Pilgrim walks in Melk

The section of the Austrian Way of St. James between Melk and Persenbeug is not only a popular pilgrimage route but also an insider tip for pleasure hikers.

The Wachau Way of St. James between Göttweig and Melk Abbeys is a 49 km long spiritual journey on foot.

The section from Maria Langegg to the baroque Benedictine Melk Abbey is considered one of the great highlights of the pilgrimage route.

The 24-kilometre first stage of the Way of St. James from Melk to Linz leads us from Melk Abbey along the banks of the Danube, through the UNESCO World Heritage Site Wachau and via the idyllic villages of Leiben and Artstetten with their castles and churches to Maria Taferl. The most famous place of pilgrimage in Lower Austria not only boasts a pilgrimage basilica of the same name (Maria Taferl pilgrimage basilica, since 1947 Basilica minor = honorary title awarded by the Pope to important church buildings), but also a magnificent view of the Danube and an impressive panoramic view of the Danube valley and the Ötscher in the distance.

The section of the Way of St. James on the Danube begins in the Vienna Woods town of Purkersdorf to the west of Vienna and leads through the Vienna Woods via Herzogenburg, Göttweig and Melk to the famous pilgrimage site of Maria Taferl.

Der Jakobsweg Donau Niederösterreich: 205 km von Wolfsthal nach Maria Tafel

Streckenverlauf: Maria Langegg - Aggsbach-Dorf - Wolfstein - Gerolding - Schönbühel an der Donau - Pielachberg - Spielberg - Melk - Sankt Georgen - Leiben

Short portion