Ramsau, Austria Cross-Country Skiing Route

Click here for route map  
Length 14.4 km (9 miles), terrain: mostly flat but some small hills, gain 170 meters

The winter has been bearing down, icing over the streets, making it tough to run. So, like every winter, just for fun, here comes another cross-country skiing route. If you can't beat 'em, then join 'em, I say! Cross-country is like hill-running, but it also provides a great workout for your arms. It's the best workout you can get, and is easy on your knees.

We went back to Ramsau in Austria's Steiermark region this month after an absence of some years. Once back there, viewing the massive wall of the Dachstein, I couldn't believe that I had let so much time pass since the last visit. Ramsau is an absolute cross-country paradise, with more than 200 kilometers of prepared ski trails spread out over a quiet and scenic plateau partway up the side of the Dachstein. And at 1100 meters altitude, the snow often lingers long through the winter.

The Halseralm mountain hut is a favorite destination for skiers

The various trails range from flat and easy, to wild and steep, with an even mix of classic- and skating-style prepared tracks. I love it there. For an overview, click this link: Ramsau Cross-Country.

Flaming kaiserschmarrn being served up in the hut

Over the course of a week, I revisited almost all the trails again, loving about every minute. Some head up to ancient alpine huts, where the hosts provide hungry skiers with hearty food and jagatee (typical Austrian, a mix of hot tea and rum). Others head up and over some pretty big hills. The one I'm documenting in this post is a fairly easy one: circling the plateau, near the village, with its sprinkling of farms and chalets dotting the hillsides.

The Sonnenloipe (The sun-trail, "Loipe" is German for ski-trail)

This 14.4-kilometer-long trail loops east-west through the main valley. It parallels the flat Standardloipe for the whole way along the south side of the village, but follows the sunny slopes along the north side where there are some interesting ups and downs. But overall, it's fairly harmless.

Ready to start? Then lets carry those skis to the nordic ski center on the south side of the village, with its ski-jump, which has hosted the nordic skiing world championships. Lots of trails come together here, and a few local ski schools train new skiers here constantly all winter. Cross-country has been experiencing a boom in recent years, fueled by the revolution created by skating style, making the sport both faster and more elegant.

Nordic ski classes at the Ramsau ski center

You can do most trails in either direction. It's great to do it twice, once each way. It's like two totally different trails when the hills are reversed. I did this one going counter-clockwise, heading east, then crossing the road to head west along the north side, then re-crossing the road to head back east into town again.

The trails are all clearly marked with signs, and there are plenty of people underway right here (this section right in town is the busiest trail around). You can use the classic tracks or the wide, flat skating trail next to it. So now you just head out below the ski-jump to head eastwards.

The Dachstein in evening light

After 1.5 kilometers, you'll cross the main street, next to the Billa supermarket. They put carpeting on the salted, snow-free street so you can walk across with your skis on, but I like to take care of mine, so I take them off first.

On the other side, soon one trail turns off to the right, the fun Leitenloipe, but we'll continue along the slightly downhill Sonnenloipe/Standardloipe, heading eastwards. After the 2-kilometer mark, there aren't so many people underway, and you have more chance to relax and enjoy the scenery: the mighty Dachstein lit up by the sunshine off to the left, and the rolling farmland, deep in snow to the right.

Farmhouse along the Sonnenloipe

Soon we'll be at the turnaround point, where we cross a road and then head back westwards. But it's not so apparent where to cross the road. If you follow the trail all the way to the eastern turn-around point at a parking lot, you've gone too far. You'll need to go back about a hundred meters to the crossing, where there is a bus stop.

Cross the road to the north side. Right next to the road, the trail begins again, heading uphill. It immediately crosses a little side street, Gebäckerweg, and continues uphill at the 4-km mark.

You'll soon have a bit of downhill through some quiet fields, and cross a stream at the 5-km mark.

The Sonnenloipe

Now just keep heading uphill along this really beautiful section, with old barns and sheds scattered out in the fields, and the slopes rising up to the rocky cliffs of the Dachstein.

