District:
How to get there and back:
Public
- From Darmstadt main station, take the HEAG mobilio line ... to the Eberstadt-Friedhof stop
- Take the RB train to DA-Eberstadt and from there it's about two kilometres to the starting point to "warm up"
- Return to the starting point by tram towards DA-Eberstadt.
- From Hähnlein-Alsbach station, take the tram from Ludwigstraße towards Asbach, get off at the "Am Hinkelstein" stop and walk about 1 km to the station.
Bycar:
- DA-Eberstadt Friedhof, parking available along Palisadenstraße, return to your car by tram from the Jugenheim stop, Ludwigstraße to the Eberstadt-Friedhof stop.
(S) Start this stage to the left of the main gate of the DA-Eberstadt cemetery and walk straight ahead along Palisadenstraße. At the end of this road, the paved path turns into a forest path. Continue straight ahead.
At a T-junction (behind which you can hear and, depending on the season, see the B426 federal highway), turn left onto Alter Dieburger Weg and pass the forester's lodge on your left.
(1) Follow the path, turn right in a left-hand bend and cross the B426. The Burgensteig signpost, a blue castle on a white background, will help you find your way.
The path becomes a forest trail again and climbs steadily. At the next T-junction, turn left again. Keep right at the next fork, then turn right again.
The path climbs steadily uphill towards Frankenstein Castle. At a crossroads, turn left, keeping the castle in view.
(2) You pass the "Jungbrunnen" (fountain of youth) and find yourself in front of the gate to the "Kräuter-Riech-Garten" (herb garden). The narrow path takes you below the castle and onto the main path to the castle.
Here, turn left and walk through the gate into Frankenstein Castle.
When you leave the castle, walk to the left on the paved path.
(3) The path leads you below the car park past the signpost "Parkplatz Burg Frankenstein" (Frankenstein Castle car park). Cross the country road and walk across the car park on the other side.
(4) Follow the "L" sign and turn left at the end of the car park onto a narrow path. After a few metres uphill, you will reach the Summloch. Feel free to try it out, it's an interesting experience.
Continue along the path until you reach a wide track, where you turn left. You will pass the Burg Frankenstein/TV 1894 Nieder-Beerbach e.V. forest sports field on your right.
Turn left again off the wide path (following the "L") and you will reach a barefoot path. Walk along this path and turn left at the end. Here you can use the Blue Castle on the Burgensteig and the red A on the Allemannenweg as landmarks.
Keep left at the next intersection.
(5) The narrow path leads you along the slope to the next intersection, past two climbing rocks. At the intersection, continue half left (orientation: Blue Castle and red A).
(6) After a while, you will reach a T-junction. Turn left here. After a few metres, you will see the remains of the "Galgenbuche" on your right. The path leads you straight downhill.
You will come to a wider gravel path, which you follow downhill to the left. After a sharp right-hand bend, turn left at the next intersection.
After a while, you will reach a crossroads ("Zehn-Wege-Platz"), where you will see a shelter on the left, the "Ernst-Ludwigs-Hütte". Cross the crossroads and continue on the other side, following the Blue Castle ("Kaiserweg").
After a few metres, you will see an information board about Seeheim Castle on the right. Immediately after this, leave the gravel forest path to the right and follow a narrow path (look for the red A for Alemannenweg).
(7) Keep right at the first fork and left at the next one. Shortly afterwards, you will find yourself in front of another shelter. The octagonal floor plan of the hut is based on the old foundations of the tea house, which was built here in the 1830s from masonry and iron.
Follow the path, keep right at the first fork and left at the second, and you will reach the gravel forest road again, which you follow downhill to the right.
At the bottom, cross the road to Ober-Beerbach and walk past the car park on the other side up the asphalt road ("Lufthansaring").
After a while, turn right onto a path and follow it until you reach the signpost for "Seeheim". At the signpost, turn left, go up a few steps and pass a small shelter.
You will come back to the asphalt road, which you follow to the right for a short distance before turning into a forest path on the other side of the road.
(8) You are now walking directly towards the "Fünf-Schwestern-Linde" natural monument. There, turn right and continue uphill towards Burg Tannenberg.
The path winds its way up the mountain with a few bends and suddenly you are standing in front of a narrow bridge, which is the entrance to the castle. Cross the bridge, turn right again and you will find yourself in the castle courtyard. Here you can enjoy the view of the Rhine valley. In bad weather, the Fritz-Lockau-Hütte offers shelter on the right.
(9) From the castle, keep to the right, pass the signpost for "Ruine Tannenberg" and follow the blue castle sign again. The path leads downhill again.
(10) You will reach a crossroads. To your left, on the other side of the crossroads, there is a stone signpost. Walk past it on the gravel forest path to the right.
At the second fork, turn left again and follow the narrow path. The Burgensteig signpost will help you find your way.
At the end of the narrow path, you will come back to the forest road, cross it and continue downhill on the narrow path on the other side.
This path also ends at a gravel forest road. Turn left here and walk downhill until you reach a barrier, then continue to the left.
Pass the Waldfrieden house and walk straight ahead into the forest at the sharp left-hand bend. There, turn right uphill.
At the next crossroads, opposite the mountain church, turn sharp left and continue uphill towards Heiligenberg Castle.
(11) At the top, you will reach the road to the castle and follow it to the left, directly towards the entrance to the castle.
Your path now takes you past the castle on the right. At the terrace, turn right and then right again at the next intersection. You will now come to an arbour, which you follow downhill to the left.
You will pass the "Rehhäuschen" (deer lodge) on your left and reach a small pond ("Schlossteich") on your right. At the end of the pond, turn right and then left at the next intersection, up to the monastery ruins.
(12) At the gate to the Kreuzgarten, continue along the fence on the right. If the gate to the Kreuzgarten is open, it is worth making a short detour to the Golden Cross.
(13) The path along the fence takes you to a meadow directly below the Golden Cross. From here, you have another beautiful view of the Rhine valley.
Cross the meadow and you will come to a footpath at the edge of the meadow (halfway to the left from your position below the cross). Take this footpath (be careful in wet weather – it can be slippery) down to a wider path ("Oberer Wingertsweg").
Now turn right and, opposite two benches, immediately turn left again onto a footpath down the slope and continue over a few steps onto a wider path.
Here, turn right, walk past the barrier and down the paved road to the left.
After the second bend, a narrow path branches off to the left at a display board. This leads you downhill and through a gate onto the "Hauptstraße". Turn left towards the crossroads and turn right at the pharmacy (on your right). Follow the "Hauptstraße" to the roundabout.
Go straight ahead over the roundabout ("Ludwigstraße") and continue slightly downhill towards the intersection "Heidelbergstr. / Alte Bergstr." and your destination, the HEAG mobilio stop Ludwigstraße (E)
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Difficult 
