About halfway along the route from Linz to Vienna, on a 443 m high mountain, lies the most important pilgrimage site in Lower Austria. Situated high above the Danube valley, Maria Taferl offers a unique panoramic view of the entire Alpine range from Schneeberg to Traunstein. The stage starts at the panorama board at the entrance to Maria Taferl and initially runs along the golf course, until the path branches right towards Artstetten. From there, the path follows the "Way of St. James" to Artstetten to the panorama board in front of the municipal office. In the background towers the white castle with its seven distinctive onion domes. Here once lived heir Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie Duchess of Hohenberg. The route continues variedly from Artstetten to Leiben. The stage ends at the panorama board at the Europaschloss in Leiben. The approximately 800-year-old castle towers on a mighty, steep rock and impressively marks the transition from the south of the rugged Waldviertel to the picturesque Danube valley.
