Embach has many different sides, from its history of pilgrimage and hiking opportunities to winter sports. When planning your visit, it is worth choosing activities based on your interests and ability: the trails range from leisurely full-day tours to challenging summit hikes, while Maria Elend is a special destination for pilgrims.
Pilgrimage and History in Embach
The Maria Elend pilgrimage chapel is considered one of the oldest pilgrimage sites in the Pinzgau region. Next to the chapel is the AugenbrĂĽndl spring, where pilgrims wash their eyes. Maria Elend is about a 30-minute walk from Embach. If you are interested in the chapel, you can allow roughly that much time for the walk; a mountain biking trail to the Kapeller Alm also passes directly by Maria Elend.
The Embach parish church offers another perspective on the area’s religious history. Its history dates back to an original Romanesque church built in the village in the 11th century. In the 14th century, a new church was built in the Gothic style. From 1784 to 1786, it was enlarged again and redesigned in the neoclassical style. Since then, the parish church has also housed the original miraculous image of Maria Elend. Its successive building phases make the church a destination in its own right for those interested in culture, alongside the pilgrimage chapel.
The Archdiocese of Salzburg’s Spiritual Centre Embach offers meditation, fasting, spiritual guidance and personal development, among other activities. This is separate from the Room of Silence in a former stable building, which is open to everyone.
Hiking, Cycling and Horse Riding
The Embach circular hiking trails offer a variety of routes to choose from: leisurely full-day tours, challenging alpine pasture routes and demanding summit hikes. These descriptions help you choose a hike to suit your day without suggesting that all trails are equally demanding. The Tauern Cycle Path runs not far from Embach. For mountain bikers, the trail to the Kapeller Alm passes directly by Maria Elend.
Horse riding is another activity on offer in Embach, including rides and riding lessons for beginners and advanced riders. For a creative change of pace, visitors can make their own small works at the Weissacher family’s pottery studio. Seminar farmer Erika Schwab-Röck invites visitors to bake bread together in Embach. The Hoadabauer’s herb garden is open to everyone.
Choose Winter Activities to Suit Your Interests
The ski area in Embach has two pistes, a drag lift and a beginners’ lift. The Hörndllift in Embach is especially suited to beginners, returning skiers and families. For cross-country skiers, the high-altitude trail offers another option: at over 1,000 metres above sea level, it runs for ten kilometres through idyllic winter scenery and is suitable for beginners and advanced skiers alike. The official starting point of the Embach cross-country trail is in the village centre.
This makes it easy to choose winter activities based on the sport and your experience level: pistes and lifts are complemented by a longer cross-country trail, with its route and intended users providing additional guidance. Outside winter, hiking trails, horse riding and creative activities offer further options when choosing how to spend your stay. Embach may appeal to pilgrims and those interested in culture, as well as travellers who would rather spend their time hiking, cycling or enjoying winter sports.
Discover more destinations: Erlberg, Grubing, Aisdorf, Reitlehen, Gföll, Vorderglemm, Saalfelden Am Steinernen Meer, Berg.
Go to the main travel overview: Zell Am See.
