Discover Eferding: Trails, Culture and Cider Tradition

Eferding combines historic townscapes with trails through the Eferding Basin, the Obst-Hügel-Land landscape conservation area and a strong cider tradition. For planning your trip, this means you can combine cultural discoveries, walks, cycling tours and regional specialities into different daily itineraries. When looking for a holiday apartment or holiday home, it is therefore worth deciding first which of these experiences should be the focus of your stay.

Trails for history, activity and shared discoveries

The Eferding G’schichtnweg trail leads through and around Eferding and connects historical and fantastical content at twelve stops. Anyone looking for a route with narrative elements will find a special way to explore the town and its history here. Guided tours of the Eferding G’schichtnweg can be booked with Stadtmarketing Eferding at +43 664 22 36 878.

The Eferding Jubilee Trail offers a shorter introduction to the town’s history. The circular walk takes you through Eferding’s historic setting with eight stops and begins at the old tree in Eferding’s town square. For families or travel groups with different interests, such a walk can be a way to experience the town’s history in stages without devoting the entire day’s programme exclusively to a museum.

The surrounding landscape offers further opportunities. The Way of Diversity features interactive stations and display boards on nature, culture, history and inclusion for walkers and cyclists. The Donausteig Stage 2_G01 Aschach–Eferding leads from Aschach an der Donau through the Eferding Basin and ends in Eferding. The Obst-Hügel-Land cycling trail is particularly well suited to e-bikes.

Town History and Places of Remembrance

Starhemberg Castle provides a cultural focal point in Eferding. The north wing was once a castle belonging to the Bishops of Passau. Today, the castle houses the Princely Starhemberg Family Museum and the Eferding Town Museum. This allows you to combine historic architecture with different museum themes.

Another prominent building in the town is the Eferding Parish Church of Saint Hippolytus. It is one of the most significant Late Gothic stepped hall churches in Upper Austria. The building was completed in its present form in 1505 with the construction of the double spiral staircase leading to the choir. Hartheim Castle adds another serious historical dimension: its memorial site includes historic rooms relating to Nazi euthanasia, as well as documentation rooms on Nazi euthanasia and on the use of the castle as a killing facility by the Nazis.

Obst-Hügel-Land and Cider Culture

The Obst-Hügel-Land nature park is a 26 km² landscape conservation area in the Eferding district. In Scharten and Sankt Marienkirchen an der Polsenz, it is characterised by traditional orchards and rows of fruit trees. This landscape gives the region a distinctive identity, which can be combined particularly well with cycling and walking experiences.

The Cider Museum displays historic fruit mills, presses, barrels and cooperage tools. It is located in the preserved rooms of a former granary belonging to the parish, around 300 years old. At the end of the tour, the Cider Museum invites visitors to taste Samareiner cider. By arrangement through the nature park office, guided tours with cider tasting are offered in the fruit educational garden. This allows you to choose between exploring a museum and taking a tour with a regional focus when planning your trip.

For weather-dependent days, it is also important to note that Eferding Adventure Pool is open in good weather. Which accommodation is right for you therefore also depends on your preferred pace – for example, cultural sightseeing, active trails, cycling tours or a stay focused on regional culinary experiences. For your further search, you can also visit the pages on Hinzenbach, Eferding, Sankt Marienkirchen An Der Polsenz, Prambachkirchen, Pupping, Fraham, Scharten, Stroheim, Aschach An Der Donau, Alkoven, Haibach Ob Der Donau and Hartkirchen.

For the higher-level travel overview: Upper Austria.