The Sonnenloipe crosses a lot of little side streets along this northern section, but otherwise the trail is more adventurous, natural and fun.

Crossing a stream

After seven kilometers, you approach the village again. The trail crosses right through the middle of a little, beginners' ski slope and its T-bar lift, "Kalis Klang Lift". This is where the little kids learn alpine skiing, and its fun to see the groups skiing down the hill together. I like to have some extra fun here and ski down on my cross-country skis, a pretty wild ride on these long, rattly skis (and maybe repeat this a few times).

The lift in a quiet moment

A bit further west and we come to a second lift, the Bergkristallift, with its own kids' classes.

There are some more beautiful fields after that, then the trail curves down towards the main road.

Farm shed near the Bergkristallift

The trail follows the road for a while here, passing another lift, the Zauberlift. This is the 10-km mark. Cross more side streets, and then go through an underpass to get to the south side of the main road again.

Now head straight to the edge of the woods along the big hill straight ahead, the Rittisberg. There you turn left and head eastwards all the way back to the ski center again.

The author resting up along a trail: it's pretty hard work!

First, you'll go by Ramsau Beach, a pond with little campground at the base of the Rittisbergbahn, the lift to the top of the main alpine ski run in town. Here, it's also fun to see all the downhill skiers flying down and braking at the last second to get back in line again.

The ski trail heads right through the ski-lift area.

Away from the lift, life is quiet again, going along the woods, then coming back out into the open fields at a few houses. Just keep heading east.

After 12 kilometers, you'll come to a spot where several other trails branch off to the right and head south, at a big sign with the trail maps. Keep going east as the trail goes through an underpass under Vorbergstraße, then heads downhill all the way to the ski center.

So what do you think? That's one great way to enjoy the winter!

Salzburg River / Old Town Running Route

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Length 10.4 km (6.5 miles), terrain: flat

Salzburg finds its way onto lots of tourists' must-visit list for Europe: its mighty hilltop castle, and its narrow lanes echoing with the clip-clop of horse-carriages are hard to resist for anyone searching for old-world charm.

Salzburg, Kapitelplatz with a view of the castle

If you've fallen for Salzburg's enchantment, there's a great, simple run right in the middle of town: just follow the trail along the northeast bank of the Salzach River, and add a loop through the scenic old-town. If you run in the mornings or evenings, you'll hardly recognize the place, as the day-visitors won't be anywhere in sight, and you'll have the town to yourself (and the locals, of course). No more bus-groups off on the Sound of Music tour...

Tomaselli's at Alter Markt

Let's start the route in the heart of town, at the Alter Markt (Old Market), at the Tomaselli Cafe, already in business for over 200 years. Now we'll turn to face eastwards, and run by the old fountain and out past the old town hall, with its clock-tower.

Along Gisela Kai

Now turn right and head over the Staatsbrücke bridge over the Salzach to the shore-drive on the other side, Gisela Kai. Then, we'll turn right and head southeastwards now, staying along the river. There is a river-side trail that goes for kilometers. Sometimes pedestrians have to share the same paved trail with bikes, sometimes there are separate trails. For the first 100 meters, you have to run next to buses and fight with bikes for space, but then it's great.

Luckily, they put in underpasses beneath the few bridges, so you don't have to wait at traffic lights at every busy cross-street.

Mozartsteg pedestrian bridge back to the old town

In just a few hundred meters, you'll pass the 100-year-old footbridge to the old-town, the Mozartsteg. We'll cross it on our way back later, but now just keep heading straight, with the water to your right side.

After you pass the first car bridge, you'll see the Volksgarten park open up on the left side. It began life as the Kaiser Franz-Josef Jubiläumspark. It was dedicated to the Austrian kaiser on the 50th anniversary of his reign in 1908, just a few years before the monarchy disintegrated in the chaos of defeat in World War I. You might want to loop a bit into the park and run by the pond for a bit of variety.

Pond in Volkspark

The riverside trail changes names to Ignaz-Rieder-Kai, but continues southeastwards along the river, gradually curving southwards. You can run for as short or as long as you please. This route turns around at the next car bridge, Hellbrunner Straße, to make it 10-kilometers long. But you could add on many kilometers if you want to keep going, or just turn around any time earlier to shorten it.

