In this post I want to present the third stage of the new Kremstal-Donau long-distance hiking trail that leads from Furth bei Göttweig to Paudorf.
I have already written about the first stage (Steemit / TravelFeed) and the second stage (Steemit / TravelFeed).
The third stage starts where the second one ended - at the municipal office of Furth. From here you walk in southeastern direction.
Walk below the train bridge.
Then turn right into the "Villenweg".
Only shortly aftered you have to walk up the steep way (and then the stairs) on the right.
At the beginning of the wood you have to turn left.
Here you have to turn right and walk to the timberyard.
Please be aware that there might be no timber when you walk there.
A little bit later you have to walk up a small path on the right side.
When you reach this war memorial you know that you are on the right way!
Some mountain bike trails that are part of the Trailwerk Wachau will cross your way. Please never walk on these mountain bike trails!
After about half an hour you will reach the baroque Göttweig Abbey. Although you just walked 900 meters through the wood you have covered a height difference of 160 meters - and I guess you'll be quite exhausted.
If you are not too exhausted you can walk to the northern side of the abbey. From the restaurant parking you'll have a beautiful view on Krems - if it is not foggy like on the day I took that walk!
Back to the southern side. Here you have a view on the Waxenberg.
If you are still not exhausted you can now also take a detour to the Predigtstuhl and look at the World War I defense system that I have already described (Steemit / TravelFeed).
For continuing the long-distance hiking trail turn left into the path on the opposite side of the southern entrance of the abbey.
After some meters you have to turn left and folow the path that leads zig-zag downwards.
When you come down from the mountain you'll be in the small village "Klein-Wien" (literally translated "Small Vienna"), a village that belongs to the municipality of Furth but is only accessible from Furth by car via Paudorf or Mautern, so you might call it a practical exclave.
Cross the street and walk up the small street that leads into the wood.
Then turn left.
Take the small path behind the church!
The hiking path leads to a street called "Untere Zellerstraße", that already belongs to Paudorf.
After 800 meters turn left into the "Bahnhofstraße".
Cross the railway tracks and then turn right.
Then choose the left street - the right one leads to the train station.
At the crossroads turn right.
You will now walk straight ahead for 250 meters. First you will walk on the bridge over a creek called "Fladnitz". You might already know this creek from my story on the "3-Brücken-Runde" (Steemit / TravelFeed). Then you will pass a football field.
After passing the primary school you will go through an underpass under the main road.
Then you reach the final destination of this stage, the modern Marktplatz (market square) of Paudorf. Here you find public toilets. What I really recommend is visiting the Konditorei Koller - they offer really delicious cakes!
The third stage has a total length of 4.4 kilometers, that's approximately the same length of the first or the second one. But this stage also has a total ascent of 231 meters. So you'll need quite more time for it. I needed approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes, but you better plan to need 2 hours. If you want to enjoy the view from Göttweig, maybe visit the abbey or the abbey's museum, go for lunch in the restaurant (closed in Winter!) or maybe take a detour to the Pfaffenberg you will need much more time and maybe even spend a whole day for this hike.
If you already know all these "distractions" you can also walk stages 1-3 in only one day.
A German description with a detailled map and more photos can be found on my weblog schmatz.blog. The "official description" and GPS date can be found on donau.com and on bergfex.at.
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