Stanz bei Landeck

Altitude: 1,040 m a.s.l.

Stanz is located on a mountain terrace above Landeck and is name-giving for the entire valley. The first settlements date back some 4,000 years. "Stanuc", as it used to be called, was mentioned for the first time in 1150 AD. Today, however, it represents an "Austrian Culinary Region".

This culinary region is famous for its high-quality fruit schnapps: Fruit such as the sweet Plum of Stanz, a variety of the European plum, which grows here, in one of the highest-located fruit-growing areas in Europe, is carefully processed in the local schnapps distilleries. For this reason, the village was declared the first Distillery Village of Austria about 15 years ago. It counts some 580 inhabitants and features 54 active distillieries. A part of them can be visited or invites to a tasting.

Stanz is located at the foot of the Lechtal Alps and has got some interesting constructions to offer, such as the Baroque tavern "Zum Löwen", which is the home of the master builder Jakob Prandtauer (1660-1726), who also rebuilt the Melk Abbey in Lower Austria. From the east end of the village, however, a forest trail leads to the Schrofenstein Castle ruin, a popular destination, or you may enjoy a pleasant walk along the famous Way of St. James, taking to Spain. As soon as the snow comes, you may enjoy 22 km of slopes and 2 km of ski routes of the Venet Skiing Area.