Bad Kötzting: Pentecost Ride, Spa Park and AQACUR

Bad Kötzting combines a distinctive Pentecost tradition with excursions and exhibitions that appeal to a wide range of interests. The spa park is the largest park in the Upper Palatinate. Other highlights include the history of the Kötzting Pentecost Ride, hiking trails, AQACUR water park and exhibitions ranging from regional traditions to satellite navigation. When planning your trip, it’s worth first considering which of these sides of the town you want to shape your stay.

The Pentecost Ride and the fortified church

The Kötzting Pentecost Ride is one of Europe’s largest mounted petitionary processions and dates back to a vow made in 1412. Every year on Whit Monday, around 700 riders on decorated horses, dressed in traditional costumes, ride in prayer through the Zellertal valley to Steinbühl. The custom was added to Bavaria’s State Register of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2015. If you want to make the Pentecost Ride the focus of your trip, plan around Whit Monday and check the specific event dates.

The Pentecost Ride Museum in Bad Kötzting’s fortified church explores the nearly 600-year history of the riders’ pilgrimage and the symbolic Pentecost wedding that follows it. Historical objects and an extensive collection of materials bring these subjects to life. The museum’s location also tells a story of several historical layers: the fortified church is a late medieval defensive complex with a cemetery, church and castle. In this way, local custom, historical evidence and architectural history offer different ways to explore Bad Kötzting’s culture, all side by side.

Spa park, hiking trails and water park

The spa park offers a different focus from the historical attractions. The starting point for Bad Kötzting’s hiking trails is at the Ludwigstraße car park by the spa park. Orientation and information boards there provide details about hiking and themed trails. This gives you a specific starting point if you’d like to add a hike to your stay; you can choose a trail or theme using the boards.

For exercise in the water, AQACUR water park has a 25-metre sports pool. The sauna complex offers a separate focus, with a vitality sauna, steam sauna, Finnish sauna, herbal sauna, Banja log cabin sauna and crystal sauna, as well as a brine steam bath and a graduation tower. A whirlpool, refreshing and foot baths, an ice fountain, a sauna garden, relaxation rooms and a fireplace round out the facilities. The sports pool and sauna complex suit different preferences—from swimming to a more restful break.

Exhibitions from space to navigation

The “Fascination of the Universe” exhibition spans two floors. Large-format images, films and exhibits take visitors on a journey through the universe. By contrast, “Satellite Geodesy and Navigation” focuses on technological development: the exhibition traces the path from the American NNSS of the 1960s through GPS to Europe’s GALILEO. Both subjects go beyond the town itself, but take clearly different approaches: one focuses on the universe, the other on the development of satellite navigation systems.

Regional cycling routes and trip ideas

In the wider area around Bad Kötzting, the Upper Bavarian Forest Nature Park offers more than 30 cycling routes. They provide an opportunity to get to know the region, its people, culture and customs. As route offerings can change, check what is currently available if cycling is an important part of your plans.

If you’d like to combine several highlights, you can start by deciding which dates or themes matter most for your trip. For the Bad Kötzting Forest Theatre Festival, literary classics are adapted into the Bavarian dialect, bringing them to a wide audience; individual productions and dates are seasonal. So check the relevant production and event dates if dialect theatre is part of your travel plans.

Discover more destinations

Discover more destinations: Michelsneukirchen, Hohenwarth, Arnschwang, Rimbach, Grafenwiesen, Roding, Neukirchen Heiligblut, Arrach.

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