Laufen’s historic Old Town lies on a peninsula in the Salzach river loop. The town offers a range of starting points for planning a trip: historic architecture, hiking trails with distinct profiles, and the Europasteg Bridge between Laufen and Oberndorf in Austria. If you’re looking for a hotel in Laufen, it helps to first decide what you want to focus on during your stay: culture, hiking, or a bike ride towards Salzburg.
Old Town and Collegiate Church
Among the Old Town’s special sights is the Old Town Hall with its Baroque façade. The Parish and Collegiate Church of the Assumption of Mary is a cultural highlight in its own right. It is considered the oldest Late Gothic hall church in southern Germany; its three naves of equal height are supported by massive pillars. The church and cloister contain nearly 200 marble epitaphs dating from the 14th to the early 19th century. The collection thus spans several centuries and adds a long historical perspective on funerary art to the architectural interest. The guided tour of the Parish and Collegiate Church concludes with a visit to the treasury. Check the tour schedule before your trip.
Hikes with different profiles
The Pilgrim Trail starts and ends at the Salzachhalle in Laufen, making it the fixed reference point for this route. The Artists’ Trail follows the Salzach riverside path downstream, goes around the Salzach loop to the Europasteg Bridge, and then returns to the starting point through the town park. Along the route are park benches dedicated to Laufen’s artists, with their artist names inscribed on them. The circular hike to Triebenbach Castle also starts and ends in Laufen. It is 11.8 kilometres long, takes 3.5 hours, and is rated easy. The route passes through lush riverside woodland along the Salzach; on the return to Laufen, it goes through glacial conglomerate rock.
The route details are useful in different ways when choosing a hike: the Salzachhalle is the named start and end point for the Pilgrim Trail, the course of the Artists’ Trail is described, and the loop to Triebenbach Castle can be assessed by its distance and duration. This lets you weigh up whether a fixed starting point, a described sequence of trails, or a specified time frame matters most for your hike.
Europasteg Bridge and cycling route to Salzburg
The Europasteg is a 131.2-metre-long bridge for pedestrians and cyclists. It connects Laufen and Oberndorf in Austria across the Salzach; the national border is marked on the bridge. Since 2006, it has once again connected Laufen’s lower town with Alt-Oberndorf at the original bridge site. For a bike ride from Laufen to Salzburg, you can follow the well-signposted Mozart Cycle Path for the entire route. The bridge crossing and the cycling route to Salzburg thus offer two different starting points for trip planning: a clearly identified crossing over the Salzach and a signposted route for the ride.
Discover more destinations: WeiĂźbach A.D.AlpenstraĂźe, Bad Reichenhall, Schneizlreuth, Ramsau Bei Berchtesgaden, Eck, Bischofswiesen, Berchtesgaden, Piding.
Return to the broader travel overview: Berchtesgadener Land.
