The medieval village of Soultzbach-les-Bains

Parking is available in the car park opposite Saint-Jean-Baptiste Church.

(S/E) After passing the magnificent church in Soultzbach-les-Bains, take the road that slopes gently towards the village centre. You will arrive at the crossroads opposite the town hall.

(1) Turn right onto Rue de Munster, then take a short detour along Rue du Couvent (signposted). Retrace your steps and continue along Rue de Munster. Leave it at the right-hand bend, continuing straight on along Rue du Ried (dead end). This takes you out of the village and continues along a pretty path through the countryside. The walk is signposted throughout: ‘Historic Route’. After several hundred metres along the edge of the forest, the route turns left.

(2) Head to the banks of the Krebsbach river, follow it for about a hundred metres and cross it via the footbridge on the right. Pass in front of the village’s historic former thermal baths before re-entering the village via Rue des Bains. After the bridge over the river and the crucifix, continue to the^first junction.

(3) Turn left into Rue de la Porte Neuve, then turn right towards Sainte-Catherine Chapel. As you arrive, note the house on the corner of Rue de la Chapelle. After the visit, take the narrow Rue de la Chapelle, then turn right onto Rue du Rempart. At the end of Rue du Rempart, walk up the street that passes in front of the town hall and continue straight on towards the church and back to the car park (S/E).

Car park in front of Saint-Jean-Baptiste Church in Soultzbach-les-Bains.
A few benches along the route.
Places to eat and drink in the village and nearby:

• Restaurant Ô lavoir
• Le Petit Frantz
• La Nouvelle-Auberge

Places to visit along the walk:

• The 15th-century St John the Baptist Church with its magnificent choir, altars, rood screen and tombstones, notably those of Jacques de Hattstatt and Marguerite de Rathsamhausen (1518), and its Callinet organ from 1833.
• The former 15th-century Hattstatt-Schauenbourg Castle, with its tower, once the residence of the Hattstatt family and later the Schauenbourg family.
• The 15th-century St Catherine’s Chapel, with its angel and the paintings of Our Lady of Consolation (1738), the Beheading of St Catherine (1840) and Abbé Jean-Jacques Bobérieth; it is said to have been built following a plague epidemic.
• The former 19th-century thermal baths.
• The half-timbered houses.