Ignatz-Rieder-Kai

So now you just run until you find your own turn-around spot and head back to town.

But when you reach the grey-metal Mozartsteg footbridge again, turn left to cross it to run a short loop through the nicest part of the old-town, beneath the looming castle.

Mozart, Salzburg's favorite son, likes hanging out at Mozartplatz

After crossing the Salzach, continue for a short block and you'll see the little square, Mozartplatz, on the right. Turn right there and stay on the left side of the Mozart statue, running past the big fountain on the left.

You have now come to the archbishop's palace, where you turn left to run southwards to the next block with its own square, Domplatz (Cathedral Square). This is, as you might guess, right in front of the huge baroque cathedral.

Salzburg's baroque cathedral

Now continue straight through the arcade to the next square, Kapitelplatz, with its strange golden globe with a statue of a man on top.

Continue uphill, towards the castle, following the lane to the castle cog-train station. Just before the station, turn right through the iron gates into the stunningly beautiful cemetery, Petersfriedhof. This is part of St. Peter's monastery, still in use.

In the monastery cemetery

Run westwards through the cemetery, with the cliffs to your left and the monks' buildings built into the cliff-side.

Exit the cemetery on the west side and you'll find yourself in St. Peter's Square, with an old church, a fountain, and what is billed as Europe's oldest restaurant, founded in the year 803 (over 1,200 years in business!).

The square in the middle of the monastery

We're almost back at the starting place now. Just exit the square through the archway to the north (on your right), with the Franciscan church-tower rising behind it.

Now run one block up Sigmund-Haffner-Gasse and then turn right, and you'll be back at the old market, where we started.

Vienna Prater Running Route

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Length 9.4 km (5.8 miles), terrain: flat

Pictures courtesy of the creative folks at Flickr Creative Commons. Thanks! 

Vienna running routes:
Vienna Neustadt/Altstadt run
Vienna Schönbrunn Palace loop
Vienna Prater Park
For other running routes, see Route List.

Here's a run that takes you along one of Vienna's most popular running routes. The Prater is a long, green stretch of parkland between the old town and the Danube River. It's a woodsy area that is always worth seeking out for a run through some of Vienna's finest scenery.

The Prater was once a royal hunting ground that became a public park 250 years ago. It's filled with a lot of interesting stuff, and is home to many of the city's best sporting and recreation grounds. It has lakes, woods, lawns, cafés, playgrounds, an amusement park, a football stadium (Ernst-Happel-Stadion, the biggest in Austria), Vienna's trade fair, a 4-km-long miniature railway, a planetarium, a horse-race track, swimming pools, and bike-, horse-, skateboard- and in-line tracks. And, I should add, running tracks.

View over the park from the giant wheel, photo by Dolcedo

This route heads through the main part of the park and then back again, beginning at the Praterstern. Praterstern is just a couple of kilometers northeast of the old town, a traffic circle where seven streets come together. A train station occupies the middle of the circle, including an U-Bahn station (U1 and U2 lines service it), making it a good place to start.

The run is basically an out-and-back along the Prater Hauptallee. This pedestrian street is 4.5-km long, and cuts through the main part of the park. Hauptallee follows a straight line to the Lusthaus, a café at the southeast end of the park, which is a favorite destination and hangout for many park visitors. We could run even further, past the Lusthaus, through more woods and lakes, but I figure that 9.4-km is long enough already for this route. There are instructions below, though, on how to extend it, if you prefer.

Running along Hauptallee, photo by Sylvia Petter

Hauptallee is basically a long, straight pedestrian/bike street, lined by trees. To each side are narrower trails for horses and pedestrians. You can choose to run on the pavement or off on the smaller, softer pedestrian trail, avoiding bikes and in-liners.

Start the run: At the Praterstern Station, turn to face south. You'll see a pedestrian tunnel going under the circular street called Praterstern. Go through the tunnel. When you emerge on the southeast side, you're heading straight for the big Ferris wheel at the amusement park, with the domed planetarium in front of it.

