3. Etappe - Vilshofen bis Braunau

From Vilshofen, we head south-east towards Ortenburg. We are in the Bavarian Klosterwinkel, also known as Lower Bavarian Tuscany. The route leads through slightly hilly terrain, and there is even a short, steep ascent before St. Wolfgang near Weng. You cross the Bavarian spa triangle and finally reach the Inn, where there are excellently developed and equipped cycle paths. From Vilshofen's town square, we cycle to the Vilsbrücke bridge, where there is a beautiful view of the town, and then straight on through the Vilsvorstadt district. After the railway subway, we keep left towards Ortenburg. The road climbs gently to Zeitlarn, where we turn right immediately after the bus shelter to reach the Wolfach cycle path, which we follow to Ortenburg.
Ortenburg is known as a Protestant enclave in the middle of deeply Catholic Lower Bavaria.
At Ortenburg's market square, the path branches off to the west towards Parschalling, via which we reach the PA 28 road and, just after Parschalling, reach the pilgrimage site of Sammarei, which is well worth seeing.
Continue along the village road and then back on the PA 75 to Sachsenham. Not far from Haarbach, the PA 75 joins the PA 78 to the right. Keeping straight ahead on this road, you pass several small villages such as Riedertsham. Hötzenham and Schnellertsham. In the forest above Schnellerstham, a road branches off to the right, leading deeper into and out of the forest, and then another relatively steep gravel path to the left. At the end of the path and the forest you are in St. Wolfgang bei Griesbach.
From St. Wolfgang you quickly descend to Weng. You are in Rotthal in the so-called spa triangle. Bad Birnbach is on the right, Bad Griesbach on the left. Unless we have a visit to one of the two spas on the programme, we don't touch either of the two towns but drive straight on between them on the PA 72. We stay on this road even after we have crossed the main road and then turn left and right again after the village of Kindlbach. This takes us to the Sägmühle golf course. The area around Bad Griesbach has more golf courses than any other region in Germany. After the golf course, we cross the River Rott, keep left and after a climb we reach the village of Asbach.
From Asbach, the route continues southwards on the tarmac road over a hill. From there, descend and take the Griesbacher Straße, which branches off to the right, into Rotthalmünster.
At the lower end of the market square, turn eastwards and you will come to Bahnhofstraße, which branches off to the right. This is where the "Alter Dammweg" cycle path begins, which takes you on a pleasant, flat ride away from the roads and out into the Inn Valley. It ends in Kirchham and joins the Inn cycle path there. In Kirchham you are in the area of the Bad Füssing thermal spa, which is located a little to the north. You can tell by the many coffee houses and guesthouses. There is also a castle here, which is available to spa guests.
We then take the Inn cycle path, which leads us southwards, always following the course of the Inn. As this is a mighty gravel plain, there are no more ascents to expect. Don't overlook the turn-off to Aigen am Inn and take a short detour.
At Ering, you have the opportunity to cross the Inn at a barrage near Frauenstein Castle and cross from Germany into Austria. The Inn cycle path continues there and is probably even better signposted and has even more information material than the path on the other side of the river. Most of the time, you cycle on a dam and have repeated glimpses of the natural landscape of the Lower Inn with its picturesque tributaries and rich flora and fauna. This is because it is an extensive nature reserve. The scenic highlight is Hagenau Castle, which is magnificently situated on a pond and is a delightful photo motif. At the end, you reach Braunau and have to overcome a short ascent to get to the town on the higher ground.

>> Stage 4 - Regensburg to St. Wolfgang