Hemmapilgerweg Route Sveta Ana, 7th stage: Friesach - Gurk

In Friesach, from the main square, we reach the elementary school via Langegasse. Passing the foot of Virgilienberg, we follow the Burgenweg to the right up to the ruins of Rotturm. Here you keep left and walk along a wide, steeply uphill farm road to Dörfl and further to a hill. This one is followed for a while towards the northwest, then turning left and going past Pirkerkogel to the Pirkerkreuz. Now we follow a forest path running directly west, about 100 m above the Fasch farm and the subsidiary church of St. Leonard up to the guesthouse Panoramablick (also called Ofner), which you reach after about 7 km (2 hours). Then we go downhill along the road to the Buschenschenke Spendier (also called Wieser). Shortly after, at a power pole, you turn sharply right, and after another 100 meters you turn left down a forest path into the Wildbachgraben. When you reach the valley floor, at a fork keep right and hike north of Galgenbichl through a nature reserve - passing some fish ponds - to Straßburg, where from the hilltop you can either go directly to the castle or down into the village. From Friesach to Straßburg, the described route takes 5.5 hours. Now we walk completely flat along a cycle path that runs parallel to the federal road, to Gurk, where after another 4 km and an hour's walk, we arrive, with the twin towers of Gurk Cathedral already visible from Straßburg. The total walking time for the section from Friesach to Gurk is 6.5 hours.