Turn towards the right at the planetarium to hit Hauptallee, where you continue running diagonally southeast for the next 4.5 kilometers.

Prater tree in a quiet corner of the park, photo by Dominik Gubi

At first, you'll pass the amusement park on the left side, and the roller coaster. The "Venice in Vienna" amusement park was built in 1895 (referred to by the locals as the "Wurstelprater"), with its famous 120-year-old Ferris wheel.

Just past the amusement park, you run past the exhibition center, also on the left side, site of a world's fair in 1873.

Then you'll run past various sports fields to either side: soccer, tennis, even baseball fields. Right after the baseball fields, you'll cross Kaiserallee, at the 1-km point. This is also the end-station for Tram Line 1, another possible way to get here, and it follows a very scenic route along the old-town ring.

Tram 1 stop at Hauptallee, photo by Michael Bauer

After the sports fields, you'll enter a woodsy area, with forest to each side. You might see the mini-railroad trains puffing along their tiny tracks to the left side of the road. The railway parallels Hauptallee till the stadium.

Then comes the big, round stadium, on the left side, at the 2-km mark. Across from the stadium parking lot, on the right side, you'll see a narrow lake curving off, the Heustadelwasser. Just to make the run a bit more interesting, we'll follow the crescent curve of this lake until it joins back into Hauptallee 1.7-km later.

Ernst Happel Stadium, photo by Mariusz Kucharczyk

So turn right and follow the path along the banks of the Heustadelwasser, which was once an old arm of the Danube.

After the 3-km mark, you'll go under a loud Autobahn bridge, which unfortunately bisects the park. But soon the park will get quiet again, and at the 3.7-km mark, the lakeside trail joins into Hauptallee again, where you turn right and continue running southeastwards.

After going under a railway bridge, you'll arrive at the round Lusthaus café. Circle the building and head back towards the start, along Hauptallee again.  

The Lusthaus, photo by Georg Mayer

NOTE: If you want to see the rest of the park and extend the run by another 3 kilometers, you can head east from the Lusthaus along Schwarzenstockallee towards the pond called Krebsenwasser, circling the south end of the park, and returning northwards to the Lusthaus along the shores of a couple of more small lakes, with the Vienna Golf Club to the left side.

This time, when you reach the Heustadelwasser again, run along its other shore. When you return to Hauptallee at the stadium parking lot, continue northwestwards back to the Praterstern.

Not a bad run, eh? The Prater is worth coming back to again.

Graz Old Town Running Route

Click here for route map
Length up to 4 km (2.5 miles), terrain contains one steep hill of 100 meters (can be avoided)

Note: these pictures were taken on a few frosty December mornings. I hope to one day run it in summer weather!

Graz Routes List:
Leechwald half-marathon hill trail  
Graz old-town loop 

For more running routes, see the Route List

If you're staying in or near the old town in Graz (and if you're in Graz, make sure you do!), here's a great route to take. It's short, but takes on the steep climb up to the top of the castle hill. But if you don't feel like doing the hill-climb, you can easily just circle around it.

Florist in the Graz old town

What better way to take in some of the most interesting spots in this UNESCO World Heritage Site than to include them in your morning/evening run?

We'll start the route on the south side of the old town, at Kaiser-Josef-Platz, across from the opera. This little market square hosts an old-fashioned farmers' market every morning, and is also located across from the south end of the Stadtpark.

The farmers' market in front of the opera

So, looking at the imposing classical facade of the opera-house, cross Glacisstraße and run into the Stadtpark towards the right side. Stadtpark was created from the old city fortifications that zig-zagged their way around the old town, heading northeast, then north. You can either run in the wider park area along the eastern edge or run directly along the top of the raised dike that is still left over from the old ramparts.

In Stadtpark, along the dike

You will cross two streets that bisect the park, and continue running northwards. The old arch-duke's palace is behind the ramparts to the left.

Stadtpark, the palace ramparts

Follow the dike as it curves towards the left (westwards), as it heads directly towards the castle hill.

