Short info:
- What is the Mendlingtal world of experience? You walk through a wild and romantic gorge, mostly on wooden paths.
- Where is it? Address: Lassing 19, 3345 Göstling an der Ybbs (in the Mostviertel)
- When is the valley open? You can find the opening times here (approx. 1 May to 31 October, daily 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.)
- How much does the entrance fee cost? Here you can find the entrance fees. One entry is free with the Lower Austria Card.
- Is the valley suitable for children? Yes, the paths are very well secured.
- Is the route suitable for prams or wheelchairs? No, there are some stairs and bottlenecks.
- How much time should I schedule? The walking time is about 2 hours with a path length of 3.5 km. This can vary a lot, depending on whether you are traveling with children. You can find our testimonial below.
- How difficult is the hike? easy
General
The Mendlingtal World of Adventure is a very popular hike for young and old. You walk about 3.5 kilometers through a wildly romantic gorge along a stream. Most of the time it goes along a wooden path, you keep changing banks over wooden bridges.
Why adventure world? Here you will find one of the last functioning timber drift plants in Central Europe, a journeyman’s house, a Venetian plank saw, an old grain mill and finally a fish farm. During our walk we could also see a number of children throwing stones into the river or just having fun on the wooden path. You can find our field report here.
Arrival
We park at parking lot 1, past the village pond in Lassing, directly at the entrance to the Mendlingtal. If this parking lot is full, you can also park a few 100 m before at parking lot 2. At the entrance to the forest there is a toilet, vending machine and information boards.
The tour
Our tour starts at 10:00 am. It goes through the forest along a fairly wide forest path. There are always information boards along the way, where the different types of wood in the forest are described.
After about 10 minutes, the forest path changes into steps. It now goes down dozens of steps into the valley. We need about 15 minutes from the parking lot to the entrance of the Mendlingtal. There we learn that the valley emerged as the state winner of the television show “nine places nine treasures” in 2014.
World of Adventure Mendlingtal (Erlebniswelt Mendlingtal)
In 2022, admission for adults cost €9, with the Niederösterreich Card one entry is free. Right at the beginning at cash desk 1, the museum is in the old journeyman’s house with its original “smoke room” and in the photo documentation set up opposite it, which recreates the living conditions of the journeyman blacksmiths and woodcutters. But we hardly find time for a visit, as our three-year-old walks purposefully towards the playground.
Right next to it is the old forge and a plank saw from 1907. In the 15th century, attempts were made to saw logs from water power in the Venice area for the first time. Hence the name Venetian saw. One of the most prominent designers of a plank saw was Leonardo da Vinci.
The hike
At 11:00 a.m. we finally continue our hike. It begins at the beautiful Mendling-Hammer weir. From this hermitage (a weir that was built to dam up water for rafting) leads to the old saw. Since 2002, the old Venetian saw has been operated with water power from this Ware plant.
Now we continue along a beautiful wooden path, over numerous bridges and footbridges. We only make very slow progress, as our offspring always finds time to throw stones into the river. The path is safe for children, but not suitable for prams. It now goes past winding streams through the beautiful alluvial forest.
We continue past the timber drift facility, at 11:30 we reach the Klaushütte, where you can rest but not buy anything. We continue along the creek again. Over footbridges and bridges one changes again and again from one riverbank to the other. Anyway, the view is spectacular.
The rebuilt Mendlingbach Klause dams up a small drift lake, the backwater of which is needed for the timber drift.
At 12 o’clock we reach one of the most beautiful places on this hike. Over wooden bridges you walk between the rock walls above the river.
Shortly afterwards we reach the Grossegger Mühle.
At 12:20 p.m. we reach the fish pond with various farmed fish, such as sturgeon, char or rainbow trout. There are also automatic feeders, costing 20 or 50 cents for a handful.
At 12:30 p.m. we finally leave the Mendlingtal and stop off at the Herrenhaus snack bar (of course you are allowed back in the valley if you dicide to walk back). Now that we really feel like eating fish, we order a whole trout. This comes with a side salad. For dessert we treat ourselves to an apple strudel. Our offspring are now busy on the spacious playground.
Tip: With the bill we order a taxi that will take us back to parking lot 1. This costs €5 per person and €2.50 for children. It’s just too far to walk back with our little one.
At 2:00 p.m. we are back at the parking lot (so it took us 4 hours in total)
Conclusion
We can wholeheartedly recommend this hike for young and old, regardless of whether you only do one way or the complete “round”. In any case, you don’t need a special condition. You can make the way there and back in 2 hours, but only if you are traveling without children and do not take longer breaks. We recommend planning at least 3-4 hours for this beautiful valley.
