Stage 23 From Glacier to Wine South Route Variant Leutschach - Leibnitz

From Leutschach, the route first heads north, slightly uphill out of town, and then along the Eichbergbach stream towards Kreuzberg, where one of the most beautiful lookout points in the region is located. A short detour to the lookout point, which is not directly on the route, is definitely worthwhile. Just before the lookout point, in the area of the Reitermacher settlement, our hiking trail turns to the right in an easterly direction and soon reaches the Adam and Adam-Lieleg wineries. Here we keep to the left to continue north through pleasantly shaded woods and reach wineries such as that of Peter Skoff, the Trabos family or that of Hannes Sabathi, which lies only a few meters off the tour.

With a view of these beautifully situated vineyards and wineries, which invite you to stop and taste, our hike leads over the Sauberg towards Schönegg. At the end of the settlement, just before Rettenbach, we keep to the left to tackle a last, but very easy, ascent to the Seggauberg. On this beautiful hill to the west of the wine town of Leibnitz, you will find the Frauenberg Temple Museum, which is dedicated to the sanctuaries of the mountain and gives us an insight into over 6,500 years of settlement history in Styria. Just a short distance further on, Seggau Castle awaits us on the left, which houses a hotel as well as a beautiful wine cellar. The bishop's wine cellar, which is over 300 years old, is one of the oldest and largest in the country.

Our descent takes place along a fairly leisurely path that leads directly to Leibnitz with its charming main square just before the castle.

In Thermen- & Vulkanland Styria, Eastern Styria and Southern and Western Styria, the GenussCard opens the door to over 200 excursion destinations when you stay overnight in one of the approximately 100 Genusscard partner businesses. Countless of these Genusscard excursion destinations, ranging from culinary manufactories to bathing lakes and museums, are located directly on the hiking route "From Glacier to Wine".

In spring 2018, a jury and the readers of a major Austrian daily newspaper selected Martina Traisch from the Enns Valley and Manfred Polansky from the Mürz Valley as two "super hikers" who hiked the northern and southern routes in the summer. On www.steiermark.com/superwanderer you can read about their experiences and adventures: From ideal photo spots to hidden wine cellars in mountain huts. Do you want to follow in the footsteps of Martina and Manfred and also become a "super hiker"? It's easy: Register at www.steiermark.com/superwanderer and then post your experiences, videos and comments along the hiking route "From Glacier to Wine" - regardless of whether you hike the entire route or just one section. Every 5 stages also beckons a small reward!

Accessible by train and bus: detailed information about arriving by ÖBB (Austrian Federal Railways) can be found at www.oebb.at or on the Verbundlinie Steiermark website www.busbahnbim.at

With Verbundlinie’s BusBahnBim route planner app, planning your journey has never been easier: simply enter towns and/or addresses, stop names or points of interest to check all bus, train and tram connections in Austria. The app is available free of charge for smartphones – on Google Play and in the App Store

Kompass WK224 Steirisches Weinland- Stainz, Sausal, Sulmtal, Leibnitz www.kompass.at

Freytag & Berndt WK411 Steirisches Weinland · Südwest Steiermark www.freytagberndt.at