You'll come to some tennis courts, and another street heading towards an old city gate to your left.

You could just run straight past the sign that maps the trails up to the hilltop and run through the woods right to the top.

The Paulustor (St. Paul's Gate)

But I like seeing a bit more of the old town, so let's turn left and run through the city gate, heading south on Paulustorgasse.

NOTE: If you don't want to run up the hill, just continue running westwards along Wickenburggasse, with the hill to your left. Just keep the hill directly to your left side. You will come to a tram line right at the Mur River. Now follow Kaiser-Franz-Josef-Kai southwards, still keeping the hill to your left. You will rejoin the route at Schlossbergplatz.

In the old town, you'll pass some museums and the police headquarters occupying some old barracks. When you come to an open plaza on the left (Karmeliterplatz) with a column topped by Maria, turn right to go through the arched gateway through the house on the right side.

Heading up the castle hill

You are now running uphill, following a street that curves to the right. At the first footpath on the left, follow it as it zig-zags up to the hilltop 100 meters higher.

You come into the castle area at the clock-tower, with its wooden walkways. There are some great viewpoints there towards the south, over the whole old-town.

The castle clock tower

Continue running uphill past what is left of the main castle buildings. Almost everything was torn down after Napoleon conquered Austria 200 years ago, but a few small buildings remain.

At the very top, you'll pass the round, white bell-tower and come to a terraced park, with great views to the west.

The castle

Now turn around and run back down to the clock-tower and take the stairs that go down the west side of the hill, along the steep cliffs.

View from the castle hill

You'll come down to Schlossbergplatz, where you turn left and run southwards down Sackgasse, following the tram tracks.

In 200 meters, you'll come to a triangular plaza, Hauptplatz, with the domed town hall standing behind it. This is one of the main tram stations in town. If you continued straight, you'd run down the main shopping street, Herrengasse.

Hauptplatz facades: turn left here on Sporgasse!

But we'll turn left right at the beginning of the plaza, on Sporgasse, then turn right on Färbergasse to run southeastwards through the heart of the old town. There are a lot of little courtyards going off to each side, each fascinating to go exploring some time.

You'll pass the bishop's square, then the house with a Glockenspiel (figures that appear at certain times while bells chime).

The old royal bakery in the old town

When the street ends at another small square, turn left down Einspinnergasse to the first cross-street, where you turn right and run down Burggasse the last two blocks between the opera and Stadtpark to Kaiser-Josef-Platz again.

Graz Leechwald Running Route

Click here for route map
Length up to 21.3 km (13.2 miles), terrain hilly, with a gain of more than 500 meters

Graz Routes List:
Leechwald half-marathon hill trail  
Graz old-town loop
For more running routes, see the Route List

Here is a great run if you want to do some trail running in the woods while you're in Graz. The Leechwald trail follows a wooded ridge-line east of the city center, providing beautiful vistas along the way.

Along the Leechwald trail

It is basically an out-and-back run, heading northeastwards, with a 6-km loop at the end, before heading back on the same trail. It goes uphill at the beginning, then rises only gradually the rest of the way until the halfway point, although the loop goes downhill, then uphill before it connects back to the return trail.

The run has been laid out as a half-marathon. I only ran the first half of the route, so I can't describe the rest, but it's well-marked, so run as far as you please. Just follow the "Leechwald" signs with the picture of the running shoe.

Just follow the Leechwald signs

Here's a link to the sponsor's description of the route, in German: Leechwald Run.

You can run the entire route or turn around any time you want. There are quite a few runners out on the trail any time of the day. The way is well marked: every half-kilometer there is a distance marker. You basically follow the main ridge-top trail the whole time.

The first five kilometers of the route, till Mariatrost, is dirt, and the rest is paved. The dirt section is also lit by streetlights at night.

You can easily reach the starting place by taking the number 1 tram line towards Mariatrost, getting out at the Hilmteich/Botanischer Garten stop. The trail-head is directly across the street from the tram stop, at the Hilmteich pond.

The pond occupies the center of a little park, and is full of rental rowboats in the summer.

