Falkenstein pilgrim path from St. Gilgen to St. Wolfgang

The way starts at St. Gilgen's bus station and the car park beside it, and crosses the town to the lake. A lakeside path leads east past Gasthof Fürberg; beyond Fürberg a lane, a gravel track and a path climb through the wood to the Falkenstein church, a small white church built against the rock face. From the church the path crosses the ridge and drops to Ried above the lake, then lanes and village streets lead up into St. Wolfgang and its pilgrimage church. Signed points of interest along the way tell the story of the pilgrimage; the tourism page counts 24.

It is 9.5 km one way with 344 m of ascent; allow about 3 hours 20 minutes. The grade is Moderate: the climb of about 200 m to the Falkenstein is steep, with 400 m of it marked mountain hiking (SAC T2) in OpenStreetMap, and the descent is steep too; the rest is lake path, lanes and streets, and about a third of the line is on roads. The tourism page gives the way as 8.9 km and about 3 hours.

The tourism page for the longer Weg der Wallfahrer (17.4 km) says the lakeside promenade is cut out of the rock in places and secured with railings, and asks for care in wet conditions; it calls the circular path to the Wedding Cross and the Ox Cross narrow and exposed, needing sure-footedness and a head for heights, and the Scheffelblick path narrow, and the turn-off to the Aberseeblick exposed. None of these side paths is on this line.

St. Gilgen's bus station and a multi-storey car park (OpenStreetMap tags it as charged, free for stays under 4 hours) are at the start. The way ends in St. Wolfgang, where the lake boats call: the boat operator's page lists stops at St. Gilgen, Fürberg, Ried Falkenstein and St. Wolfgang, with daily autumn sailings in its 2026 timetable to 1 November.

Route drawn by Global Adventurer along OpenStreetMap paths (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), with figures worked out from it. Check the forecast and the ground on the day: paths change.