Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Wienerwald
The Wienerwald encompasses gentle wooded hills to the west and southwest of Vienna,
and the wine-growing region directly south of the capital. For the Viennese, it's a place
for walking, climbing and mountain biking. Numerous walking and cycling trails in the
area are covered in the
Wienerwald Wander -und Radkarte,
available free from local
tourist offices and the region's main office,
Wienerwald Tourismus
(
02231-621 76;
www.wienerwald.info
;
Hauptplatz 11, Purkersdorf;
9am-5pm Mon-Fri)
Attractive settlements, such as the grape-growing towns of
Perchtoldsdorf
and
Gumpold-
skirchen
, speckle the Wienerwald. Picturesque
Mödling
, only 15km south of Vienna, was
once favoured by the artistically inclined: Beethoven's itchy feet took him to
Hauptstrasse 79 from 1818 to 1820, and Austrian composer Arnold Schönberg stayed at
Bernhardgasse 6 from 1918 to 1925. More information is available from the
Tourismus In-
formation Mödling
(
02236-267 27;
www.moedling.at
; Kaiserin Elisabeth-Strasse 2;
9am-12.30pm &
1.30-5pm Mon-Fri)
.
About 20km from Mödling is
Heiligenkreuz
and the 12th-century Cistercian abbey
Stift
Heiligenkreuz
( 02258-8703;
www.stift-heiligenkreuz.at
; Heiligenkreuz 1; adult/child €7.50/3.80; tours
10am, 11am, 2pm, 3pm & 4pm Mon-Sat, 11am, 2pm, 3pm & 4pm Sun)
. The chapter house is the final rest-
ing place of most of the Babenberg dynasty, which ruled Austria until 1246. The abbey
museum contains 150 clay models by Giovanni Giuliani (1663-1744), a Venetian
sculptor who also created the Trinity column in the courtyard. Note that tours in English
are by advance request only.
Mayerling
, which lies 6km southwest of Heiligenkreuz, has little to show now, but the
bloody event that occurred here in 1889 still draws visitors to the site. The
Carmelite convent
( 02258-2275;
http://karmel-mayerling.org
; Mayerling 1; admission €2.80; 9am-6pm)
can be visited if
you want to get a feel for events and see a few mementos. The altar in the chapel was
built exactly where the bodies of Archduke Rudolf and Maria were found.
Between Mayerling and Weissenbach-Neuhaus, situated about 5km from both on the
L4004 and accessible from the Schwarzensee parking area and bus stop, is
Peilstein
(716m), with rock climbing on the
Peilstein Klettersteig
. This is one of the most picturesque
climbs in the region and a favourite among the Viennese.
Peilsteinhaus
(
www.peilsteinhaus.gebirgsverein.at
;
Schwarzensee 15; Wed-Sun; )
, a hut and restaurant with a
kids' playground, can be reached by hiking trails (01/06) via Mayerling from Heiligen-