Hilmteich in winter

Begin the run by turning your back on the pond, at the "Start Leechwald" sign, next to an arial map of the route. Run southwards with the woods to your left side, parallel to Hilmteichstraße. After just 100 meters, you'll see a small path going uphill to the left, at the "Waldschule" sign.

In 50 meters, you will hit the main path, where you turn left again and run northeastwards, continuing uphill.

Follow the path uphill as it winds through the woods. The trail is well-kept, made of hard-packed clay and gravel. This first part of the trail is also marked with "Menschenrechts Weg" signs for the first kilometers.

You will pass a white villa and then an animal refuge ("Wildtiere im Not").

Then, before the first half-kilometer marker, you'll pass a tall brick tower. You have now reached the top of the ridge, and the trail flattens out as you run with a fence to the left side.

The tower

Now just follow the trail. Sometimes you'll feel like you're in wilderness, other times you'll pass by houses that have been built up the hillside.

Along the ridgeline

After the two-kilometer marker, the dirt trail turns to the right, becoming a paved street called Roseggerweg, going through a small neighborhood. You will now get the first views of surrounding hills and the Mariatrost basilica.

View of Mariatrost from the trail

After another half-kilometer, Roseggerweg leaves the houses and goes back into woods.

After 5 km, you come to Mariatrost, a huge pilgrimage church and monastery complex built on the Purberg. Its yellow, double-towered baroque facade is visible from a long away. The trail, Roseggerweg, leaves the woods, and joins a paved street. If you went straight downhill for 100 meters, you would head towards the basilica. But, instead of continuing down the hill to the church, turn to the right at the modern wooden houses and continue running northeast through the woods.

Mariatrost from below

The trail turns into a paved road here. There are cars traveling this section, sometimes few, sometimes a lot. So if you don't want to run on the street, turn around here.

The road goes by some big farm fields, then back into the woods. I turned around there, at the 6-km marker, so the rest of the description is just what I could see from the map.

Abandoned farmhouse along the way

When the trail comes back out into open fields again, it will come to another crossing, shortly before the 7-km marker. You will now go straight along Schaftalberg. The trail will then follow a 7-km loop to the south and return to this point.

So now, run straight, and follow the road until it ends at a farmhouse on a cross-road, Reindlwaldweg, at about 8.8 kilometers. There you turn right and run south.

View from the Leechwald trail

This road ends just above a village, Edelsbach, on a big road called Schillingsdorfer Straße. Turn right on Schaftalweg and head back northwards and uphill to the crossroads where the loop began.

At the cross-roads, at about 13.5 km, turn left and head back on the same way as you came.

Vienna Schönbrunn Palace Running Route

Click here for route map 
Length:  7 km ( 4.4 miles), terrain goes up a small hill

Vienna running routes:
Vienna Neustadt/Altstadt run
Vienna Schönbrunn Palace loop
Vienna Prater Park
For other running routes, see Route List.

The pictures here all show a huge thunderstorm that was threatening for the entire run, but never arrived -- very strange weather!

Fiaker coach waiting out front at Schönbrunn

This route is a classic for Vienna (Wien, in German). If you can get out to the west end of town, then definitely run through the Schönbrunn (beautiful fountain or spring) Palace grounds. The palace was built 250 years ago by the Habsburg Austrian kaisers (back then they were also German kaisers) as their answer to Versailles, and it is a great place to zig-zag around for an evening. The route isn't long, but I'd take my time, if I were you. The gardens are a place to enjoy: I occasionally stop to take-in the view, smell a flower, feel the spray of a fountain, look at an animal grazing in its enclosure. That's what the garden was built for!

And there really is a lot packed into the area behind the palace: a zoo (the oldest zoo in the world), formal gardens, elaborate fountains, a hilltop woods, fake ruins, an impressive tropical greenhouse, tirolean-style restaurants, cafés, a labyrinth, obelisks, a public swimming pool and all kinds of interesting stuff. And the opening hours are long: from 7 a.m. till 9 p.m., at least in June, when I last ran there.  (Check their web site for opening hours: https://www.schoenbrunn.at/en/visitor-information/opening-times/)

View towards the rear of palace

The palace and grounds are located southwest of the city center, along the Wien River in the Meidling neighborhood. It's easy to get to with the underground, Line 4, with its own station called Schönbrunn. The art nouveau station is a good place to start the run, located right at the southeast corner of the palace grounds.

