Thuringia walks

The River Saale rises in the Fichtelgebirge and then winds its way along as the former inner-German border river between Bavaria and Thuringia. Once it reaches the Thuringian Slate Mountains, it flows through five cascades, one of which is the Bleiloch reservoir with the adjacent Burgkhammer dam. A truly enchanting landscape surrounds the Saale meanders here near the small village of Burgk, situated on a hill high above the river. Its history is closely linked to the famous Burgk Castle. 

Experience Jena on a varied city walk that combines history, science and modern architecture. From the historic town hall with its famous ‘Schnapphans’ to St Michael’s Church and the medieval city walls, right through to the traces left by Goethe, Schiller, Zeiss, Abbe and Schott, the city’s unique diversity unfolds before you. The striking JenTower, the Botanical Garden and the Zeiss Planetarium also make this walk an exciting journey of discovery.

We start at the Netzkater train station. Immediately afterwards, a steep climb through wooded terrain to Poppenberg (601 m), where a steel tower stands, offering beautiful views. Many valleys pass by beautiful vistas and strangely shaped large boulders. The final section is quite steep!

We created this nice walk through the forest of Thüringen ourselves. Mostly following the main path, but sometimes we took some smaller paths. Ideal for hot summer days. Take enough food and drinks with you because you won't pass any villages or pubs.

This is a walk we made in Eisenach, the Drachenschlucht. You cannot park your car exactly at the beginning, so you have to park somewhere earlier if you come from Eisenach. You can chose any parking place. Sometimes you have to pay. We started at the Biergarten Phantasie. Free parking. From there you follow the path along the main road and you will find the entrance of the canyon. At some places the canyon is only 65 cm wide. But it is beautiful. It can be crowded with people. We started early during the day so it was very quiet. Or you might want to go at the end of the day. It is also possible to start at the big parking place at the end of the canyon. Just follow the road 19. In that case you can choose to go the other way around if you want to do the canyon first. For the rest we found our way over the forest paths. On a hot summer day it is really cool to walk under the shadow of the trees.