The total length of hiking routes in Germany is about 200 thousand kilometers. We present ten such trails, roads, paths – in different German regions and lands, long, short, unusual…

artists trail

The 110-kilometer The Artists’ Trail (Malerweg) hiking trail runs along the Elbe through Saxon Switzerland. The first “tourists” began to explore these places in the 18th century. There were countless artists who admired the local landscapes. Among them was Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840). The painting “Wanderer on the Sea of ​​Mist” (“Der Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer”), the fragment of which is used as the main illustration for this publication, is one of the iconic works of Romantic-era painting.

European route E5

Close to Oberstdorf in the Upper Allgäu region

The European long-distance hiking route E5 (Europäischer Fernwanderweg E5) runs from the Atlantic coast of France to Italian Verona. In Germany, the 50-kilometer stretch through the Bavarian Alpine region of the Allgäu is popular.

St. James Way

“Devil’s Wall” – one of the natural attractions on the St. James on the Harz

The Camino de Santiago (Jakobsweg) pilgrimage road, or rather, a network of routes across Europe that lead to the tomb of this apostle in the Spanish city of Santiago de Compostela. In Germany, there are about three dozen paths from St. James. One of them passes through the “Devil’s Wall” in the Harz.

sheep route

Heidschnuke sheep on the Lüneburg heath

Heidschnuke is an unpretentious breed of sheep, raised in Germany on the Lüneburg heath. The 220 km sheep trail – Heidschnuckenweg runs between Hamburg and Celle. The most beautiful time in these places is at the end of summer, when the heather blooms on the heath.

Rhine trail

Pfalzgrafenstein Castle on the Middle Rhine

The 320 km Rhine Trail (Rheinsteig) runs along the Rhine from Bonn to Wiesbaden. The route is rich in ascents to mountain elephants and descents to picturesque villages on the banks of the main German river. Part of the route is the romantic Middle Rhine Valley, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Franco-German castle road

The 33-kilometer route of the German-French castle road (Deutsch-Französischer Burgenweg) crosses the German region of the Palatinate and French Alsace and is included in the list of special recommendations of the German Hiking Society (Deutscher Wanderverband). It passes through the territory of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

Ring route around Brocken

Mountain Botanical Garden at the top of Brocken Mountain

The 26-kilometer Brocken Ring Route (Brocken-Rundwanderweg) crosses the Harz mountain range, a popular tourist region in Germany. Here is Mount Brocken, which was climbed by Goethe himself, who later described these places in his Faust. You don’t have to walk to the top. From Wernigerode, the narrow gauge Brockenbahn mountain railway runs here.

Rensteig

Foggy autumn day near the Thuringian Masserberg

The 170 km Rennsteig hiking trail crosses the Thuringian Forest and the Franconian Forest. For hiking, this path began to be used in the 19th century, and its first written mention dates back to the 13th century.

green belt

Ancient GDR border tower near Salzwedel in Saxony-Anhalt

For nearly four decades, Europe was divided by the Iron Curtain. In Germany, after the reunification of the country, the former border strip of 1,393 kilometers between the GDR and the FRG was transformed into a tourist route of the Green Belt or Green Belt (Grünes Band), reminiscent of the times of the division of the country.

Walk on the Wadden Sea

Westerhever in Schleswig-Holstein

Let’s complete the review not with some separate route, but with an unusual type of walk – at low tide along the bottom of Watt Shallow Water in the North Sea – Wattwanderung. The Wadden Sea has UNESCO World Heritage status. It is recommended to make these excursions accompanied by guides who know the characteristics of the coast, tides and tides.