Stories

When summer hasn't quite said goodbye.

In Lunz, September refuses to settle on a single season. In the morning, a faint mist lies over the lake, as though the night forgot to take it with it. By midday, the air still remembers summer – golden and full. And only once evening settles over the mountain ridges do you sense what the coming weeks will bring. For four days, you get to stay in the best of both worlds.

SUNDAY: Arriving

The road here shows the first flecks of colour on the trees. Exhale. The suitcase stays where it lands – there'll be time for that later. Glass in hand, the first steps lead out onto the terrace. The Ybbs tells of hushed summer evenings and easy nights. A short stroll, perhaps?

For those who'd rather watch the lake from the water than swim through it, the Bootsvermietung Leichtfried rents rowing, pedal, or electric boats to drift across the mirrored surface. Toward evening, as the light slowly turns to gold, a spot on the shore is worth claiming – for the week's first sunset.

MONDAY: In the Footsteps of the Blacksmiths

Fortified by a good breakfast, the day leads to Ybbsitz, where ironworking has shaped the town for centuries. The Schmiedemeile trail begins at FeRRUM – Welt des Eisens, right in the town centre, tracing eight stations through the history of the blacksmiths and grinders.

A highlight is the Fahrngruber Hammer, a hook-forge dating back to the 16th century, where blacksmithing demonstrations take place – visitors are welcome to try the anvil themselves. At the end of the trail waits one of the town's last surviving historic hammer mills. 7.98 kilometres, 261 metres of elevation, moderate difficulty – a day with a bit more walking, but one that rewards the journey between fire and iron.

TUESDAY: Along the Water

From the former inn Kögerlwirt, the themed trail “Die Kraft des Wassers” (The Power of Water) leads into the Steinbachtal near Göstling an der Ybbs – on asphalt, gravel paths, and wooden walkways. It's even stroller-friendly, and at around ninety minutes, manageable for less practised walkers too. The path passes a historic turbine, the resting spot by the old Vorderhammer forge, and finally the “Noth” gorge – a narrow, cool natural monument crossed by slender wooden walkways above rushing water.

Those wanting more can continue on to the Rothschild woodcutters' settlement and the old aqueducts of the Vienna high-spring water pipeline: quiet structures from a time when this valley's water flowed all the way to the capital.

WEDNESDAY: Into the Moor

Before the goodbyes draw near, the last path leads via Göstling an der Ybbs up to the Leckermoos high moor – a quiet, 25-hectare wetland in the high valley, carefully renaturalised in the early 2000s. A loop trail with eleven stations tells the story of the moor's formation and its rare plant and animal communities, passing the dark “Moorauge” (moor's eye) at the heart of the wetland. The trail takes only about 45 minutes, is easy and stroller-friendly – a quietly mysterious morning to close things out, before thoughts already start turning toward the journey home.

Toward evening, it's back to Refugium Lunz.

One Table. One Meal. Wednesday evenings at Refugium Lunz belong to the shared table. Across several courses, we bring you what the region and the season have to offer – sometimes with a glimpse into the kitchen before it's served. An evening for sharing – the courses, the conversation, the time.