The climbs were steep, but the views were very rewarding. With more time, I would have done more climbs. In fact, in my castle hiking days, I had already hiked to several highpoints and castles on this trail: the Neuleiningen, the Wachtenburg, Hambacher Schloss, the Kalmit lookout, and that is just in the Mittelhaardt district. But at 185 kilometers, I didn’t have enough vacation days left! So perhaps on some other trip to Germany, I will be able to complete the Pfaelzer Weinsteig Trail.

For hikers looking for an intimate experience of the Pfalz wine region, this trail covers much of the region, as does the Wanderweg (Hiking Trail) Deutsche Weinstrasse (see the Nutshells here and here). The similarities between the two is that each pass through famous wine towns and villages, where there are countless opportunities to sample the wines and visit wineries. They both also cover a variety of landscapes from urban, to vineyard to forest. The big difference is the level of difficulty. The Wanderweg Deutsche Weinstrasse is rather easy, with only a few steep climbs into woodlands. On the other hand, the Pfaelzer Weinsteig climbs from the villages, often located at the base of the hills, far into the hills of the Pfalzer Wald forest. In that sense, the trail is physically more challenging, and more diverse.

Continue reading Climbing for Wine →