlingtal areonly in German so you won’t get asmuch out of if you don’t read German.

The HOLZweg is an easy, flat hikethat is very family friendly. I reallyenjoyed the hike.

Check out the fish ponds on the waynear Hammerherrenhaus, whichserves fresh fish from these pondsand lets you eat like a local. Travelt ip: try the fish, they’re famous for it.

Thank you to the Mostviertel TourismBoard for introducing me to some uniquehiking experiences. As always all opinionsexpressed are my own.

Crys ta l clear lake a long the HOLZ weg h iking path

Me s topp ing to en joy the s cenery a long the HOLZ weg