Sand in Taufers: Waterfalls, Castle and South Tyrolean Culture

Waterfalls and Trails in the Nature Park

The three Reinbach Waterfalls are located in the Rieserferner-Ahrn Nature Park and form cascades ranging from ten to forty metres in height. From the starting point at Bad Winkel, the first Reinbach Waterfall is about a 20-minute walk away. The section along the forest road and St Francis Way is suitable for pushchairs and has an elevation gain of 40 metres.

For a visit to the first waterfall with a pushchair, allow about a 20-minute walk from Bad Winkel, an elevation gain of 40 metres, and a route along the forest road and St Francis Way.

The Tauferer Knights’ Trail passes the Reinbach Waterfalls on its way to Taufers Castle and then continues back to Sand in Taufers.

Taufers Castle and Historic Rooms

Taufers Castle was once the dynastic fortress of the baronial Taufers family of the same name. At Taufers Castle, visitors can access the gate complex with its former drawbridges, the castle garden and the large inner courtyard with a smithy and an ice cellar. More than twenty furnished rooms are on display at Taufers Castle. These include the courtroom, library, chapel, knights’ hall, sickroom, late Gothic office, haunted room, armoury and cardinal’s room.

Nature Park House, Museums and Church

The Rieserferner-Ahrn Nature Park House presents various exhibitions about the park’s special features. It also offers audiovisual impressions of life in the park, a film from an eagle’s perspective, and a relief model featuring mountains, huts and trails. The Rieserferner-Ahrn Nature Park House is a one-minute walk from the bus station in Sand in Taufers.

The Mineralis Mineral Museum in Sand in Taufers displays minerals from the Tauferer Ahrntal valley. At the Sheep Wool Museum in Sand in Taufers, visitors can see how various garments and everyday objects are made from sheep’s wool using traditional techniques. The Taufers Parish Museum can only be accessed as part of a guided tour.

Access arrangements differ between the attractions: the Parish Museum can only be visited as part of a guided tour, while the gate complex, castle garden and inner courtyard at Taufers Castle are accessible.

The Parish Church of the Assumption of Mary in Sand in Taufers was built at the beginning of the 16th century. Despite later alterations, its Gothic interior has been preserved. The Krampus procession in Sand in Taufers is a long-standing tradition and also an event featuring well over 400 Krampuses wearing hand-carved masks.

South Tyrolean Specialities and Unique Experiences

The Tauferer Street Kitchen takes place every Tuesday evening from mid-July to the end of August and offers South Tyrolean specialities in the open air. The Sand in Taufers Cheese Festival takes place every two years as a gourmet market, trade fair and culinary event featuring cheese tastings.

Regional specialities therefore follow two different schedules: a weekly summer evening of street food and a cheese festival held every two years.

The Fly-Line Waterfall starts slightly above the third waterfall and descends in tight and wide bends through the forest and alongside the waterfalls to the first waterfall.

Other places in the same area include Rasen-Antholz, Niederdorf, Welsberg-Taisten, Olang, Wengen, Issing, Kolfuschg and Abtei.

Back to the higher-level travel overview: Pustertal.