Discover Neuschönau: Treetop Walk, Nature and Swimming Lake
Accommodation in Neuschönau
Neuschönau offers a variety of ways to experience nature: an exhibition about forests and people, paths through plant and animal habitats, a walk through the treetops and a natural swimming lake. In Waldhäuser, you’ll also find a ski and snowboard beginners’ centre and a marked hiking route. You can choose this holiday destination based on the experiences that matter most to you and your family.
File:Abendlicht Nationalpark bayrischer Wald, Neuschönau.jpg
Photo: Austriaca via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Discover nature at the Lusen National Park Centre
At the Hans-Eisenmann-Haus in the Lusen National Park Centre, the permanent exhibition “Paths into Nature – A Story of Forests and People” introduces visitors to the secrets of Bavarian Forest National Park. It brings together topics about nature with the history of the forest and its people. Outdoors, visitors can explore the flora of the National Park in the four-hectare botanical grounds. The National Park’s animal enclosure at the Lusen Visitor Centre is located in the municipality of Neuschönau and can be explored on a tour. The circular trails in the animal enclosure near Neuschönau are suitable for small children who cannot yet walk long distances.
The treetop walk at the Lusen National Park Centre offers a stroll right through the tree canopy. For a longer outing, the seven-kilometre circular trail at the Lusen National Park Centre offers a different time commitment: the discovery tour takes three to four hours, and shortcuts are available. The grounds are suitable for pushchairs and wheelchairs, cleared in winter and open year-round. So, in addition to the walk through the treetops, you can also choose a longer circular trail with signposted shortcuts and a stated duration.
Swimming lake and play area
The natural swimming lake in Neuschönau adds a place to swim and relax to the area’s nature experiences. The facilities include a large sunbathing lawn, a shallow-entry area and a play area with a slide, swing and rock cave. This water-based attraction offers a different focus from the exhibition, botanical grounds and circular trails. If you would like to include a swimming lake alongside nature excursions when choosing a holiday destination, this is one of Neuschönau’s distinctive features.
Waldhäuser: beginners’ centre and hiking route
The mountain village of Waldhäuser has a ski and snowboard beginners’ centre with a rope tow and a small practice slope. Before making plans, check with the operator for current opening information. Also in Waldhäuser, a hike marked “Habicht” (Goshawk) begins at the chapel and leads uphill through the village. The two activities appeal to different interests: the beginners’ centre is designed for first experiences on skis and snowboards, while the marked route is described as a hike through Waldhäuser.
Freyung-Grafenau as a wider travel destination
The wider travel destination of Freyung-Grafenau also offers nature and culture that can complement a trip in the region. Bavarian Forest National Park extends into Freyung-Grafenau County and opened on 7 October 1970 as Germany’s first national park. The 2024 zoning plan designates 75.37 per cent of the National Park’s area as natural zones.
In the Buchberger Leite wild-stream gorge, steep rock barriers force the boulder- and cascade-filled Wolfsteiner Ohe into a deeply constricted bed. Remnants of primeval forest have survived in the gorge’s moss- and fern-rich woodlands. An eight-kilometre themed hiking trail, with information panels and an accompanying brochure, leads through the Buchberger Leite between Freyung and Ringelai. Historic timber-floating walls, tunnels hewn into the rock and surface canals bear witness to centuries of human activity there.
Freyung’s cultural attractions include the Schramlhaus, built around 1700. It is the oldest farmstead in Freyung and, in its original condition, one of the oldest in Freyung-Grafenau County. It houses more than a hundred original examples of reverse glass painting, a form of sacred folk art; the Wolfsteiner Local History Museum is also located in the Schramlhaus. These regional attractions offer a different focus from the nature experiences in Neuschönau.
When choosing a holiday apartment in Neuschönau, consider whether National Park attractions, the natural swimming lake or activities in Waldhäuser are most important for your trip. The experiences described offer different points of reference, without requiring you to limit yourself to just one kind of holiday activity.
Discover more destinations: Schöfweg, Fürsteneck, Spiegelau, Neureichenau, Waldkirchen, Grainet, Eppenschlag, Grafenau.
View the wider travel overview: Freyung-Grafenau.
