Ascha: Orchard Educational Garden, Nature Trail and Village Chapels

Ascha can be explored through several clearly distinct local themes: the orchard educational garden, the nature trail for children, the chapel trail and the Church of the Assumption of Mary. The highlights range from local fruit varieties and the habitats of native animals and plants to village paths and late Baroque architecture. This breakdown can help you plan your trip by considering in advance whether nature education, a route through the village or a historic building should play the biggest role.

Orchard Educational Garden and Nature Trail

Ascha’s orchard educational garden is a visitor attraction where local fruit varieties are presented in an engaging way. The nature trail for children runs through the garden as a circular route. Around ten information panels explain the habitats of native animals and plants. The two themes come together in the same place but remain distinct: the garden presents fruit varieties, while the circular route focuses on the habitats of native species. This combines an engaging presentation of local fruit varieties with a trail whose panels draw attention to animal and plant habitats.

Chapel Trail and Late Baroque Parish Church

The Ascha chapel trail leads through picturesque corners of the village and to chapels in scenic locations. It offers a different focus from the circular route in the orchard educational garden: the emphasis is on the route through the village and the chapels in their scenic settings. The Church of the Assumption of Mary adds a historic building to these themes. It is a late Baroque structure dating from around 1720. Its style and approximate date offer architecture enthusiasts two concrete points of reference for placing it in its historical context. In Ascha, nature education, a village route and the history of a single building thus stand out as distinct themes for a stay.

More highlights in the Straubing-Bogen travel region

The wider Straubing-Bogen travel region offers further distinct themes. Bogenberg is one of Bavaria’s oldest Marian pilgrimage sites still active today. The annual Holzkirchen Candle Pilgrimage takes place at Pentecost at the pilgrimage church on Bogenberg. The Bogenberg District Museum explores the history of the Bavarian lozenges: from the Counts of Windberg-Bogen, through their use by the Wittelsbachs and in the Bavarian state coat of arms, to their role as a symbol of Bavaria. Groups of ten or more and school classes can book individually tailored guided tours around Bogenberg by telephone or in writing in advance, including outside opening hours.

In Windberg, the medieval monastery complex, including the basilica, prelature, magistrate’s house and craftsmen’s house, is largely preserved. The medieval village sits on a scenic hilltop at an altitude of 420 metres and offers panoramic views of the mountains of the Bavarian Forest, the Bogenbach Valley and the Danube Plain. At the Bavarian Forest Xperium, visitors can learn about natural phenomena and the natural sciences by trying things out for themselves at more than 100 experiment stations. Wiesenfelden offers another nature attraction at Beckenweiher: the accessible circular trail is 2.3 km long and suitable for pushchairs and wheelchairs. Five information points with benches and panels cover the pond’s wildlife and plant life, its protected status and its history; a 110 m-long nature observation boardwalk complements the trail.

Discover more destinations: Steinach, Stallwang, Windberg, Kirchroth, Mitterfels, Salching, Geiselhöring, Konzell

View the broader travel overview: Straubing-Bogen.