Discover Grieskirchen: Trails, Castles and Regional Culture

Grieskirchen combines a varied landscape with short and longer trails, important castle complexes, Renaissance art and regional culture. When choosing accommodation in Grieskirchen, you can therefore tailor your stay to suit different interests: walks and circular trails lead to castles and viewpoints, while museums, historic buildings, exhibitions and culinary offerings provide additional highlights.

Landscape between the Sauwald and Hausruck

The Grieskirchen district is situated between the foothills of the Sauwald and Hausruck forests, as well as between the Salletwald forest and the western edge of the Welser Heide. Between the Sauwald and Hausruck stretches a gently rolling, fertile hill country with wooded hilltops typical of this part of Upper Austria. The district’s highest elevation lies in the Hausruck at 750 metres.

A characteristic feature of the Landl region is the blossoming of numerous fruit trees in spring. Anyone wishing to view the landscape not only from close up but also from a ridge will find a suitable route at the St. Georgen Fruit Tree Avenue: it is 3 kilometres long and leads from Grieskirchen to St. Georgen bei Grieskirchen. Along the ridge, it offers views of the Trattnachtal valley and Tollet Castle.

Castle trails with different distances

Several signposted trails connect the local area, landscape and castle culture. The Schloss-Tollet Trail runs for 7 kilometres from the centre of Grieskirchen to Tollet Castle and back. The route is specified as taking approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes. The Schloss-Parz Trail is shorter at 4.4 kilometres and likewise runs from the centre to the respective castle and back.

A longer connection is provided by the 2-Castle Circular Trail. The 10.2-kilometre circular route leads from the centre of Grieskirchen along the Trattnach to Tollet Castle, continues to Landschloss Parz and the Schloss Parz Gallery, and then returns to the centre. The different route lengths help you choose a trail according to the time available and your preferred focus, without inferring any particular level of difficulty from the distance alone.

Renaissance art at Landschloss Parz

Landschloss Parz is one of the particularly prominent cultural destinations in the area surrounding Grieskirchen. The frescoes on the garden façade date from around 1580 and are considered a major work of Austrian and southern German Renaissance art. The exterior Renaissance frescoes are around 90 metres long and more than 10 metres high. They form the largest original-preserved cycle of exterior Renaissance frescoes north of the Alps.

The Renaissance garden at Landschloss Parz is also individually designed. It consists of terraces with octagonal beds enclosed by boxwood hedges and planted in different ways. The Schloss Parz Gallery regularly hosts exhibitions featuring works by local and international artists. This allows architecture, gardens and contemporary exhibitions to be combined during a stay in Grieskirchen.

Castles, museums and traces of history

The history of the region can be seen in several places. Until the acquisition of the Innviertel in 1779, the area of today’s Grieskirchen district was a border region. Because of this border location, the district has a particularly large number of castles and palaces. The first documented mention of the fortifications of Tollet Castle dates back to 1170.

Tollet Castle has housed the district heritage centre since 1980. A representative cross-section of the district’s cultural heritage was displayed there. The castle also houses the Upper Austrian Provincial Beekeeping Museum and a cartwright museum. The Kulturama Tollet Castle Museum primarily focuses on changing exhibitions covering a wide range of topics.

In Peuerbach, the castle museum was completely redesigned in 2023; the former Peasant War Museum no longer exists there. Since 2023, the exhibition “KOSMOS.New Worlds – Georg von Peuerbach and His Legacy” has continued at the castle museum. The Peuerbach Shoemaking and Customs Museum presents the traditional craft of shoemaking.

In Grieskirchen itself, the oldest documented mention of the parish church dates back to 1075. The church contains the tomb monument of Sigmund von Polheim and his wife Potentiana, which is considered an art-historical rarity from the 16th century. Gundaker von Polheim had the Karbrunnen fountain built in 1610; its octagonal basin holds 156 hectolitres of water.

Forest, walking trails and nature themes

Several themed trails are available for more peaceful activities. The Fit Trail in the municipality-owned Zehetholz forest consists of 12 stations. The forest information trail in Kickendorf has 12 information boards on topics relating to forests and trees. Both offerings combine exercise with specific stations or information about the surrounding natural environment.

Cycling and regional specialities

There is also a documented cycling connection through Grieskirchen: the Trattnachtal Cycle Route R17 runs via Grieskirchen to Eferding, where it connects to the Danube Cycle Path. The Grieskirchen 24-hour cycling marathon uses a 21.5-kilometre circuit. The range therefore extends from a regional cycle-route connection to an event with a significantly more athletic focus.

The Grieskirchen brewery is another part of the region’s culture. Brewery tours provide insights into everyday brewing and production and include tastings of various beer specialities. By telephone appointment, Braufux offers excursions with beer tasting and a snack.

Grieskirchen as a starting point for your planning

The location of the railway station is also relevant when planning the geography of your stay: Grieskirchen-Gallspach railway station is approximately 1 kilometre from the town of Grieskirchen. This places a range of sightseeing and recreational opportunities in the surrounding region, from the castle trails in the local area and the fruit tree avenue to museums and historic buildings. The accommodation that suits you depends on whether you want to focus primarily on trails, culture, cycling or culinary insights.

Other places in the regional overview

Other destinations at the same regional level include Wendling, Haag Am Hausruck, Perg, Kirchdorf An Der Krems, Vöcklabruck, Freistadt, Steyr-Land and Rohrbach.

For the overarching travel overview: Upper Austria.