Inn-Salzach: River Landscapes, Museums and Trails
Accommodation in Inn-Salzach
Inn-Salzach can be explored in many different ways: in museums, along riverbanks and nature trails, or through experiences connected with the region’s beer culture. The seasons also bring their own highlights – from swimming and boating in summer to winter activities on a frozen lake. When choosing a holiday apartment, it is therefore worth first considering which places and themes you would like to shape your stay.
FFH Gebiet Salzach und Unterer Inn 26b
Photo: Michael Burgholzer via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Urban History and Culture in Burghausen and Mühldorf
At the Burghausen Town Museum, children and adults can discover life at a medieval princely court and the town’s history – from the earliest traces of human life to the present day. The many interactive and audio stations make the museum especially interesting for children and school pupils. The exhibition thus combines a look at the princely court with a long town history spanning several eras.
The Mühldorf History Centre and Museum offers a different perspective: its permanent exhibition, “Everyday Life, Armaments, Extermination,” examines the district’s past during the Nazi era. The exhibition “Lifeline Inn” at the same museum focuses on the relationship between people and the river – how they have lived with it and how we engage with it today. Together, the two themes invite visitors to consider both historical developments and everyday life along the Inn.
The Burghausen Town Museum also presents the natural environment of the Salzach and Wöhrsee. Its discovery stations explain the Salzach River habitat, the neighbouring floodplain forests and beech forests on the slopes, as well as the Salzach gorge known as “Burghauser Enge.” Another special feature is the Burghausen Hammer Mill, regarded as Europe’s oldest hammer mill still in operation.
River Landscapes and Nature Trails
The Innaue Nature Trail connects the town of Mühldorf a. Inn with the local recreation area south of the Inn. The cycle of nature is the focus of 11 interactive stations. Those interested in the Inn can link the trail with the “Lifeline Inn” exhibition at the Mühldorf History Centre and Museum: the exhibition focuses on the river as a habitat and part of everyday human life, while the trail explores the cycle of nature.
The Klosterau Forest Discovery Trail passes through a different landscape in the Alz floodplain forest. In Mehring, a listening tower invites visitors to listen to local birds; native animals can be spotted along the jungle trail. The route therefore has a different focus from the interactive stations at Innaue: here, careful listening and discovering the wildlife of the floodplain forest take centre stage.
The Salzach gorge between Burghausen and Hochburg-Ach shows the power of the river in shaping the landscape. After the last Ice Age, the Salzach cut about 70 metres into the Flinz sand. Aesculapian snakes, jackdaws, bats and eagle owls live in the caves of the imposing steep slope. The landscape therefore encompasses both the geological formation of the gorge and the wildlife in its caves.
Water and the Seasons at Wöhrsee
Swimming and boating are possible at Wöhrsee in summer. When the lake is frozen, ice skating and Bavarian curling are listed as activities. The contrast between summer experiences on the water and winter activities on the ice offers a clear seasonal difference. Conditions for using the ice may vary; check them before visiting.
Beer Culture on Foot and on a Circular Tour
On the beer pilgrimage to Altötting, you walk from brewery to brewery and get to know beers from the Inn-Salzach region. The Beer Garden Tour, by contrast, is a 52.5-kilometre circular cultural theme tour. It passes through Altötting, Unterneukirchen, Mörmoosen, Tüßling, Polling, Mühldorf a. Inn, Erharting, Winhöring and Neuötting. These are two different ways to explore the region: a beer pilgrimage described as a walk, and a circular route with a set length and several specified towns. Check the dates of the beer pilgrimage and the opening hours of individual breweries before making plans.
Getting There and Choosing a Base
For getting to the region, the regional guide lists two connections: Inn-Salzach can be reached in about 45 minutes from Munich via the A94 motorway, or from Salzburg via the B20 federal highway. Actual journey times depend on traffic. The region is also connected to long-distance routes to Munich and Salzburg by hourly services; check the current timetable before travelling.
When looking for a holiday apartment, use your plans as a guide: would you like to make time for museums in Burghausen or Mühldorf, explore nature trails, visit Wöhrsee, or discover beer culture and the circular routes mentioned here? Decide which themes and places matter to you, then compare possible bases for your activities.
Discover more destinations: Haßberge, Neu-Ulm, Rosenheim, Upper Palatinate Forest, Munich, Tegernsee, Franconian Lake District, Passau.
To the main travel overview: Bavaria.
