Kremstal Long-Distance Hiking Trail

Hiking trails are becoming increasingly popular with tourists © Donau NÖ/Gerald Lechner
Hiking trails are becoming increasingly popular with tourists © Donau NÖ/Gerald Lechner

The positive growth in hiking tourism should be combined with a bigger selection of routes to offer hikers greater choice. The planned project is intended to combine the municipalities of the extended Kremstal area into a new and uniform hiking network and connect them to the well-frequented “Wachau World Heritage Trail”.

The participating municipalities (to the north and south of the Danube) should be connected to each other by means of a new network of hiking trails. A total of 12 municipalities from 3 LEADER regions (Kamptal, Wachau-Dunkelsteinerwald, Donau NÖ-Mitte) are involved. For this reason, a cooperation project will be submitted.

Starting from the town of Krems, the following municipalities should be connected:

  • LEADER region Kamptal (8 municipalities): Senftenberg, Stratzing, Dross, Gföhl, Lengenfeld, Langenlois, Gedersdorf, Rohrendorf
  • LEADER region Wachau-Dunkelsteinerwald (2 municipalities): Krems (Krems-Angern), Mautern
  • LEADER region Donau NÖ-Mitte: Furth, Paudorf

The extended Kremstal area to the north and south of the Danube should be developed for hiking tourism. A dedicated hiking trail route or section to the nearest neighbouring municipality will be developed with each participating municipality. For this purpose, existing routes will be used and a route and signage concept created. The defined specifications for the standardised signage and guidelines for hiking trails (yellow signage) will be used; additional information boards will be installed to advertise points of interest along the routes, entry and exit points, as well as viewpoints and information points.

The defined trails will be surveyed and geocoded by means of a GPS system. The data and information obtained on the route’s course (length, trail quality, elevation profiles, etc.) will be integrated into the respective systems (website, app, tour planner) of the destination and of NÖ Werbung. In order to advertise the offer, a hiking map will be produced and a multi-day hiking package developed. The newly created hiking network and the bookable packages will be advertised and communicated on various online forums and platforms (for visitors with a specific interest in hiking and those with a general interest in travel). Furthermore, various publications (reports) will be placed in high-circulation media.

Online voting: 11.-18.04.2018
Project typ: cooperation project
Project promoter: Donau Niederösterreich Tourismus GmbH
Funding level: 70%
Project duration: 15.03.2018-31.12.2019
Supported by the federal province and the European Union (LEADER).