Discover Rossatz: Hiking Trails, Culture and Danube Floodplains

Rossatz combines scenic trails, historic buildings, Danube floodplains and the culinary side of the Wachau. When choosing a holiday apartment or holiday home for your trip, you can focus on hiking, culture, nature experiences or regional specialities. The various options can be easily organised according to your preferred daily rhythm.

Hiking among apricot orchards and vineyards

A characteristic experience is the Apricot Mile. It consists of circular hiking trails through apricot orchards, equipped with information boards. The trails give your trip a clear thematic focus and combine exercise with insights into the landscape around Rossatz. If you are looking for different impressions, the Rossatz Panorama Trail is another option. It follows a high-level trail past vineyards, orchards and stone terraces. For planning your day, you can choose between a route through the apricot orchards and a high-altitude trail offering expansive views of the landscape.

Stage 12 of the Wachau World Heritage Trail, Rossatz–Unterbergern, also begins in Rossatz: The starting point is at Kirchenplatz, and the stage leads through the nature reserve on Toten Berg. It later continues to a sandy beach with a bicycle ferry. This means the route offers a variety of attractions that you can take into account when planning your hike, without limiting the trail to just one type of landscape.

Floodplain area and viewpoint

The Pritzenau near Rossatz reveals another side of the surrounding area. The floodplain forest lies between the Danube and the vineyards and is characterised by expansive meadows, old trees and quiet side channels. Walks are possible in the restored floodplain areas along the Danube’s former channels. Rare fish species such as nase, streber and the famous Danube salmon also find habitat and refuge in the Pritzenau.

For a viewpoint, head to the Seekopf at an elevation of 671 metres. From there, the views extend upstream and downstream along the Danube, eastwards as far as the Tullnerfeld and southwards to the distant Alpine peaks of Ötscher and Dürrenstein. Another mountain experience is provided by the Hirschwand miniature via ferrata, which can be used to climb a rocky ridge rising around 15 metres high.

Rossatz Church and Castle

Rossatz also offers specific destinations for exploring cultural history. Rossatz Castle is a former castle belonging to Count Schönborn, with beautiful three-storey arcades. Since 1859, it has been owned by the people of Rossatz in the form of an agricultural community. Rossatz Church complements this historical focus with several clearly distinguishable architectural features: Its core structure displays early Gothic elements dating from around 1320, while the late Gothic west tower was built in the 15th century. The choir contains paintings created around 1800 by the school of M. J. Schmidt.

Getting there and regional specialities

Bus route 720 runs from Krems and Melk to the “Rossatzbach Bundesstraße” stop. From there, it is a four-minute walk to the starting point of the Rossatz Panorama Trail. This provides specific guidance if you are planning to arrive by public transport. Between Easter and the end of October, the Dürnstein–Rossatz motor ferry connects Dürnstein with Rossatz. During this period, you can therefore combine your stay with a ferry crossing and further excursion plans.

For a culinary finale, the wine taverns in Rossatz and Rührsdorf offer regional specialities and Wachau wines. Depending on whether you prefer to set off directly for a high-level trail in the morning, explore cultural destinations or take walks in the Pritzenau, you can choose the location of your accommodation according to your personal travel itinerary.

Other destinations for planning your trip

If you would like to compare Rossatz with other destinations, you can find the neighbouring destinations here: Senftenberg, Gedersdorf, Spitz, Rohrendorf Bei Krems, Oberarnsdorf, Krems An Der Donau, Droß and Stratzing.

For the higher-level travel overview: Krems-Land.