Rheinsteig Hiking - Your pocket guide to unmissable highlights

Great views, many insights, meadows, forests and wine: the Rheinsteig is Europe's new top trail. The adventure guide describes 20 one-day tours and offers great tips on places where you can experience and discover nature and of course places where you can stop for a drink and a bite to eat. It also includes maps, navigational facts and detailed information on parking, public transport and photo spots. The Rheinsteig trail runs along the right bank of the river Rhine between Bonn, Koblenz und Wiesbaden along predominantly narrow paths and challenging inclines, uphill and downhill, leading to forests, vineyards and spectacular views. This exceptionally well sign-posted and closely networked trail offers opportunities for ambitious long-distance walking tours or for a variety of short tours. It can easily be reached by train, boat and car and is near several airports.

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The 320km Rheinsteig in south-west Germany follows the twists and turns of the Rhine on its eastern bank from Bonn in North Rhine-Westphalia through Rhineland-Palatinate to Wiesbaden in the Rheingau. Narrow paths guide you through stunning scenery as you wind your way along cramped rocky gorges, up and over precipitous cliffs, past beautifully tended vineyards and into shady, ancient forests. The enduring appeal of the Rheinsteig lies in its outstanding natural beauty - whether it's the steep slopes of the Rhine valley, the Siebengebirge and Taunus hills or the lofty peaks of the Westerwald forest. But as much as the Rheinsteig is defined by spectacular landscapes, what would it be without its castles, the Rheingau abbeys, the Roman forts or the medieval towns with their narrow, winding lanes? UNESCO added the Upper Middle Rhine Valley (between Bingen and Koblenz) to its World Heritage list in 2002, citing the sheer number of scenic backdrops and cultural attractions from over 2,000 years of history. It conferred the same status upon the Roman Limes in 2005. Other historical places of interest along the Rheinsteig include Marksburg Castle perched high above Braubach - the only hillside castle along the Rhine that has never been destroyed - and castles Katz and Maus above St. Goarshausen. The Rheinsteig offers hikers a genuine test that befits its status as one of the "top trails of Germany". Although many of the stages can be shortened by taking one of the KD riverboats, steep paths and sweat-inducing climbs are inevitable and all part of the fun.