Gais between the Cultural Trail, Castle Ruins and the Ahr Landscape

Gais combines a themed cultural trail with castle ruins, paths along the Ahr and a bathing lake. This gives you a variety of starting points for a trip where history, landscape and activity come together. The character of the village is especially vivid where paths lead through woodland and the village, historic buildings come into view and the Ahr landscape provides the setting.

The Gais Cultural Trail leads through history and landscape

The Gais Cultural Trail begins at the entrance to the village of Gais, near the Sonne inn. As a themed hiking trail, it leads through the forest to Neuhaus Castle. The cultural trail is 2 kilometres long in total. At several points, it offers views of the unique Gais scree cone, the village with its Romanesque church and the hill opposite with the imposing Kehlburg ruins.

Works of art along the cultural trail pay tribute to the minnesinger Oswald von Wolkenstein, the American poet Ezra Pound, his daughter Mary de Rachewiltz and the Bacher artists. The trail thus combines experiences of nature with cultural points of reference, without requiring the historical and artistic themes to be considered separately.

Castle ruins around Gais

The Kehlburg ruins are located on the hill opposite the cultural trail. Kehlburg Castle was probably built at the beginning of the 12th century. Since a fire in 1944, it has increasingly fallen into disrepair. Another historic site is the Uttenheim Schlössl ruins. They are located in Uttenheim on a steeply sloping rocky ridge and belong to the municipality of Gais.

The Uttenheim Schlössl has been left to decay since the 17th century. Today, the ring wall, the largely collapsed three-storey palas, the Chapel of St Valentin and the keep still remain. The Maurachweg also passes the so-called Ölberg, which is characterised by a painting by Hartmann Polt. Such individual stops give walks and hikes in Gais a clear cultural focus.

Water, floodplains and routes for different day plans

The Waalweg begins at the parish church of Gais, crosses the Ahr Bridge and then continues between the houses in a north-easterly direction to the forest. From the Ahr Bridge, the walk takes around 20 minutes. The Ahrauen biotope is a protected landscape and can be explored along the Ahr Erlebnisweg. Both topics complement the historic trails with impressions of the river and floodplain landscape.

The Gais bathing lake, “Baggalocke”, is another accessible destination in Gais. The bathing lake is located near the cycle path and has a sunbathing lawn and a bar. The “Val Pusteria Cycle Path” passes the village of Gais. For a culture-focused stay, there is also the Fireman's Helmet Museum: visits are available daily throughout the year from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. by prior appointment.

More places for planning your trip

If you would like to include other destinations in your travel plans alongside Gais, you can then discover Toblach, Ahrntal, Percha, Olang, Sexten, Rasen-Antholz, Mühlen In Taufers and Mühlwald.

For the overarching travel overview: Puster Valley.