St. Michael circular route

Opis

Starting from the well-known wine-growing town of Spitz, we begin our seven-km-long hike through the wine-growing town of Spitz. We walk through the famous vineyards already within the town (Pluris, Achspoint, Singerriedel) down to the legendary "Red Gate" into the Miesling Valley. From there, it goes through beautiful natural oak and hornbeam forests to bizarre rock formations with rustic old pines (partly deadwood) over the Michaelerberg to the old fortified church and Wachau original parish of St. Michael and along the Danube back to Spitz.

The Michaelerberg holds a special surprise for us: a beautiful, gently sloping dry grassland that offers a habitat to unique plant and animal species. Now it goes past blackthorn, downy oaks, and acacias to the old fortified church and Wachau original parish of St. Michael and along the Danube back to Spitz.

Počiatočný bod túry

Spitz, ferry or church square

Cieľový bod túry

Spitz, ferry or church square

Opis trasy St. Michael circular route

Up to a trail junction above St. Michael, we follow the long-distance trail Welterbesteig Wachau (color marking white "W"). From the Spitz ferry, we cross the B3 and head north to the church square with the late Gothic Mauritiuskirche. We cross the church square, leaving the church on the right, continuing past the school. Before the school, we turn right and follow a small street straight uphill, passing winegrowers' houses up to the already visible legendary "Red Gate." There, we can enjoy the splendid view of the opposite Tausendeimerberg and Spitz from one of the benches. Then we go under the "Red Gate" and immediately afterwards turn right down to the Miesling Valley (261m).

We cross the Miesling stream via a small wooden bridge. Then we turn right and follow the Miesling stream for a short distance, then after 150 m turn left onto a forest road. We hike this road in switchbacks uphill to the "Buschandlwand Intersection," where the path to St. Michael branches off to the right onto a forest trail. We leave this trail after a few hundred meters where it leads left into a small path uphill, where after a few meters a small cave is located to the right of the path. We continue hiking through a natural beech mixed forest, past bizarre rock formations, where on the left an old pine with a stamp box is located. Through an untouched oak and hornbeam forest, we reach rustic rock formations again, from which we can enjoy wonderful views of the Danube. Soon we go gently downhill and reach the species-rich natural monument dry grassland Michaelerberg (392m). The dry grassland is bordered by blackthorn and downy oaks and provides a unique home to plant and animal species. Here we leave the Welterbesteig Wachau and continue straight downhill towards St. Michael.

Wonderful views of the Danube and the right Danube bank with the villages of Hof-, Mitter-, and Bacharnsdorf invite us to take a break to soak in the calming atmosphere of nature. Many different bird species (nuthatch, various woodpeckers, jay, birds of prey) can be observed or heard. We now follow the small footpath downhill (Note: surefootedness is absolutely necessary on the short steeper section! Especially slippery when wet!), past blackthorn and acacias until a small rest area with benches invites to snack just above St. Michael – with a view of the old fortified church of St. Michael and the wine terraces towards Weißenkirchen. Here are small, steep dry grassland islands with beautiful flowers.

Soon after, the path leads down to the right, we cross the tracks of the Wachau railway and go through a narrow alley into the small village of St. Michael and see the old fortified church on the right. We go to the main road B3, cross it, and go right down the steps to the towpath next to the Danube. We now follow this path always parallel to the river back to the ferry to Spitz.