About the Palatinate Wine Trail

The Pfälzer Weinsteig has an official total length of 185 kilometres, which can be walked in eleven daily stages. Opened in 2010, the long-distance hiking trail is the longest of the three certified hiking trails in the Palatinate Forest, ahead of the Palatinate Forest Trail and the Palatinate High Trail. The trail is marked with a red and white wave and runs in a north-south direction from Bockenheim near Grünstadt to Schweigen-Rechtenbach on the German-French border. It alternates repeatedly between the Palatinate wine-growing region on the German Wine Route and the heights of the Palatinate Forest. In total, there are about 6,000 metres of altitude difference to be climbed along the entire route. Highlights of the tour include the Kalmit, the Weinbiet, Bad Dürkheim, Annweiler with its Trifels group of castles, the Peace Monument and many small winegrowing villages along the way.

We were on the Palatinate Forest Trail in mid-March 2021 and decided to reduce the number of stages to seven, resulting in a daily stage length of about 25 kilometres. Due to the Covid-19 situation in 2021, all accommodation was closed and the nights were still too cool for bivouacking. So we were on the road with two vehicles and always parked one vehicle at the end point in the morning and drove to the starting point with the second vehicle. We spent the night in the vehicle, some of which had very nice places to stay overnight. Have we aroused your interest? Then come with us on our journey along the Palatinate Forest Trail!

Day 4 - From Hambach Castle to Buschmühle

Today's stage started at Hambach Castle. We were early in the morning, so the castle itself was still closed. So we only had a short walk around the castle. But wait? Hambach Castle? Wasn't there something about that in history lessons in year seven or eight? Yes, one of the most important German democratic movements, the Hambach Festival, took place here in 1832.

Up to the Kalmit

The first and only high mountain today was right at the start - up to the Kalmit at 672 metres, the highest point in the Palatinate Forest. Climbing the 350 metres in altitude over a distance of just under seven kilometres should not prove to be too difficult. On the way up, there are some beautiful views of the Rhine Graben and Hambach Castle. The barren forest floor is again covered with blueberry bushes and heather. We passed the first small summit, the Hohe Loog with the hut of the same name, and finally reached the summit of the Kalmit, also with the hut of the same name and a magnificent view of the surrounding area. The huts were all closed due to the current situation. A shame in itself, but somehow we were also glad to be up here in the off-season. The hustle and bustle of hikers and mountain bikers in the high season is easy to guess - one catered hut follows the next. We only met a few people here, took a short break and continued on our way.

From the Kalmit to the peace memorial

This was followed by the beautiful sea of rocks on the Kalmit-Vorberg Hüttenberg with a length of around one kilometre. You can either hike on the rocks or, like us, along the hiking trail a few metres below. A few kilometres further on, we reached the Peace Monument, or more precisely the Edenkoben Victory and Peace Monument. It was erected in 1899 on the Werderberg near Edenkoben to commemorate the victory in the war of 1870/71. The interior features a beautiful ceiling mosaic and the coats of arms of the former German states and their unification into the German Reich are depicted in the upper section. An impressive monument to an interesting part of German history. The end of today's fourth stage was the Buschmühle near Weyher.

Watch the video of the fourth and fifth day on the Palatinate Wine Trail here

The tour on Komoot