Discover Schönbach

Schönbach combines hiking trails and rocky landscapes with traditional crafts, museums and the pilgrimage site of Maria Rast. If you’re looking for a hotel in Schönbach, it helps to first decide what you’d like to focus on during your trip: hiking, nature or culture. The local trails and sights offer practical pointers to help you choose.

Hiking trails and landscapes around Schönbach

The well-marked hiking trails around Schönbach lead past cup-marked stones and impressive rock formations. Schönbach lies right in the headwaters of the Kleine Kamp. When choosing a hike, you can therefore take in both distinctive rock formations and a clearly defined landscape feature.

The Hieronymus Trail starts at the Wurzelsepp information point in Schönbach. It is 10.9 kilometres long, with a stated walking time of three hours. This gives you a specific starting point, distance and time estimate to help plan your hike.

Another hike passes through the typical landscapes of the Waldviertel, by numerous isolated farms such as Vogelwaidhof, and ends at the Maria Rast pilgrimage church in Schönbach. The route description includes the landscape, the farms along the way and the church as its destination.

A trail that is especially interesting for children leads through picturesque forests and lush meadows. It passes a fishpond and an enclosure with domestic animals, then follows interesting granite formations back to Schönbach. Forests, meadows, water, animals and granite are all features of the route.

The Lohnbachfall Trail leads through the impressive Lohnbach Gorge to the “Steinernes Bründl”. The Lohnbachfall itself is a natural monument in the “Waldviertel Ponds, Moors and Heathlands” European protected area. The trail and the waterfall offer different points of interest for anyone keen to explore nature around Schönbach.

Crafts, museums and local traditions

The Schönbach Monastery School Workshops are located in the former monastery in Schönbach. Guided tours explain and demonstrate basket making and soap making. The setting in the former monastery and the two crafts on display make this part of Schönbach interesting for travellers who want to learn about traditional work.

The interactive museum showcases traditional crafts at several stations: spinning, weaving, the use of flax, making roof shingles and woodturning. The topics range from textile work and flax to shingles and turned wood. The focus is not on just one object, but on a variety of different craft techniques.

The Schönbach Laundry Care Museum displays wooden washing machines and irons from the previous century. These historic everyday objects add laundry care and the tools used for it to the picture of traditional crafts.

The monastery courtyard is used, among other things, for the traditional Kriecherlkirtag festival. If the festival matters for your travel dates, check the event schedule as you plan your trip. The beach volleyball court in Schönbach is open to the public and offers another specific option for your stay.

Maria Rast and the pilgrimage

The statue of grace “Maria Rast” is the true focal point of the church and the pilgrimage. The pilgrimage to “Our Lady of Maria Rast” was first mentioned in 1421. The pilgrimage church also has three Gothic winged altars. Maria Rast therefore brings together a historic pilgrimage, its central statue of grace and the church’s furnishings.

For your trip, you can choose between nature trails with a variety of landscape features and cultural destinations focused on crafts, museums and pilgrimage. Find hotels in Schönbach to suit the focus you want for your stay.

Discover more destinations: Gutenbrunn, Arbesbach, Bernreith, Bärnkopf, Bad Traunstein, Schloss Rosenau, Rappottenstein, Kottes

Go to the regional travel overview: Zwettl.