Rennsteig hiking guide: route map, stages & where to stay

The Rennsteig is Germany's oldest and best-known long-distance ridge trail. It follows the crest of the Thuringian Forest, the Thuringian Slate Mountains and the northern Frankenwald for about 170 km (169.3 km by the official Rennsteig kilometres), from Hörschel on the River Werra near Eisenach to Blankenstein on the River Saale. The trail was first recorded in 1330 and was once a border, courier and trade route; about 1,300 old boundary stones still stand beside it. It is marked with a white "R" on trees and stones, and it is hard to get lost. Most walkers go from west to east and take 6 to 10 days. You sleep in forest inns, small hotels, guesthouses and holiday flats in the villages on or just below the ridge.

The route

The first stage climbs from the Werra at Hörschel through beech forest to the Hohe Sonne and on to Ascherbrück above the old clock-making town of Ruhla. The second day is the hardest of the trail: it passes the Dreiherrenstein, climbs over the Großer Inselsberg (916 m), with wide views across Thuringia, and continues past the Heuberghaus to the open meadows of the Ebertswiese. From there the path runs through spruce forest to the Grenzadler at the edge of Oberhof, the winter-sports town.

East of Oberhof the trail reaches its highest ground. It passes Plänckners Aussicht (973 m), the highest point on the Rennsteig, just below the Großer Beerberg, Thuringia's highest mountain, then the Schmücke inn and the Rennsteig railway station before it reaches the hamlet of Allzunah above Frauenwald. Stage five crosses the Großer Dreiherrenstein, Neustadt am Rennsteig and Masserberg to the tiny village of Friedrichshöhe. The eastern half is quieter and more open: slate villages, high meadows and the former inner-German border. The trail passes Limbach, Neuhaus am Rennweg and Ernstthal to Spechtsbrunn, crosses into Bavaria near Kleintettau and Steinbach am Wald, and returns to Thuringia at Brennersgrün. The last day runs over farmland and meadows past Rodacherbrunn and down to the Selbitz bridge in Blankenstein, where the Selbitz flows into the Saale.

This guide follows the line mapped on OpenStreetMap and splits it into 8 stages, about 21.1 km each: the official eight-stage plan of the Thüringer Wald tourism board. The elevation profile adds up to about 2,900 m of climbing in total, most of it in the first two days. By tradition you take a pebble from the Werra and throw it into the Saale at the end.

Highlights

• Hörschel: the start at the Werra and the custom of the pebble
• Großer Inselsberg: one of the best viewpoints in the Thuringian Forest
• Oberhof: biathlon arena, ski jumps and the Rennsteiggarten alpine garden near the Grenzadler
• Plänckners Aussicht and the Schmücke: the highest point of the trail and a classic old inn
• Masserberg and Neuhaus am Rennweg: high ridge villages with long views
• The Frankenwald and the Grünes Band: the eastern stages run along the former border, now a green corridor of meadows and forest
• Blankenstein: the end at the Saale, with the Höllental gorge on the Bavarian side

When to walk the Rennsteig

The walking season runs from April to October. May, June and September are good months; mid-summer is warm but the ridge is usually a few degrees cooler than the valleys. In October some small inns close for holidays. From mid-November to the end of March the Rennsteig is often snow-covered and large parts are groomed as a cross-country ski trail, so walking it in winter is not recommended. Avoid the weekend of the Rennsteiglauf race, usually in May, when up to 15,000 runners are on the trail and beds are booked out.

How many days do you need?

Fit walkers with light packs finish in 5 or 6 days; most people take 8 to 10. The 8 stages in this guide are 17 to 25 km long and take about 4.5 to 7 hours of walking. The tourism board also suggests six longer stages (Hörschel - Dreiherrenstein - Grenzadler - Neustadt am Rennsteig - Ernstthal - Brennersgrün - Blankenstein) for strong walkers. Roads and railways cross the ridge in many places, so you can also walk it in sections.

Getting there and away

Eisenach is on the main railway line between Frankfurt and Erfurt. Hörschel has no station: take a local bus or taxi from Eisenach (about 8 km). Blankenstein (Saale) station is a few hundred metres from the end. Going back from Blankenstein to Hörschel by public transport takes about four hours with three changes; plan it on bahn.de. Free long-stay parking for walkers is at Hörschel and at the Selbitzplatz in Blankenstein. Along the way, Rennsteig station near Schmiedefeld has weekend and holiday trains to Ilmenau and Erfurt (the Rennsteig-Shuttle), and many places can be reached by bus.

Permits, booking and money

No permit or fee is needed. Book beds ahead, especially for weekends, holidays and the small stage ends (Ebertswiese, Allzunah, Friedrichshöhe, Spechtsbrunn and Brennersgrün), where there are only a few houses. Several inns and tour companies offer luggage transfer. Wild camping is not allowed, and sleeping in the trail shelters is not permitted; the only campsite on the trail is the bookable Trekkingplatz at Kobach in the Frankenwald. The currency is the euro. Cards are not accepted everywhere, and some small guesthouses take cash only, so carry enough cash. Mobile signal is usually good near villages but can drop out in deep forest.

Difficulty and what to pack

The Rennsteig is a moderate walk with no technical sections. Most of it is on forest roads, gravel tracks and good paths, with some short stretches on quiet roads. The longest climbs are in the first two days; after Oberhof the trail is gentler, with long, steady ups and downs. Water is the main issue: apart from two streams and one well, you can only refill at inns, so carry 1.5 to 2 litres and plan your stops. Pack waterproofs, a warm layer (the ridge can be cold and foggy even in summer), comfortable shoes for long gravel stretches, a map or offline app, cash and a small first-aid kit with blister plasters.

Safety

In an emergency call 112 for an ambulance or mountain rescue, and 110 for the police. Give the nearest Rennsteig kilometre, inn, shelter or village. For medical problems that are not urgent outside surgery hours, call 116117. Check yourself for ticks each evening in summer. Keep dogs on a lead in the forest, do not light fires, and take care where the trail crosses roads.

History

For long stretches the Rennsteig was a border between the many small states of Thuringia and Franconia, which is why about 1,300 boundary stones and thirteen "Dreiherrensteine" (stones where three territories met) still line the way. In the 19th century it became a hiking route, and the Rennsteigverein 1896 introduced the greeting "Gut Runst" in 1900. During the division of Germany part of the trail lay in the border zone, and for about 40 years it could not be walked end to end. The Rennsteiglied by Herbert Roth, known since 1951, is its unofficial anthem.