Alkoven: Hiking, Danube Routes and Cultural History

If you are looking for a hotel in Alkoven, you can plan your trip around your interests: hikes on marked trails, themed routes with specific stops, or cultural history. The routes and places vary in length and content, giving you different options for incorporating excursions into your stay.

Hiking, Themed Trails and Danube Routes

Alkoven has a total of 155 kilometres of hiking trails, some of which are also suitable for walking or cycling. The Alkoven Activity Arena is a marked network of ten circular routes ranging from 5.5 to 11.5 kilometres. They are suitable for running, walking and hiking. The stated range makes it easy to compare the routes by length.

A shorter themed trail is the 3.5-kilometre Mensch-Wald-Klima (People-Forest-Climate) Trail with its little gnome trail. Along the route are ten information boards for adults and 26 for children. There are also gnome houses and wooden gnomes designed by Claudia Schlagnitweit, inviting children to explore. The trail thus combines information about people, forests and the climate with specially designed stops.

The Weg der Vielfalt (Path of Diversity) connects the Danube Cycle Path with Hartheim Castle and Institute. Along the way, you can discover stops with interactive activities; you can also explore the Danube floodplain forests along the Path of Diversity. If travelling on the Linzer Lokalbahn, you can reach the path from Alkoven station: get off there, cross the B129 federal road and turn into Bahnhofstraße. After about 210 metres, you will reach a T-junction with Berghamerstraße, which is already part of the Path of Diversity. Check local traffic information before setting out.

The Danube Loop is 6.7 kilometres long and runs mostly along unpaved paths. It starts and ends at the Radkovsky ponds. For 1.2 kilometres, the Danube Loop runs right beside the Innbach stream and reaches the Danube via the floodplain bridge. The Alkoven Danube Trail circular route also starts and ends in Alkoven, in the pond landscape.

Another special attraction is hiking golf, with eleven stations featuring natural and wooden elements as well as old agricultural equipment. The different stops and routes offer specific points of reference when choosing excursions by theme, distance or trail character.

Cultural History and Places of Remembrance

Hartheim Castle is a centre for learning and remembrance that opened in 2003. It includes a memorial to the victims of Nazi euthanasia and the “Value of Life” exhibition. Hartheim Castle is considered one of Upper Austria’s most significant Renaissance buildings. Remembrance, learning and the history of the building represent different aspects of a cultural stay here.

Emlinger Holz is also associated with a specific historical event: on 9 November 1626, imperial troops and mercenaries under General Pappenheim, numbering 8,000 in total, faced 8,500 farmers there. About 3,000 farmers and 3,000 soldiers lost their lives. The approximate casualty figures are part of the record of this event and should be understood as estimates.

The late Gothic parish church of Alkoven was built in the Gothic style around 1470. It stands in the middle of the cemetery, on elevated ground in the centre of Alkoven. Its location clearly sets it apart from the stops described along the routes and offers another point of interest for a cultural and historical itinerary.

At the Roman rest area, a fair-faced concrete column commemorates a Roman milestone; it bears a Roman head created by Miguel Horn. The site provides information about Alkoven, the Danube Cycle Path and the Romans. A five-metre-long resting bench made of concrete and stone invites visitors to linger. This place thus combines historical references with information about the area and the cycle route.

Discover more destinations: Haibach Ob Der Donau, Prambachkirchen, Hartkirchen, Aschach An Der Donau, Stroheim, Pupping, Sankt Marienkirchen An Der Polsenz, Eferding.

Back to the main travel overview: Eferding.