Winklern combines distinctive architectural history with two different hiking options: the Toll Tower stands in the town center, a trail follows easy paths along the Möll River, and the Winklerner Alm is a high-altitude hiking trail in Hohe Tauern National Park. This lets you choose culture, river scenery and a hike with a specified walking time as different highlights of your stay.

Toll Tower and Crystal Exhibition

The late Romanesque or early Gothic Toll Tower stands in the town center of Winklern. Over the course of its history, it was used mainly as a grain store and residential tower; it was first mentioned in a document in the 14th century. As part of the 2004 Carinthian State Exhibition “Water-Gold,” the tower was enclosed in the “Tauernwurm,” a wood-and-steel structure, making it accessible both inside and out.

The Toll Tower Crystal Exhibition includes the largest calcite crystal in the Eastern Alps: a mother-of-pearl-white crystal weighing more than 45 kilograms, from the Reißeck Group. The exhibition also displays crystals from the southern Hohe Tauern. The names of their discovery sites link the specimens to local valleys and peaks. Individual exhibits may change. The exhibition is not accessible to people with limited mobility, as there are numerous steps leading up through the Toll Tower. Check accessibility before your visit if this is important for your plans. The exhibition offers a view ranging from an individual calcite crystal to a regional perspective: the discovery-site names connect other crystals with local valleys and peaks in the southern Hohe Tauern.

Churches and Architectural History

Winklern Parish Church is late Gothic and dates from the 15th and 16th centuries; it was remodeled and expanded around 1800. Its artworks include a fresco of Saint Christopher from 1470. Penzelberg Branch Church is located above the village of Winklern at an altitude of 1,375 meters. According to the inscriptions on the triumphal arch and above the gallery, the present building was constructed in 1765. The comparison distinguishes a remodeled late Gothic parish church from a present-day church building dated to 1765.

Hiking Trails and Planning Your Time

The Cultural Landscape Trail follows easy paths along the Möll River. The Winklerner Alm family hiking trail is a high-altitude trail in the heart of Hohe Tauern National Park and covers around 2,000 meters of elevation gain. The walk there and back takes about four hours. Easy paths are the focus along the Möll River; for the hike to the Alm, you can plan for a specific time frame based on the stated walking time.

Getting Around in Winter

In winter, there is a free ski bus from Winklern to Heiligenblut or to Zettersfeld in East Tyrol. Check the current timetable before making plans. This lets you take the seasonal connection into account without treating it as a year-round service.

Discover more destinations: Sankt Oswald, Berg Im Drautal, Kleblach Lind, Maltaberg, Greifenburg, Görtschach, Flattach, Rennweg Am Katschberg.

Go to the main travel overview: Spittal An Der Drau.