Marktl: Nature on the Inn, Cycling Routes and Local History

Marktl combines nature on the Inn with four cycling routes and a distinctive local history. The Dachlwand nature reserve, the beekeeping educational trail, and memorials to Josef Ratzinger and the papal visit offer different ways to explore the town. When planning your stay, you can first decide whether cycling, landscape or history will be your main focus. These interests can also give your search for accommodation in Marktl a clear direction.

Nature and Cycling Routes on the Inn

The Dachlwand nature reserve on the Inn covers parts of Marktl, Erlbach and Perach. It covers about 206 hectares; in 1986, the area was upgraded from a landscape conservation area to a nature reserve. This means the stay’s nature theme includes a specifically named protected landscape on the Inn.

Another perspective is offered by the beekeeping educational trail in Marktl, which passes through an orchard meadow with more than 20 old apple and pear varieties. Nature options therefore include a nature reserve on the Inn and an orchard meadow with old varieties.

Marktl is a junction for the Inn Cycle Path, the Benedikt Cycle Path, the Traun-Alz Cycle Path and the Inn-Salzach Cycle Path. If you would like to dedicate your stay to cycling, you can plan around one of these four route names.

Local History and Memorials

A special historical landmark is the baptismal font in St. Oswald’s Church. Josef Ratzinger was baptized in it on April 16, 1927. Because of renovations, the font had to be removed from the church in 1965; on Easter Sunday 2006, it was once again used there as a baptismal font, as originally intended.

The Benedict Column in Marktl was erected on the occasion of the papal visit on September 11, 2006. It was designed by sculptor Joseph Michael Neustifter from Eggenfelden. A bronze plaque at the town hall commemorates the tenth anniversary of the visit with important historical dates.

On the twin towns’ square, a dove symbolizes peace and international understanding. It commemorates ten years of partnership with Wadowice, the birthplace of Pope John Paul II. The memorials have different emphases: the column and bronze plaque recall the visit of Benedict XVI, while the dove highlights peace and the partnership.

The wider destination of Altötting

Altötting offers a broader perspective on the landscape and regional themes as a wider destination. The district of Altötting lies along the Inn and Salzach rivers. The landscape is shaped by a plain about 10 kilometers wide, through which the Inn flows and which is bounded to the north and south by lush green hills. Together with the district of Mühldorf, the district of Altötting belongs to the Inn-Salzach tourism region. Visitor information for the region includes cycling and pilgrimage routes, museums and bathing lakes.

A popular variant of the Inn Cycle Path runs from Neuötting through Altötting and the extensive Ötting Forest to the ducal town of Burghausen, then past the confluence of the Inn and Salzach rivers to Marktl. The section in the Inn-Salzach region is just over 75 kilometers long. This offers a different perspective from Marktl’s status as a junction for four cycling routes: the regional section of the Inn Cycle Path.

The wider destination of Altötting also includes the internationally significant wetland and nature reserve “Lower Inn between Haiming and Neuhaus.” It provides a habitat for migrating, wintering and breeding marsh and water birds. More than 25 different bird species associated with aquatic and wetland habitats breed there.

Discover more destinations: Stammham, Tüßling, Haiming, Neuötting, Garching An Der Alz, Unterneukirchen, Altötting and Burghausen.

Back to the wider travel overview: Altötting.