Kößlarn combines a network of marked hiking trails with a striking fortified church and a long-standing traditional event. In the Grafenwald forest, trails range from walks to longer circular hikes; Kößlarn’s fortified church and the Silver Madonna add cultural highlights. When planning your stay, you can focus on different themes: trails and natural formations or cultural history. There is also the annual Harvest Festival in September.

Hiking in the Grafenwald Forest

The Grafenwald hiking area in Kößlarn has an extensive network of marked trails for walks and longer circular hikes. Information boards in the market square and at the car park in the Grafenwald forest show the exact routes. Use the boards to choose whether a walk or a longer circular hike better suits your day.

The Stone Horse (Steinernes Rössl) lies along the Notzart-Freinberg circular trail in the Grafenwald hiking area: an upright rock slab whose shape resembles a reclining horse. The rock garden is another natural attraction. It is a natural monument in the Loher Graben, where bizarre boulders lie along a steep stream channel running downhill. The two sites showcase different rock formations within the hiking area.

The Via Nova pilgrimage route also passes through Kößlarn: it runs via Bad Griesbach to Kößlarn and from there via Ebertsfelden through the Grafenwald forest to Münchham, continuing via St. Anna to Ering. If you include this route in your plans, check the current route beforehand.

Culture and Events in Kößlarn

Kößlarn’s fortified church is the only complete complex of its kind in Old Bavaria. The Silver Madonna is considered a unique work of outstanding material and cultural significance in the Diocese of Passau. A recurring event is the Harvest Festival, which has been held for more than 300 years and takes place every year on the second Sunday in September. If you plan to time your trip around the festival, check the specific event dates in advance.

Culture in the Wider Passau Travel Region

In Tittling, within the wider Passau travel region, you’ll find the Bavarian Forest Open-Air Museum. It is one of Europe’s largest open-air museums. Covering 20 hectares, it allows visitors to explore more than 100 residential and farm buildings from the Bavarian Forest dating from 1580 to 1890. The museum village includes farmhouses, mills, sawmills, smithies, chapels and field monuments. The complex also includes Germany’s oldest primary school, dating from 1666. This offers a way to broaden your view of historic buildings beyond Kößlarn’s fortified church to include an extensive museum landscape in the wider Passau travel region.

The wider Passau travel region’s landscape and thermal attractions are also located elsewhere. The Passau Land region is shaped by rivers, forests and thermal baths; widely known thermal springs are found in Bad Füssing and Bad Griesbach. The Haus am Strom Nature Experience Centre is located in the Danube’s narrow valley between Bavaria and Austria, downstream from Untergriesbach. These regional themes complement Kößlarn’s hiking trails and culture with other distinct places in the Passau travel region.

Discover more destinations: Ortenburg, Tettenweis, Hutthurm, Hauzenberg, Ruhstorf, Fürstenzell, Witzmannsberg, Vilshofen An Der Donau

Back to the overview of the wider travel region: Passau.