There's only one good way to approach a palace like Schönbrunn: go through the dazzling main entrance. So from the station, turn your back on the Wienzeile river ditch and run south on Grünbergstraße, past the parking lot. Turn right on the Schloßstraße (ignoring the entrance signs that point straight ahead). You will run along the outside of the palace grounds and come right to the front entrance, flanked by obelisks.

Run into the large courtyard towards the palace, where you'll see the waiting fiaker (horse-drawn coaches). Stay on the right side of the courtyard and run past the right edge of the palace. You will come out into the vast grounds stretching out before you and up the hill behind the Neptune fountain. The hilltop is crowned by the Gloriette, a baroque arcade set up as a place for the royalty to wander towards when out for a walk.

Neptune and friends party it up

The best tactic now is just to zig-zag back and forth, because each corner of the grounds has its own interesting character. Just to orient ourselves at this point, when you stand there with the palace to your back, looking south, over the flower beds towards the Neptune fountain, there are formal gardens to the right and left of the flower beds. Everything is criss-crossed with gravel paths.

On the right side, you'll find the labyrinth (must pay an entrance fee), the botanical gardens with their impressive greenhouses, and behind that, the zoo.

On the left side are the fake Roman ruins, an obelisk fountain, the rose garden and a public swimming pool.

All paths lead to paradise

It doesn't really matter how you do it, but here's a nice loop through the grounds: Turn diagonally left and run southeast, away from the palace, with the flower beds to your right. You'll see a diagonal path going through the formal gardens on the left side, heading towards the obelisk-topped fountain in the distance. You'll pass a pool along the way, and come to the obelisk.

Path ruined by ruins

At the obelisk, turn right and run westwards, with the hill to your left side, passing the Roman ruins (or, better said, fake ruins) and then coming back out at the Neptune fountain. You can now run up a zig-zagging path that goes uphill on the left side of the fountain, heading towards the Gloriette on the hilltop.

Gloriette

When you get to the top and look out, you have a view over the city to the hills to the north. The grounds behind the Gloriette aren't open to the public, except for one path: it's all a game reserve. So turn right and run behind the Gloriette towards the west, going through the woods.

View from Gloriette towards the north

At the first intersection, you'll see some giant emu birds behind a fence. Turn left here and run down the path until it ends at the gate called the Tiroler Tor, where you turn around and run northwards, back to the intersection with the emus (that little detour was just to get a bit more time among some real nature).

Now turn left and run towards the wooden tirolean-style houses. The Tiroler Hof is used by the zoo to house old farm-animal breeds, in old farm-buildings dismantled in Tirol and rebuilt on this site. There is also a restaurant there, the Tirolergarten: a great place to come back to! Across the way from the restaurant is the old  crown-prince's playhouse, now fenced-off, locked-up, dusty and lifeless -- a bit sad when you think what it was once built for.

Tirolergarten restaurant

Now turn around and run back the way you came for a few steps, then turn left to run downhill with the Tiroler Hof and the zoo on your left.

You will come out at the Neptune fountain again. This time turn left and run westwards, going through the west side of the formal gardens. The labyrinth is immediately on your right, but you have to pay to get in. The zoo will be on your left side, and you can view various animals from the path.

Just before reaching the west end of the park, you'll see a Japanese garden and the beautiful kaiser-era greenhouse, the palm house along the right side. Turn right just past the greenhouse and run past it, going north, with another tropical greenhouse on the left side. Run to the end, at the northwest corner of the park, then turn right and run out to the flower beds behind the palace again.

The Palm House

Here, you leave the gardens the same way that you came in, on the left side of the palace and northwards, out through the main courtyard again. Or you decide that you haven't run enough yet, and you just start zig-zagging down the many other paths that you haven't even seen yet!